{"id":257459,"date":"2026-05-04T09:03:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T09:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/257459\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T09:03:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T09:03:14","slug":"theres-a-cemetery-in-the-parking-lot-of-this-central-florida-publix-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/257459\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a cemetery in the parking lot of this Central Florida Publix. Here\u2019s why"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Florida\u2019s ever-popular grocery chain has plenty of interesting features<\/a>, though one location in particular has an odd sight in store for visitors.<\/p>\n

Customers at the Publix Supermarket at Town Center along Daryl Carter Parkway near Orlando might have noticed a cemetery sitting in the parking lot.<\/p>\n

The Vineland Cemetery along Fenton Street, located in a Publix parking lot (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

The small plot \u2014 over 500 square feet \u2014 hosts the remains of two Union soldiers from the American Civil War and a large memorial pillar with the cemetery\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

The two headstones in the plot list those soldiers\u2019 names: Washington Ludwig of the First New York Light Artillery, and Charles H. Foster of the Third Massachusetts Cavalry.<\/p>\n

Grave sites at Vineland Cemetery for Washington Ludwig (left) and Charles H. Foster (right) (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.)A memorial obelisk with “Vineland Cemetery” inscribed at its base (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

While the cemetery was reportedly set up in the 1920s, the plot\u2019s owner \u2014 Scott Henderson, a former land planner \u2014 said he got involved back in the 1970s when the surrounding land was all vacant.<\/p>\n

Henderson told News 6 he filed a claim for the property under the laws of adverse possession<\/a>, which allowed people to take ownership of land so long as they occupied it for at least seven years.<\/p>\n

[RELATED: Publix responds after News 6 \u2018Pub Sub\u2019 drama]<\/p>\n

Around 2010, the cemetery received a rededication ceremony thanks to Henderson and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The headstones \u2014 which had originally been laying down \u2014 were redesigned to be placed standing up, Henderson said. This was to avoid issues with theft.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack in 1987 (or) 1988, one of the headstones was stolen just before Halloween, and then a few weeks later, it was returned,\u201d he claimed. \u201cSo we felt that there was always a lot of mystery around Washington Ludwig.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photograph of the two headstones side by side. American flags were left at the cemetery, which is required to receive perpetual maintenance from the new landowner. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

After around 30 years of living there, though, he decided to sell the land to a developer and move up north. But he didn\u2019t want the cemetery to be lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no objections as long as the cemetery remains in a prominent location,\u201d he explained. \u201cThat it\u2019s not going to be set in the back of some type of a commercial center next to the dumpsters.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, part of the agreement involved the new landowner installing a memorial obelisk, putting up a wrought-iron fence, and perpetually maintaining the plot itself.<\/p>\n

The Vineland Cemetery can be seen from the shopping center’s sidewalk, being located in the parking lot of a Publix Supermarket. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

Since the redevelopment, several businesses have come to the O-Town West shopping center, including a Jersey Mike\u2019s Subs, a Gator\u2019s Dockside restaurant \u2014 and the large Publix Supermarket itself in 2022.<\/p>\n

The Vineland Cemetery sitting in the parking lot of a Publix Supermarket in the O-Town shopping center (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

For more stories about the strange locations and mysteries across Central Florida, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more about what new Publix stores in Florida will be missing, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Serving Those Who Served<\/p>\n

More Stories Like This In Our Email Newsletter<\/p>\n

Get today\u2019s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Florida\u2019s ever-popular grocery chain has plenty of interesting features, though one location in particular has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6919,28,30,29,2457,1335,139,2231,24772],"class_list":["post-257459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-features","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-history","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-publix","tag-serving-those-who-served"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}