• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Bizarre reason man's grave is located in the middle of pavement

Home> Community> Weird

Published 12:20 12 Jul 2024 GMT+1

Bizarre reason man's grave is located in the middle of pavement

The random placement of a man's grave has made people question why the others have disappeared.

Mia Williams

Mia Williams

The reason behind a man’s grave being randomly placed in the middle of a pavement has prompted people to ask what happened to all the others.

A man’s grave has been randomly sitting slap bang in the middle of a pavement for decades in a neighbourhood in Jacksonville, Florida.

The gravestone is right next to a busy road, traffic, tennis courts, a community centre - which begs the question - what on earth is it doing there?

And it’s only during recent years the reason behind the weird placement has come to light.

Advert

The reason behind the placement has only been revealed in recent years. (News4JAX)
The reason behind the placement has only been revealed in recent years. (News4JAX)

Thompson Williams, who is buried there, was shot dead in 1908 after protecting the ‘honour and life’ of a woman from a ‘fiend’ who fired at her twice.

And it turns out that a map from the 1800s has revealed that the placement of the grave is far from random, as it used to be a cemetery.

A local historian and urban planner Ennis Davis told News4JAX: “You dig up older maps and I came across an 1800s map of Jacksonville that had a zoomed-in map of ownership in the LaVilla area, and this was identified as the Mount Herman Cemetery.

“This alone should let you know that the development of this street and its infrastructure was built over a cemetery, and they moved the grave in the middle of the sidewalk just to do it.”

Advert

People are questioning where the other graves are. (News4JAX)
People are questioning where the other graves are. (News4JAX)

A map from 1887 of Jacksonville, that was issued by the State Library and Archives of Florida, shows Durkeeville with train tracks next to the cemetery, just feet away from where Williams’ grave remains.

He was buried in the cemetery that was mostly for black citizens, which prompted people to ask where the rest of the graves are.

The cemetery was owned by the family of Francis L’Engle, who was the first mayor of LaVilla.

In the 1940s, they donated the cemetery to the city, which eventually removed many of the bodies and built the Emmett Reed Community Center over it.

Advert

While Williams’ grave has been left largely as it was – albeit awkwardly placed – what happened to those of many others is left unknown to this day.

A man who grew up in the town, Freddie Paney, said that the cemetery has been there since his childhood.

Despite being a native, he questions whether he will ever be able to find where his ancestors were buried.

The city has also not commented publicly on any efforts to uncover the lost graves.

Featured Image Credit: News4JAX

Topics: Community, Weird, History

Mia Williams
Mia Williams

Mia is a freelance writer for LADBible, and an award-winning trainee journalist at the UK’s No.1 journalism school, News Associates.

X

@mia_francessca

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

a day ago
2 days ago
5 days ago
  • Jessica Waite/InstagramJessica Waite/Instagram
    a day ago

    Woman gets ultimate revenge on husband after finding out he cheated on her before death

    She found out he'd cheated on her a lot

    Community
  • Getty Stock ImageGetty Stock Image
    a day ago

    Biblical doomsday prophecy explained as pastor reveals 'exact date' Jesus will return to Earth

    Pastor Joshua Mhlakela says we have little time to prepare for the 'end of times'

    Community
  • Getty Stock ImagesGetty Stock Images
    2 days ago

    'Exact date' Jesus will return to Earth as signs of Biblical doomsday prophecy 'begin'

    Guess who's (maybe) back

    Community
  • SuppliedSupplied
    5 days ago

    Sex expert explains why trend is so popular as hotwife reveals ‘what everyone gets wrong’ about lifestyle

    Carli Foster has lifted the lid on what it's really like to be a hotwife

    Community
  • Man who was so terrified of being buried alive got a window fitted in his grave
  • Middle East archaeologists find bizarre 2,200-year-old pyramid hidden in mountains
  • People are shocked at one thing after seeing video of cargo ships in rough seas
  • Google Maps shows two people buried in graves under airport runway as bizarre reason is explained