Reverence for History by Lois Bolin, Ph.D., Old Naples Historian

While home to a little over 22,000 people, the City of Naples is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States, with the sixth highest per capita income and the second highest number of millionaires per capita in America; but it wasn’t always this popular or populated.

Early Days
By the time the Naples Depot (1927) and Tamiami Trail (1928) were seeing regular usage, the “Town” of Naples’ population had grown to almost 3,000 residents. The wealthy vacationed in the winter, and a few brave souls stayed year round, bearing the summers of hurricanes, mosquitoes and blistering sun. They worked as fishermen, farmers, ship builders and the few black people living here probably worked as laborers.

Most people think there are only two cemeteries in Collier County, the Naples Memorial Gardens (525 111th Ave. N.) and Palm Royale (96780 Vanderbilt Beach Road). Yet the City of Naples has an historic graveyard one can see while visiting the pharmacy at one of the City’s busiest intersections, Tamiami Trail North (U.S. 41) and Pine Ridge Road, called Rosemary’s
Cemetery, which took its name from the pungent rosemary bushes that once grew there.

The late folklorist Maria Stone, author of Naples Past and Naples Present, wrote that the new cemetery was so far out in the
“country” that Mr. Crayton was sure the area’s earliest settlers would forever rest there in peace.

Historical records show that families of the dead placed coquina shell or wrought iron markers at the gravesites. Like many old cemeteries, when the rainy season brought on high waters, the caskets often had to be weighed down to keep them from popping back up, which ultimately led to its current wrought iron enclosure. Because of its remoteness, the 20 acre tract was used for dumping trash and hunting. Numerous grave markers were destroyed before a restoration effort began in the 1970s, spearheaded by the North Naples Civic Association.

There is another burial site few know of, yet drive by it every day. On the southwest corner of Pine Ridge and Goodlette-Frank are the burial markers of eight black men who died while building the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, between 1931 and 1947.

Developer Ed Crayton donated the land for the Rosemary Cemetery to allow for the removal of graves near St. Ann’s Church
in downtown Naples, so the church could expand. In the 1950s, Ed Crayton’s widow sold the cemetery to John Pulling and Robert Benson, who developed the land around the burial plots. In 1976, Pulling and Benson deeded Unit B to Collier County, where volunteers cared for the plots. In the early 1990s, when there was talk of moving the graves again that the desirable piece of land could be auctioned off to the highest bidder, County Commissioner Bettye Matthews said that it would be better to clean up the area and declare it a historic site.

Pledging for History
For the past year, every second and fourth Tuesday, I have gotten noted residents to lead the Pledge of Allegiance for the opening of the County Commissioners meeting. On January 28th, Marina Berkovich, a naturalized citizen of 40 years, led the pledge for her first time and spoke about January as Jewish History month in Florida.

As I entered the Commissioner’s Chamber, I spotted a speaker’s form regarding Rosemary’s Cemetery. Oh, this was going to be a good day for history.

Project Reverence
In 2023, 15-year-old Jonathan Rodriguez began raising awareness and funds for Rosemary Cemetery in order to not just earn his Eagle Scout Badge, but to honor the memory of an unmarked area where eight African Americans are buried on plot N
at the intersection of Goodlette Frank and Pine Ridge roads. On January 28th Mr. Rodriguez addressed the County Commissioners on his progress along with the Director of Collier County Museums, Amanda Townsend and Vincent Keeys,
president of the NAACP of Collier County.

Mr. Rodriguez, a Lorenzo Walker Technical High School student, with help of his obviously proud mother, Maria, a Naples
native, entitled his efforts as “Project Reverence,” and is dedicated to Plot N.

Commissioner Dan Kowal said that he didn’t know the other parts of the cemetery even existed, until Rodriguez came to his
office and noted the importance of our public being involved with our local government to bring such things to their attention
The Collier Commissioners unanimously agreed to acquire the plots, and to designate them as historically significant. And that my friends, is a good day for history.