'It will be there forever': Owner of Florida Civil War cemetery vows to protect the land

ORLANDO, Fla. - As development increases off Apopka Vineland Road, the owner of a cemetery that has two Civil War soldiers buried in it tells FOX 35 that he is taking the steps to protect it.

A very small but special cemetery from 1924 is located on land off Apopka Vineland Road in Orlando. Owner Scott Henderson said that the property around it will be developed but the cemetery will stay put, along with two war heroes who are buried there.

"There are two old Civil War graves, Charles H. Foster from the 3rd Massachusetts Calvary and Washington Ludwig from the 1st New York Light Artillery," he explained.

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Henderson originally owned five acres of land but later sold everything except the cemetery.

"The cemetery will remain. It's roughly a 25-by-25 square foot area and so the metal fence and oblique will be preserved," he said.

He said a buffer with trees will be created around the cemetery and the developer will be responsible for maintaining the cemetery.

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"We haven’t gotten a historical plaque, but that’s one of the things we’d like to do, just haven’t done it," Henderson said.

He added that what the cemetery means to him is "a long history, with great fun."

Cornelia Bush, a member of Daughters of the American Revolution, praised Henderson, stating that "the property owner has done something wonderful, which is to protect this little cemetery."

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She added that she is willing to guide Henderson in preserving the cemetery and get the historic plaque he wants to hang so that people realize the importance of the graves.

"We volunteer to photograph the tombstones and take a GPS reading. And we do this in order to make sure that cemeteries are not destroyed," Bush explained.

Henderson hopes the development attracts more people to the site.

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"It doesn’t matter to me if it’s out in the middle of a shopping center or not. The point is, people will come up and look at it," he explained. 

Through this cemetery and the soldiers that fought in the Civil War, Henderson believes it will never be forgotten.

"It’s not going away, it will be there forever," he said.

Tune in to FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.