MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Halloween season evokes ghouls floating through graveyards.

  • Manatee Village Historical Park is offering Tombstone Tours
  • The historical tour is guided by torch light 
  • The tours take place on the second and third weekends in October 
  • To purchase tickets click here

One group of history lovers is capitalizing on the spirit of Halloween in Manatee County.

There are no ghosts jumping out at you, and there are no strobe lights. Manatee Village Historical Park’s Tombstone Tour is simply a way to honor those who have gone before us.

Every tomb marks a life. Even through the passage of time, every tombstone offers a footnote on that life.

The words and dates are the keys to a much bigger story.

The Manatee Burying Ground opened in 1850, about a decade after the hardscrabble community formed there. It sits just across the street from the Manatee Village Historical Park.

Kathryn Rohlwing, the Park Supervisor, emphasizes that life was very different in the mid-19th century.

“There was a woman who gave birth to a child under a table during a hurricane trying to protect herself,” Rohlwing said. “She’s just one of the many examples of how pioneers in this area survived things that we can’t even imagine.”

These footnotes on the tombstones retrace the footsteps of history.

Guides in period dress from the Historical Park narrate these stories on a torch-lit tour of the burial ground.

Beyond the inscriptions, imagery carved into rock emphasizes a family’s highest values.

Symbols, like calla lilies, represent marriage and fidelity, while palms symbolize triumph over death. Acorns and oak leaves signify strength and honor.

For some like Permelia Griffin, the grave itself is the symbol.

“Permelia Griffin moved here from Ohio. She died in 1857,” Rohlwing said. “She has a really beautiful marble headstone and fence around her grave.”

These 19th century extravagances, a rare sight in this cemetery, were symbols of wealth and status.

So while they may be gone, the early community’s tombstones keep their stories alive.

“We just want to share those stories and remind people how hard our ancestors worked to make Manatee County and the Village of Manatee continue to thrive and exist to this day,” Rohlwing added.

The tombstone tours are taking place the second and third weekends in October. You can purchase tickets by clicking here.