We just reached 50 supporters! Special thanks to everyone who's supported the cause, shared the link, or helped spread the word. Every bit of support, whether sharing, signing, or promoting, helps us reach new people and keep Eden Cemetery's history alive. To forget this cemetery is to forget the people who built our community. By supporting Eden Cemetery, we honor their lives, their labor, and the heritage that defines the Treasure Coast today. Supported by the community, in honor of past generations.                                                                                                                              Cemetery Evolution & Preservation History: (1890-1902)- Union Church (1898)- Capt. Richards, deeded land to serve as community burial ground. (1902 -1917)- Eden Congregational Church. (1928)- Eden Congregational Chapel destroyed by a hurricane.   (1939)- Restoration meeting Capt. John Miller's home; community clean up, 60 plots laid out, roadway and well added. (1951)- Walton & Eden Club appoints clean up committee. (1973)- Site visit 12 graves remain, only 4 marked, Hutchinson name tag missing from gate. (1983)- News Tribune Julie Enders visit; dense overgrowth, machete's used to cut vegetation. (1999)- Sandra Thurlow, writes St. Lucie Property Appraiser seeking ownership status; mapping department found "Eden Cemetery" fully tax-exempt recommended forming committee to apply for historic designation; letter notes: overgrown, declare historic site given Richards family importance. (2003)- Tim Harrington: Appraiser's Office told him County owns the cemetery. He planned to advocate for a preservation board for the cemetery. (2003)- Tim Harrington on site with Steve Fousek and Diana Waite: County expressed interest in a restoration and maintenance plan, including fencing and exotic vegetation removal. (2004)- Tim Harrington: County's request to start restoration was paused. John Duerden sought title to preserve site; if no progress was made with the title transfer, staff recommended moving forward. No title was obtained by Duerden, and no request to move forward was issued by the County. (2014)- Sandra Thurlow: since her last visit in 1999, no parking area, cemetery could not be entered due to overgrowth and there were doubts about locating gravestones or iron fencing. (2020)- Sandra Thurlow organizes files and passes scans and contacts to Brandon Weston. (2021)- First visit to the cemetery: Audry Leitch, Judy Viny, Brandon Weston:  parked on side of the dirt easement road. Cleared a path with a machete to enter the interior of the cemetery grounds through very heavy overgrowth. After approximately four hours of searching, three large headstones were located along with one small headstone marked "Love."  Documented with photographs and notes on their location. (2021) Second visit to the cemetery: Judy Viny and Brandon Weston: parked on the side of the dirt easement road. Located the previous path cut through heavy overgrowth; location of headstone's confirmed again. Started looking for Hutchinson's iron fence and gate. After three hours using a machete to clear debris, located the iron fence buried under a large fallen pepper tree. Removed the pepper tree debris and uncovered the iron fence and gate. Condition was still stable and not too bad with rusting. Documented with photographs and notes on its location. (2021)- Audry Leitch brings the photograph evidence of the headstones and property condition to the St. Lucie County Commissioners meeting. Audry a Richards family descendant asks what can be done to move forward with cleaning up the property and protecting the family's resting place. A decision was made to visit the site and confirm its status. Brandon was contacted by Audry to see if he could meet County staff to show them the location of the headstones, and the iron fence and gate. Brandon agreed to meet with the County and show them the locations. No contact was made by the County to Audry or Brandon to meet for the location of the headstones or to look over the condition of property. (2025/07/15)- Audry Leitch, Sandy Thurlow, Patty Childs, Judy Viny, Brandon Weston: Parked on the side of the dirt easement road. Condition of easement road was washed out. Trees have been cut along the easement road and left on the ground, with some large piles pushed onto the cemetery property. A new entrance needed to be cut to enter the interior of the cemetery. Used a machete to locate headstones and the iron fence. Captain Thomas's headstone is being lifted by a tree root, which is putting the stone on an angle and will eventually fall over. (2025/07/20)- Robyn Hutchinson, Roberta Murray, Audry Leitch, Judy Viny, Brandon Weston: Parked on the side of the dirt easement road. Used a machete to make a path to the headstones and iron fence and gate. Visit was to document condition of cemetery and make a plan of action to get the photographs and the Eden Cemetery sourcebook made from the historical documents collected on the the Eden Cemetery to the St. Lucie County Commission, St. Lucie County Historical Committee and the St.Lucie County Historical Society to see what can be done with the Eden Cemetery located in the St.Lucie County Historic District. Information was given to St. Lucie County Historical Society. No answer as of today. (2025/10/11)- Current plan of action: Organize a community support using the signatures from this petition to demonstrate public interest, and show that the restoration of Eden Cemetery is a shared community effort. The goal is to present the petition signatures, photographs, and the Eden Cemetery sourcebook to the St. Lucie County Historical Committee at one of their public meetings. Then the Historical Committee will recommend to the County Commission what actions should be taken at the cemetery. Hopefully, this will be the one last attempt that finally get the ball moving.  If you made it this far, you're now fully up to date on the project - and I cant thank you enough for standing with us to help restore and preserve Eden Cemetery!