PLEASE REMAIN ON THE SIDEWALK AT GZ AND DO NOT CROSS THE BLACK ROPED OFF FENCE AREA.
Welcome to Orange Hill Cemetery!!
While passing by this area, Snowflake proceeded to give me a history lesson on the land at the corner of Michigan Street and Fern Creek Avenue. I've driven by this intersection more times than I could count, yet never recall realizing the history here.
Orange Hill Cemetery is located approximately at 1700 East Michigan Street in Orlando, Florida. Forty acres of land for the graveyard was purchased by Orange County in 1904 to use for the burial of paupers. The cemetery was active from 1917 to 1961. The first documented burial was of Richard Johnson, who died of "insanity" at the county jail on May 8, 1907. There are limited records of who was buried at Orange Hill Cemetery or how many graves there are, although a survey conducted in 1955 indicated that there were 522 gravesites. In 1997, Orange County officials and the Orange County Historical Society began efforts to properly maintain the cemetery.
For added context, Orange Hill Cemetery was once a potter’s field; a burial ground for people who could not be identified, generally because they were indigent or homeless. The term actually has roots in the Bible, referring to a time in Jerusalem when priests purchased area where clay was being dug for pottery for the burial of strangers, criminals, and the poor.
Over 500 people were buried here between 1907 and 1961; mostly infants, transients, and murder victims. It was segregated by race. At 522 plots, the graveyard was full, and at some point the cemetery was forgotten; until the mid-nineties when it was rediscovered during a County-wide property audit.
The property had been purchased in the 1890s by the County to host the Poor House, which was later renamed the County Home. The County used to give individuals experiencing extreme poverty a monthly allowance of $5 to $10, but stopped once the Poor House was constructed.
There is no map of where each person was buried and there are only a dozen cement-brick markers left that show where some of these people were buried. Comprehensive records were not kept.
According to a report by the Orlando Sentinel, the first woman to vote in Florida was buried here. Hiram E. Calder by name, she lived her life as a man for most of her life, which is how she was registered to vote. She was later moved to a cemetery in Tampa.
This cemetery was also known as County Home Cemetery (that is what is on undertaker records from the early days). It was situated near the "Poor Farm", just south of Orlando, later known as the County Home.
Here is how to find the coordinates for the final cache container.
A: the last number in the first year
B: the number of letters in the 2nd word on the marker
C: the number of letters in the 3rd word on the marker
D: the 3rd number in the second year minus 1
E: the number of letters in the 3rd word on the marker
F: the sum of the 1st number in the first year plus the 1st number in the second year
N 028° 30.ABC W 081° 21.DEF
Checksum of A-F is 34