Community Snapshot: Cemetery marks our history

It is part of Bonita Springs' history, but, like other edifices, it finds itself isolated near a busy intersection.

The "it" is Bonita Springs Cemetery at Bonita Beach Road and Imperial Street. The small cemetery is now under a moratorium on burials, so no more local history will be written on headstones in the park.

First Baptist Church of Bonita Springs and the First United Methodist Church of Bonita Springs have owned the cemetery since the 1940s, when it was deeded to the congregations by the Walker family.

Today it stands as a marker to the past as the present day traffic whizzes past (or, during the tourist season, crawls past). A look among the headstones reveals familiar family names in the community and an interesting snapshot of other families' losses.

Today the Sunday Banner begins a two-week look at the cemetery and its headstones. From those decrying a land of "injustice" to a small headstone for a family's infant, the cemetery is part of the local lore.