Melrose Cemetery

Formerly known as the Banana burying grounds, Melrose Cemetery is a non-denominational cemetery established in 1860 by the Eliam Baptist Church, which was founded in 1859. The farming community of Banana consisted of small farms, a post office and general store, and a gristmill owned by Dr. G.W. McRae, a local physician and postmaster. The Baptists built their first church on the northeast corner of the cemetery in 1860 and a second, larger church in 1883. In 1924 they relocated the church site to the town of Melrose, where they built a third, larger church. Veterans of eight wars are interred here, dating from the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848 to the Vietnam War of 1964 to 1973. The Civil War accounts for the graves of six Union and thirty-five Confederate veterans. General Elias Earle, a prominent landowner and civic-minded developer of the Melrose area, fought in both the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. In 1895 the church formed a Memorial Association to care for the cemetery property, and the Melrose Cemetery Association and volunteers continue to maintain the grounds. In 2007 a Veterans Memorial honoring veterans of all wars was erected on the site of the 1883 church at the front of the cemetery.

Florida · United States