Savannah, Georgia, is widely considered to be among the most haunted cities in the US. It's incredibly historic, the setting for many a ghost story, and, let's face it: there's something eerily beautiful about all that hanging Spanish moss.
Bonaventure Cemetery is one of the city's largest cemeteries and it's also home to many chilling tales. Even if you're not a strong believer in the paranormal, you'll likely feel something in the air here. This is an incredibly gorgeous place, one of the prettiest spots in an extremely pretty city, but there's also a subtle creepiness about it that you feel in your veins as you stroll through the graves.
The first burial in Bonaventure Cemetery took place in 1846. The cemetery is located on the grounds of the Bonaventure Plantation, a 600-acre farm founded in 1762 on a bluff along the Wilmington River. The plantation's mansion was destroyed in a fire in 1804, but the land would pass through various families before eventually becoming a public cemetery. The graveyard gained national prominence in 1994 with the release of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." This non-fiction novel (and later film) is a dramatized account of the trial related to the 1981 murder of Savannah resident Danny Hansford.
Bonaventure may not have become a household name until the release of "The Book," as you'll sometimes hear it called in Savannah, but Georgians have long known about this place, thanks largely to its otherworldly beauty. There are several prominent names interred here, including poet Conrad Aiken and Revolutionary statesmen Noble Jones.
One of the most-visited graves here was not a famous person in life, but she has certainly made a name for herself in death. "Little Gracie" Watson's grave is surrounded by an iron fence, and it's not unusual to see it decorated with toys and gifts left by visitors. The little girl was born in 1883 and was the daughter of the manager of Savannah's Pulaski Hotel. She passed away in 1889 after a battle with pneumonia. Her father commissioned the life-sized sculpture that now adorns her grave, and many visitors to Savannah report seeing her ghost dancing in Johnson Square, where the Pulaski Hotel once stood.
This being a cemetery in what is possibly the country's most haunted city, it goes without saying that there are quite a few legends swirling around ghosts and spookiness in the graveyard. Many of the graves here feature elaborate statues similar to Little Gracie's, and you'll see biblical figures like angels as well as statues representing the deceased that have long since left this world. Visitors often report seeing some of these statues move or change expressions, and many a marble angel has allegedly been seeing crying.
Ghosts aside, this place is incredibly beautiful, and it's always one of my favorite spots to visit just to relax and think. In Victorian times, families would picnic and stroll through cemeteries like we do in parks today. Nowadays, it may seem a little odd to be walking around surrounded by death, but when you're in a place as beautiful as Bonaventure, it becomes a little more understandable as to why people would come here to relax.
I love seeing the way the light dances upon the statues and headstones here, and how the sunlight looks so different throughout the day and year. Watching the shadows dart through the spooky Spanish moss draped all around gives the entire place a completely unique ambiance that I've never felt in any other cemetery. The abundance of trees and azalea bushes means that even on a day where it's crowded with sightseers, you can find a quiet corner to be alone with your thoughts.
It's impossible to walk through and read the headstones and not think about the lives that all these people led, so long ago. I find the little sheep figures designating a child's grave to be particularly haunting - seeing them makes you think about love and loss, those brilliant lives cut short and how their birth and death were such noteworthy days for their families - noteworthy days that came far too close together.
Savannah is such a unique city that's full of amazing destinations, but I find few to be as utterly enchanting as Bonaventure Cemetery. Whether you love history, natural beauty, or are a fan of the spooky and creepy, this is an amazing destination for anyone to visit. If you're looking to get an up-close-and-personal look at the cemetery, check out some of the guided tours offered through Viator.
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