Families concerned over St. Johns County abandoned historical cemetery

A West Augustine cemetery is so overgrown with weeds, families said it’s hard for them to even find their loved ones’ headstones.

“I have to fight through trees and leaves and bushes and everything to get to my parents' grave,” Greg Wadley said.

Wadley said that seven of his family members are buried at the historic African-American cemetery, Woodland Cemetery, including his grandfather who served in WWII.

“Very disrespectful, not only just to him, but there are a lot of veterans out there,” Wadley said.

Action News Jax looked into who is responsible for maintenance at the cemetery and found that a nonprofit corporation, Woodlawn Cemetery Association of St. Augustine, started overseeing the property in 1993, but dissolved and ended their involvement at the beginning of 2017.

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One of the former members said they couldn’t get donations or volunteers to help maintain the cemetery so they gave up oversight. “I’ve never seen it in this shape before,” Wadley said.

Action News Jax went to the city and was told that the cemetery is in the county’s jurisdiction.

The county administrator said that no one has stepped up to maintain it.

“Nobody knows who owns it, nobody knows where to go to get answers,” Wadley said.

However, according to state statute, the county must maintain an abandoned cemetery that hasn’t been maintained for more than six months.

“It’s their responsibility and they need to do something about it,” Wadley said.

Action News Jax law and safety expert Dale Carson also said that people can tell the county that it is considered a health hazard.

Cox Media Group