Lakeview Cemetery is a historical cemetery in Sanford, established on January 14, 1883, by the Sanford Cemetery Company. In 1937 it was acquired by the city of Sanford. There is so much history among the majestic oak trees dripping in Spanish moss.
The cemetery contains the gravesites of Sanford's earliest pioneers like John Hughey and Elias Woodruff. John Hughey, of South Carolina, arrived in 1845 to claim land granted to him by the Armed Occupation Act of 1842. He settled on land that later became known as Sanford Heights. Elias Woodruff served under General Andrew Jackson in New Orleans during the War of 1812. The most unusual grave in the cemetery is that of Old Bob. Bob was a horse that passed away in 1914 after pulling the hearse for the T.J. Miller Funeral Home to the Lakeview Cemetery for 28 years.
As you head through the cemetery there is a beautiful gazebo that is believed to date to the 1920's. At the back of the cemetery, on the east side next to the fence is Babyland. The smallest graves are strewn with faded toys but even among this heartbreaking scene I saw beauty. Keeping watch over the babies were several gopher tortoises. read more