Collection: Fernhill Memorial Gardens - Stuart
Fernhill Cemetery was created in 1905, when Stuart was a tiny settlement with only a handful of permanent residents. Pineapples were king back then, and winter tourists had discovered the pristine and fertile fishing grounds of the St. Lucie River. As Stuart's population grew, so did its need for a cemetery.
There are 2 versions of how Fernhill Cemetery came to be. Ethel Porter, an early settler and former trustee of the cemetery, attributed the idea of creating a cemetery to “Uncle” Broster Kitching. But Aldema Hogarth credited her father-in-law, Captain Thomas Hogarth. What we know is this: On November 18, 1905, charter members of the Stuart Cemetery Association elected Charles W. McPherson, Byron G. Ball and Curt Schroeder as cemetery trustees. Broster was treasurer, a position he continued until he died in 1915. The association drew up bylaws and the trustees were instructed to buy land for the cemetery. They purchased property off what is now South Kanner Highway, just nort