COCOA, Fla. – Some visitors to Cocoa's historic Hilltop Cemetery were appalled when they saw a grave site crumbling and exposing the remains below.
"It's so dilapidated and something needs to be done. I wouldn't want that to be my family member or even me," Dominica Midkiff said.
Established after the Civil War, the decaying grave where Ella Sheffield rests is on the historically black grounds. According to Florida records, the African American cemetery was established during the 1880s. The oldest gravestone on the grounds is dated 1889.
"So it's time we people take a stand. It doesn't matter if it's black, white," Midkiff said.
The white section of the cemetery is located two blocks south off U.S. 1.
Larry Brown, 58, has great-great relatives buried on the black side. He said the two sides aren't maintained equally.
"They don't keep it up, like they keep up the other one, the white cemetery," Brown said.
As much as Brown maintains his own family's graves, he thinks the city is not doing enough for the others.
"It's not where it should be for it to be a cemetery in the city of Cocoa," Brown said.
Cocoa public relations specialist Samantha Senger said the city put two tarps on the grave since last Thursday when officials were alerted about the exposure.
"We were on top of it. As soon as we were notified, we went out there," Senger said.
The city said the first tarp was somehow removed so the plan now is to pour concrete to permanently cover it up.
City officials said both sides of the cemetery have shown decay.
"We maintain all cemeteries at the same level. And when something like that happens, we take measures to make sure it gets fixed," Senger said.
