Opened in 1852 on land donated by steamboat captain Charles Willey, the Old City Cemetery was the primary burial ground for Jacksonville's pre-1880 residents. Sections were dedicated for Freedmen, confederate soldiers, Jews, masons and Catholics. Members of Jacksonville's pioneer black families, such as Clara and Eartha M.M. White, are interred here.

The cemetery's one mausoleum is the grave of African princess Laura Adorkor Kofey, a disciple of Marcus Garvey and his Universal Negro Improvement Association. Mother Kofey formed a rival organization before her murder in Miami March 8, 1928.

Reportedly over 7,000 followers accompanied Mother Kofey's funeral procession from Miami to West Palm Beach, and finally to Jacksonville where over 10,000 attended her interment.

Information provided by the Florida Division of Historical Resources, a division of the Florida Department of State.