Community members in Daytona Beach come together to repair the oldest cemetery near the beach

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Several residents are joining forces in a grassroots effort to revamp Pinewood Cemetery, located right off Main Street.

When strolling through the cemetery, you will immediately notice the state of disrepair with broken benches, fallen headstones, and overgrown weeds. Adding to the challenge of navigating the area, the driveway is now obscured, making it difficult to access the site.

This newly established nonprofit organization has set out on a mission to revitalize Pinewood Cemetery into a place where individuals can delve into the rich history of Daytona Beach, which lies buried within its grounds.

Describing the current situation, volunteer Ed “Heavy” Kastrul lamented, “It has essentially been abandoned. The original owners are practically non-existent; the cemetery ceased operations sometime around the 1920s.”

For years, volunteers from the local Masonic Lodge have tried to take care of Pinewood Cemetery. However, for the first time in nearly 100 years, a dedicated group has formed to care for it around the clock.

“Right now, it’s nothing to be proud of. Not that it’s anybody’s fault. It just hasn’t had the passion and love that people like us could bring to this,” Kastrul explained.

The group is now known as the Historic Pinewood Cemetery Corporation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

“The amount of things when you walk through here that are exceptional and out of the ordinary are really cool,” said Tom Caffrey, another volunteer.

Over time, many records have been lost, but it’s estimated that over 1,700 people have been buried here since the first burial in 1887. Some of those buried at Pinewood include the first settlers who named Daytona Beach.

“All of them are buried in here other than Mathias Day,” Caffrey noted.

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Among those interred is one of the brothers from the “Real McCoy” family, famous rum runners during Prohibition.

“They ran the operation out of what’s now Joe’s Crab Shack at the pier, and they would drop through a hatch in the floor all of the prohibition booze,” Caffrey added.

The cemetery is also the final resting place of historic Daytona Beach leaders, including the city’s first police chief.

The group is just getting started with cleanup efforts while also digging into the history of the land and its inhabitants. They hope to make Pinewood Cemetery a place worth visiting.

“Some signage in here that tells a story about the place as you’re walking through it and the different sections and how things are. Hopefully, we can have some ghost tours for another Friday the 13th or Halloween,” Kastrul said. “Mark my words, for the Fourth of July 2026, for the city’s birthday and the nation’s birthday, this is going to be something really cool to come back and see what this progresses into.”

Anyone interested in helping or donating to restore Pinewood Cemetery can find more information through the group.