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Originally called Williams Cemetery, Indianola Pioneer Cemetery sits on 5 acres of land a few miles from the Kennedy Space Center. Nestled at the end of an unpaved road, the cemetery has water on two sides and a thick canopy of Florida foliage. Established in 1898, Indianola Pioneer Cemetery holds the graves of the families who settled Merritt Island, including war veterans of the Civil War and both World Wars. Get to the cemetery by turning west on Marine Harbor Drive, at the drawbridge near the intersection of State Road 3 (Courtenay Parkway) and State Road 528 (Beeline/Beachline Expressway) in Brevard County.
Indianola Pioneer cemetery is the final resting place of early white settlers who carved homesteads out of the lush growth of the Florida peninsula. It was created on November 4, 1898, when Thomas H Sanders and his wife, Mary recognized that the residence of this section of Brevard County, generally known as Indianola, were urgently in need of a public place of burial or cemetery and donated land for that purpose. Thomas and his brother William, both Civil War veterans, move their families to Brevard county after the war and established citrus Farms. The original deed referred to Evergreen Cemetery, which later became known as Indianola Cemetery. Today, the cemetery covers 4.36 acres, and its oldest grave marker is dated seven years before the land was deed to the community. Among the cemeteries 328 gravesites are the original settlers of Merritt Island and their descendants. Military veterans of the Spanish American war through the Vietnam conflict are laid to rest along with hearty pioneer school teachers, farmers, and laborers, who helped build communities on Merritt Island.
Florida Today Article - 11/21/2001