Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Evergreen Cemetery was established by the Evergreen Cemetery Company in 1892 as a final resting place for local families. The cemetery’s land was purchased by M.B. Lyman, Lantana’s founder. Lyman, who is buried in the cemetery, served as the town’s first postmaster. He named the town Lantana Point because of the flowering lantana plant that grew in the area. "Point" was later dropped from the town's name. The cemetery’s earliest marked gravestone is dated January 22, 1886. There are 18 marked gravesites in the cemetery where members of the town’s eight pioneer families are buried. Occupying unmarked graves are two crew members from the shipwreck “Inchulva,” which sank in a hurricane off Delray Beach in 1903. Several members of the African-American community were buried here during the early 20th century. The cemetery also contains the mass grave of some victims of the 1928 Hurricane. In 1952, ownership of the cemetery was transferred to the Town of Lantana and was closed to further burials.