Oaklawn Cemetery Walking Tour
Explore Oaklawn Cemetery with Fred Hearns, one of Tampa Bay’s foremost historians and the Tampa Bay History Center’s first curator of Black history. A longtime journalist, community leader and former City of Tampa human rights director, Hearns has spent decades researching and preserving the stories of Tampa’s people and neighborhoods.
During this 90-minute tour, Hearns guides guests through Oaklawn Cemetery, Tampa’s oldest public burial ground. Established in 1850 as a burial place for “white and slave, rich and poor,” Oaklawn reflects the social, political and cultural history of Tampa’s earliest years.
Guests will encounter the graves of 13 Tampa mayors, a Florida governor, enslaved people, individuals connected to Tampa’s stories of piracy, cigar industry leader Vicente Martinez-Ybor and more than 200 Native Americans. The cemetery also contains two mass burial sites that reveal additional dimensions of the city’s solemn and complex past.
Hearns connects these burial places to the broader development of Tampa, drawing upon his extensive knowledge of African American history, civil rights and the communities that shaped the city. His work brings greater recognition to people whose experiences and contributions have often been overlooked while demonstrating how Black history remains inseparable from Tampa’s history.
Local guests will gain a deeper understanding of the people and events that shaped the city they know today. Visitors from outside Tampa will discover how one historic cemetery preserves stories spanning race, politics, industry, immigration and community life.
The tour begins at the south entrance of Oaklawn Cemetery, 606 E. Harrison St., Tampa, FL 33602, between Morgan and Jefferson streets. Guests will stop at notable sites while walking along the cemetery’s shaded paths. Comfortable shoes and weather-appropriate clothing are recommended. Guests may also want to bring bottled water.
Advance tickets are required. History Center members save 20% on walking tours and should log in before purchasing to apply the discount.
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The history center is open daily from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
**Galleries are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas and open until 3 p.m. on Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
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