Sacred Acre Postcard

This is a modest, peaceful cemetery located within the sacred mission grounds (sometimes referred to in connection with the “Sacred Acre”). It sits among large live oak trees draped with Spanish moss, near the shrine chapel and other historic features. Visitors can walk through it as part of a self-guided tour of the shrine grounds. The cemetery was primarily active between 1884 and 1892 (after the closure of the older Tolomato Cemetery in St. Augustine). It served the local Catholic community during that period. The mission grounds themselves have been considered sacred since 1565, when the first Catholic Mass in what is now the United States was celebrated nearby by Father Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales. The cemetery contains a diverse group of burials that reflect the complex history of the area: Six Sisters of St. Joseph — French nuns who arrived in St. Augustine in 1866 to teach formerly enslaved people how to read and write. Civil War veterans from both Union and Confederate sides, including Union Coloured Troops. Late 19th-century parishioners from the local Catholic community. Remains of Native Americans, which were discovered during archaeological excavations on the mission grounds and respectfully re-interred here in the early 2000s. One of the most noteable aspects is that soldiers of every race and from opposing sides of the Civil War were buried together here — a quiet symbol of unity in a place already steeped in early American Catholic and Spanish colonial history. It’s a small, contemplative space rather than a large formal cemetery, and many visitors find walking through it a moving part of their visit to the shrine.