Print ArticleIf you're the type of person who believes in ghost, ghouls, and goblins, here are few sites in town you might want to avoid this weekend.
Brick Church Cemetery
This place has poltergeist written all over it. During the Civil War, it was the site of a brick church just outside of Jacksonville, where a small battle took place.
A small command under Lieutenant Strange of the Third Florida had been ordered to capture federal guards, if possible, without bloodshed. In the tension, there was almost instant confusion over the demands being shouted back and forth and when the Federals fired into the Confederate ranks, the little incident turned into a small but raging general battle. Several Southrons were injured in that first volley, and though they only had half the numbers of the Confederates, the federals were behind walls and trees, and tombstones, in the church yard, well-positioned to repel attacks. In the ensuing general engagement, Lieutenant Strange was mortally wounded somewhere close to the church. There were no accurate counts of the dead or wounded, and if other battlefields are any indicator, many of those bodies lay alongside the abandoned roads of a war torn city, until animals and time had removed the last traces.
In addition to the battle, a small cemetery existed behind the church. In typical developer friendly Jacksonville fashion, a warehouse development was allowed approval to build right on top of the 19th century cemetery. Today, thousands of cars drive right pass this site near Myrtle Avenue and Church Street every day. The warehouse appears to be long vacant. We wouldn't be surprised if someone's little girl starts conversing with the television set and hollers, "They're Here!"
Click HERE for more information about Jacksonville's lost cemetery.
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