Expedition Team: Dave Miller
Date: May 15, 2026
There is an urban legend associated with a mausoleum of Adler Rawlings at this cemetery, so on a recent trip I stopped by the cemetery to investigate. The cemetery was enclosed with a decorative stone wall and wrought iron fence. Established in 1873, the cemetery fell into disrepair and was a major hangout area for homeless people in the 1950’s and 1960’s and in the 1970’s for teenagers and delinquents.
As the lore of Dr. Rawlings, he was prominent in the medical profession and as a resident and passed away in 1948. His mausoleum was quite expensive and had brass gates. In 1972, teens broke the brass gates and entered the mausoleum. It is said that over time they used the mausoleum as a clubhouse and vandalized the inside. Eventually, the gang opened the casket and threw the casket, and Dr. Rawlings remains outside. Legend has it that some of the youth played golf using the doctor’s skull and leg bones. The next day police and workers retrieved the good doctors’ remains and the casket and replaced them in the mausoleum, sealing it shut. Dr. Rawlings skull remained missing.
The urban legend is that Daytona Beach residents have seen at night a shadow figure of a man without a head walking on the street or in the cemetery. For my investigation, I walked through the entire cemetery from the Main Street entrance on the south to the Auditorium Blvd entrance on the north. Locals use the main cemetery path as a cut-through route.
The cemetery is now well kept and police patrol the area. The entrance gates are locked every day by 4pm. I located the Rawlings Mausoleum, took photos and did several EVP’s without obtaining any evidence. Even in the bustle of the traffic and people at the nearby Ocean Center, parking lots, auditorium and waterpark, I can see this small cemetery still being quite creepy at night. Yet, no night investigation is possible due to the security.
