Richardson Cemetery in Florida - Find a Grave Cemetery

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Get directions Wakulla County, Florida, USA

Coordinates: 30.14220, -84.31220
Cemetery ID:

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About these numbers These percentages indicate the number of Find a Grave memorials that have a grave photo or GPS coordinates. We don't know the total number of burials in a cemetery, so we cannot calculate a percentage of those with memorials, photos or GPS coordinates.

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Richardson Cemetery is listed on the Local Register of Historic Places and is possibly one of the three oldest cemeteries in Wakulla County, Florida. It's a biracial (White and African American) cemetery with the earliest grave marker dated 1851. An older section of the cemetery, located several hundred feet north of the maintained area and accessible only by foot or all-terrain vehicle, contains a small burying ground of prominent white families who were slave owners during the 1850's. Weathered wrought-iron fences currently surround their abandoned family plots. Graves of African-Americans are spread throughout the cemetery, with burials as recent as June, 2021.

An extensive archaeological excavation was conducted in 1991, in response to concerns that owners of an adjacent parcel were building on top of unmarked graves. The archaeologist's report implied that earthmoving operations had dug into at least eight unmarked graves, but no human remains were unearthed. The land development was ceased. The bank cut is still conspicuous along the western edge of the cemetery to this day.

The Wakulla County Historical Society purchased the property on which the cemetery lies in 2003, but only maintains the southernmost section. Other sections are tremendously overgrown and invaded by trees and brush. Land survey flags mark numerous burial sites in these areas, many without any other visible markers.