A piece of Panama City history recognized: Oakland Cemetery gets historical landmark
Samantha NeelyBAY COUNTY — The Oakland Cemetery was recognized as an official part of Bay County history on Wednesday.
The City of Panama City and the Bay County Historical Society held a ceremony to honor the cemetery with an official Bay County Historical Marker to recognize the site as an important and essential part of local history.
City Manager Mark McQueen said it was important to recognize those who have gone before the current generation and helped provide the lives everyone now enjoys.
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“When we think about today, we think about acknowledging our past, our present and looking to the future,” McQueen said. “Today is a singularly outstanding day because of commitment and passion and dedication.”
The Oakland Cemetery was established in 1908 by George M. West, a founding father of Panama City. Prior to this, there were some graves already on the site, with the oldest being that of Armina Mosher in 1895. West farmed and plotted the land himself.
The ceremony was attended by some of the West family, including Buddy West, who is the great-great-grandson of George West. Buddy West said the marker was a surprise to him but he and his family think it is fantastic.
“This is great, just to know that the city is coming back in and fixing the cemetery up,” Buddy West said. “It really looks nice.”
Nancy Hudson, author and board member for the Historic St. Andrews Waterfront Partnership, was one of biggest advocates in getting a historical marker for the cemetery and is taking the steps to get a national marker for it in the future.
“We hope to complete the paperwork, we’re in the preliminary process right now to get it on the national register for historic places,” Hudson said.
Currently, Hudson has an exbibit at the Panama City Publishing Museum that highlights West and his friendship to fellow important figure, Hawk Massalina. The exhibit runs until Oct. 30, showing residents a glimpse of the town’s origins and the partnership between two settlers.
By having this marker and potentially soon a national one, Hudson said this will add one more feature to make residents proud of the city.
“Panama City and Bay County don’t have that many [historical markers] compared to a lot of other counties in the state of Florida,” Hudson said. “This would be nice to have this contributing site, it's part of a greater complex.”
Bay County leaders recognize how important it is to preserve and protect historical sites. Especially after Hurricane Michael, the city will do whatever it can do to uphold a piece of history so future generations can future enjoy it, officials say.
“There’s a lot of challenges that our citizens have faced,” McQueen said. “And all the while though, they're making history as we’re going through these journeys.”