Legends Abound At Main Street’s Pinewood Cemetery
Bike Week in Daytona Beach is legendary, especially Main Street. Across the street from the Boot Hill Saloon is historic Pinewood Cemetery, the resting place of pioneer families, Civil War veterans, city founders and state politicians. If you've been to Main Street during a bike event, you've no doubt seen the caretakers of PineWood Cemetery, volunteers who raise monies for the cemetery's care and upkeep. For decades, members of the local Zangi Grotto, a branch of the Masonic organization, have been meeting and greeting bikers outside the Pinewood gates to share a story and accept the generously offered donations. Here's a few facts from the Pinewood Cemetery file for you.
· A Canadian named William Smith bought the 5.5 acres that now comprise Pinewood Cemetery in the 1800s. Legend has it his daughter Aleena Beatrice Smith died at age 19 and her parents buried her under her favorite trees on the property. In time that land became Pinewood Cemetery, making Aleena the first to be laid to rest at Pinewood.
· Among those buried in Pinewood are Charles Doughtery, the first local congressman, and Charles Bugoyne, the first mayor of Seabreeze, a town which eventually became part of Daytona Beach proper.
· You'll find veterans from the Civil War, WWI and WWII buried at Pinewood.
Stop by and say hello to these dedicated history preservationists on Main Street during the bike events this year.
