GLENWOOD, Fla. — Residents of Glenwood, a small community outside DeLand, are hoping their neighbors will help clean up an abandoned, predominantly black cemetery.
Channel 9's Steve Barrett was at the cemetery Monday, and spoke with some who said they already plan to step up and volunteer.
A lot of the tombstones are breaking up or falling over, Barrett found, including one for John Boone, which says he was a World War I veteran who was buried next to his wife after dying in 1956.
Photos: Abandoned Glenwood cemetery in Volusia County
"It's pretty sad, pretty sad," said Volusia County resident Steve Roland. "There (are) a lot of stones here. You can't even see them. It's all grown up."
Deep in the woods are dozens of grave markers that are hard to find.
The cemetery dates back to the 1880s and was still used for burials until the end of the 1900s. Over the past 20 years, however, it has sat abandoned.
"I think it's really sad," said resident Karen Roland. "Apparently, maybe families have been deceased and there's really been nobody to keep up after it."
While many of the tombstones are crumbled or hard to find, the Rolands said they've decided to volunteer in hopes of cleaning up the cemetery, and they hope others will join them.
"It really needs to be cleaned up," said Karen Roland. "Somebody needs to make an effort to do it, and we're willing to help."