Oaklawn opened in 1859 as Tampa's first public cemetery. The first person buried here was an unnamed slave who was owned by the Lesley family. A slave burial ground is located in the center, along with grave sites of prominent citizens Nancy Ashley, Benjamin and Fortune Taylor, and Vicente Martinez Ybor.

The remains of over 60 known Confederate veterans are also interred here, including Major John T. Lesley who organized the local Confederate company, the Sunny South Guards, at the outbreak of the war.

Lesley later served as a company commander of the Cow Cavalry which defended Florida cattle herds from Union raids. Also buried in the cemetery is businessman James McKay, Sr. who was Tampa's most active Civil War blockade runner. He also served as commissary officer of the Fifth Florida District responsible for supplying the Confederate armies with South Florida cattle.

His son, James McKay, Jr., served as a captain in the Florida Cow Cavalry and is also buried in this cemetery. The cemetery contains several small Civil War monuments. A small marble marker at the grave of Darwin B. Givens states that, as a small boy, he alerted Tampa of the 1864 Union invasion with the cry- the devils are coming.

A small stone marker notes that an 8-inch shell landed in the cemetery during the bombardment of Tampa by the USS Sagamore on June 30-July 1, 1862.

Image Courtesy William Lees, Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN).

Information provided by the Florida Department of State.