ORANGE BEACH — The Bear Point Cemetery property has likely been in use for more than 200 years and is now awaiting action from city council to determine whether it will become the city's first municipal cemetery.

Orange Beach is set to create an ordinance section for regulating the care and maintenance of municipal cemeteries that would allow it to accept the donation of the Bear Point Cemetery, which was recommended by the Orange Beach Volunteer Fire Department (OBVFD) in 2022.

A municipal cemetery is regulated and maintained by a municipality, as specified in Section 11-47-40 in the Code of Alabama.

The Bear Point Cemetery, also known as the Orange Beach Community Cemetery, was approved for donation to the city at the OBVFD board meeting in November 2022. At the same meeting the OBVFD voted to dissolve the volunteer fire department.

The ordinance, set to be voted on at the May 20 City Council meeting, also sets in place regulations for administration and maintenance of the cemetery. It details how the mayor is to appoint a city employee to serve as Cemetery Director, who makes decisions on behalf of the cemetery and defends the protocol involved with the protection of burial plots.

The ordinance details the sale of burial plots, policies surrounding monuments and grave markers, how the advisory board is to be formed, specifics surrounding cremation and general regulations.

Also specified in the ordinance are the policies for maintaining burial plots including a limit of three bouquets allowed on each grave and how flower arrangements should be placed on a grave. This section also prohibits metal hooks and glass containers for flowers. It also states faded or deteriorated flowers will be removed by the cemetery director's discretion.

HISTORY BEHIND BEAR POINT CEMETERY

When asked about information on the Bear Point Cemetery, Orange Beach History Museum Guide Eric Daily recommended "The Best Place to Be: The Story of Orange Beach, Alabama" by Margaret Long and Michael Shipler, which focuses on Orange Beach's history. He said copies of this book are for sale in the museum, which is located at 4099 Orange Beach Blvd. and open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday through Friday.

In the book, Long and Shipler mention how many members of the Walker family are buried at Bear Point Cemetery. The Walker family, along with the Callaway family, were one of the early, "prominent" families who settled in Orange Beach, according to the book. Descendants from both families are still living in the area.

"From the 1870's through to today the community of Orange Beach has had two prominent families, the Callaways and the Walkers," reads the first part of the "A Little Genealogy" chapter. "Of course, other families were involved with the development of the community, but even many of them quickly became connected with these families."

The Bear Point Cemetery is located toward the east end of Canal Road in the Bear Point community in Orange Beach. According to a historical marker on the site, the area was called Bear Point because bears used to inhabit that section of the island. The marker also gives background information on the cemetery.

"The property where the cemetery is located was part of a Spanish Land Grant issued to the Suarez family prior to the War of 1812," the historic marker reads. "In 1925, a United States Land Patent was confirmed and issued. The property has been in use since the days of Spanish West Florida and perhaps even before this time."

According to the Florida Department of State website's history section called "European Exploration and Colonization," the days of Spanish West Florida was a time between 1781 and 1821 roughly, meaning the site has been in use for more than 200 years.

The marker goes on to read how the property was donated by the Low and McKibbon families to the OBVFD in 1979 where it was operated "under strict guidelines." Many of the graves are unmarked but "stories have been passed down" surrounding some of the unnamed people buried there such as a family that died of fever and two soldiers who shipwrecked on the beach.

Soldiers from the U.S. Civil War are also buried there along with other military veterans, the first operator of the U.S. Mail Boat service in the area, the first postmistress of Caswell (a community located in what is now Orange Beach), early boat builders and boat captains.

According to the marker, "the OBVFD performed a ground penetrating radar survey to confirm grave locations and occupancy."

According to an AL.com article from 2009, 84 bodies were found to be buried in the cemetery after Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon wanted to have his father buried in 2000, before Kennon was mayor. When the grave was dug, a body was found in what appeared to be an empty plot, prompting the radar survey by the OBVFD.

"There were bodies all over with no stones," Kennon was quoted as saying.

Orange Beach set to establish ordinance to accept Bear Point Cemetery as a municipal cemeteryKennon did not respond to a request for comment before press time.