Pinewood Historic Cemetery also known as Peninsula Cemetery is said to be the oldest cemetery in Daytona Beach. A saloon nearby called Boot Hill is well known for Bike Week and Biketoberfest and it probably was called this because the cemetery sits on a hill one that is two to three stories in height over looking downtown Daytona. They say that this is one of the oldest ghost tours on the east coast as well. From my first initial walkthrough or first investigation I felt as if this cemetery had been perhaps abused as you hear about investigations done on it multiple times, ghost tours, ticket booths during events set up just so you can walk through the cemetery at night etc I felt the lack of entities here almost as if they been chased out of there own homes. But over many years every so often you will hear a ghost story or two about this cemetery from locals who take a stroll past its wall and rod iron fences which surround this historical place of the dead. 

At one time before the cemetery stood here a man by the name of John W. Smith from Canada purchased the land in 1873. He built a homestead on the hill known as Memento. About a decade later he took the land around him and divided it into cemetery lots and buried the first person here which was his 19 year old daughter "Alena Beatrice"  in 1887. The homestead "Memento" no longer stands today as in its place is all graveyard with at least 200 burials give or take. 

Two men in the earlier 1900s by the name of Charles Bingham and Jerome Maley took over the cemetery. They owned a furniture and undertaking business. Anotherwards they built designed coffins so it was perfect to own the cemetery and also provide the tombstones for it. They established the Pinewood Cemetery Corporation and built throughout the cemetery coquina walls and a giant archway made out of coquina at the entrance. In 1929 around the great depression Merchant's Bank closed down and the corporation lost its maintenance fund. Since this was a private cemetery the city of Daytona and Volusia County would not take over maintaining it. So over the years the cemetery's condition became very poor. 

In the early 1970's the last burials in Pinewood Cemetery took place and the last lots were sold. Although in my opinion from my walkthrough there is still room for burials on the west end of the cemetery. So it confuses me why there are no lots available. In 1979 a man by the name Albert Kingston passed on and upon his death the money he left behind was set aside to take care of his grave and the entire cemetery.  Later it was inherited to the Zangi Grotto Family which had rod iron gates put in to prevent further vandalism and graffiti on the stones. There is also 18 Confederate soldiers buried here more then any other cemetery in Volusia County which puts Purdom Cemetery in second now. Unfortunately most of the confederate soldiers have no  flags, you cannot read most of there stones due to them being so weathered, and one of the soldiers named Richard Eansor does not even have a stone so his grave goes unmarked.

The Cemetery today has a very European feeling to it as there are giant crypts, stones that sit on the terraced hills, rod iron sections containing stones, dozens of stone stairwells, and coquina walls which not only surround the entire cemetery but also throughout the entire cemetery. I almost felt when I walked around in this cemetery that I was in some castle ruins. Because that is what the feel is here as you walk around coquina walls and up stone stairwells. It really is a beautiful place for being downtown Daytona Beach. It is ashamed that the condition of the cemetery is deteriorating. I remember my first week of moving out here to Florida passing by this place. I drove past this place and seen by the gates a bunch of stones tilted in different directions and that is the first thing I said was someday I will investigate this place. But rather then handle this like an investigation since we already know it is haunted I wanted to focus on brining you photos of the cemetery rather then entity photos. Perhaps our second investigation I will focus on the unseen more so. 

Now lets talk a little bit about the ghost stories that take place on Pinewood Cemetery. Many folks who walk along it at night have captured an apparition standing near the cemetery just as nearby a woman has been captured before. At one time before all the buildings were built near the north side of the cemetery houses use to exist and stand there. In one of the house a lady murdered her boyfriend then collected his checks in one of those houses. These ghost sightings that take place seem to be very close to the cemetery. 

Perhaps one of the most well known ghost stories is about the man who was knowing to build up commerce Daytona Beach named Commodore Charles Burgoyne which came to the area around 1896 after Matthias's Day the founding father of the area. He was a philanthropist and called the father of tourism. He donated the Riverfront Park along the Halifax River which live events were held for tycoons and built up the city as today Daytona is one of the top tourist attractions in the country.  Burgoyne a man who cared about the well-being of the children provided milk and a place to sleep during the earlier 1900s. 

Burgoyne's wife a woman who was said to be madly in love with Charles also took care of the children while he was attending to city business affairs and attended to the welfare of the children. They also owned a yacht that would be used in Halifax River Trips near one of the main bridges which connects the mainland to the city island. In 1916 Charles Burgone passed away and was buried in Pinewood Cemetery. The monument which is a giant cross sectioned off with coquina blocks is the largest one in the cemetery. After his death Mrs. Burgone visited his gravesite everyday till 1944 dressed in black praying and grieving at his gravesite. To this day many who dare to venture into the cemetery often see a shadowy figured dressed in black at the Burgoyne gravesite sitting down. I did notice that this area was cold and there was a ghostly presence here as I felt it on my first investigation unaware of the history or ghost stories.

A very tragic story is also told about one of the crypts with the name Adler Rawlings. Many years ago he was buried here atop one of the hills. Over the years many teens used the nearby boardwalk as a hangout to drink and party. Well the police eventually put a stop to the loitering so the group started to visit the cemetery and use the Adler Crypt as a sort of playhouse.  Well one night the group of teens took the casket and Rawlings remains an through it out into the middle of the road. They played with his bones even and eventually when the police arrived on the scene the teens were gone and so was the skull. Not to far from the cemetery a headless ghost is seen is this the ghost of Rawlings? There is much evidence that this is true since the Rawlings Crypt  entrance has been sealed with cement blocks so it no longer can be used again in such a manor.

So there are a few legends and stories told about this place. The cemetery is very well lit and many tourist visit here till its gates close at 3pm unfortunately I believe that the activity is not as haunted as opposed to a cemetery in a secluded place like Purdom which we investigated the night of the Eclipse. But if your looking for a historical cemetery with alot of history to every stone then this place is well worth walking through it and now I get to bring you it right to your homes.

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Rick-AngelOfThyNight