St. John's Cemetery covers 26 acres within 10 city blocks. It is located near downtown Pensacola off West Garden Street at "G" Street and Belmont. Established in 1876 by a Masonic Order to fill the needs of a growing post-Civil War Pensacola, the cemetery became an independent, not-for-profit corporation in the 1990s. It is now operated by a volunteer board chaired by Charles Green. A limited endowment supports a minimal maintenance budget. While the board and a small staff have done a commendable job of some continuing care, funds are not sufficient to meet the needs of an aging cemetery.

Many of Pensacola's leaders of the past are interred in St. John's Historic Cemetery, including Edward A. Perry, Florida's 14th governor, two early Chief Justices of the Florida Supreme Court and ten former mayors of Pensacola.

Numerous memorials in St. John's have names that are also found on present city streets, attesting to the prominence that these men and women enjoyed in the life of our city. An incomplete list includes: Avery, Baars, Blount, Bobe, Hallmark, Hyer, Jordan, Lee, Maxwell, Merritt, Pace, Wright and Yonge.

Many veterans of our nation’s wars since 1860; countless numbers of captains of industry and commerce, and professionals, as well as unheralded citizens who made great contributions to the life and times of their city, are buried in St. John's. Several families now well known in Pensacola have more than 50 ancestors at rest in this serene area. Headstones also mark the graves of many seamen of other nations whose ships had called at Pensacola around the turn of the 20th century.

For comments and inquiries E-mail: Ted Nickinson
For donations and other mail: Friends of St. John's Historic Cemetery
P.O. Box 30245, Pensacola, FL 32503-0245