The Real Haunted Story Of Bonaventure Cemetery

Cemeteries aren't exactly at the top of most. 'S lists. Over in Paris, France, in Paris Cemetery, you can see the water. You can understand why people are so curious about the place. It is the final resting place of many famous people, including rock star Jim Morrison of The Doors.

Writer Oscar Wilde, composer Frederick Chopin and French national treasure Édith Piaf, among many others. But there is another American Southern cemetery, Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GA, that is just as magnificent as the one in Paris and a true marvel in its own right. Natural Cathedral is one way to characterize this stunning cemetery on the 17 mile long Wilmington River, which is located about 3 miles outside of downtown Savannah.

The many ornate and weathered monuments dot this cemetery, which is bordered by huge stately Live Oak trees draped in Spanish Moss that provide a spooky shadow along the meandering pathways. During the spring and summer, azaleas and camellias explode with color, providing a welcome contrast to the dreariness of the season. You will sense an emotional upheaval the moment you reach the front gate. The 100 acres of this unique site have moved countless people for countless years.

In 1762, John Malrin, a prominent British loyalist, was the 1st to buy the property. Authorities in the area confiscated Mr. Malrine's property and put it up for sale after the American War of Independence ended. Because anyone who remained loyal to the British Crown were persecuted. The property went through three more owners until being formally bought by the City of Savannah in 1907.

It is still in the possession of the city today. The land was subsequently designated as a public cemetery by the city. People who are fascinated by the supernatural and hauntings find Bonaventure Cemetery to be the site of many urban legends. As one would expect. The cemetery is greatly indebted to a 1994 book that went on to become a big screen adaptation, and the same goes for the other way around. The novel midnight in the Garden of Good and evil, by John Barrett. Is a first person narrative set in the old South with a murder investigation set against the background of Savannah.

The cover art includes a statue of a girl with two Little bowls, one in each hand, a little girl named Lorraine Greenman. Sat for artist Sylvia Shaw. Judson and legend has it that her spirit lingers around. Even though it wasn't crucial to the plot of the book, Little Wendy's sudden literary fame caused her to become an idol, and her owners donated the statue to the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah so that it wouldn't be destroyed. Gracie Watsons or Little Gracie sculpture, is another well known example of an item that has inspired imaginative tales.

John Walls, an artist, used just a picture to create a marble monument honoring the six year old child who died. Of pneumonia. Where her father's hotel previously stood in Johnson Square has been the site of long running sightings of a small girl matching her description, playing according to urban mythology, she goes by the name of a seemingly ordinary female in a white dress.

Who mysteriously disappears as soon as you approach her for some little Gracie is far from dead. She supposedly screams blood tears if her toys are taken away so visitors leave them for her to play with, particularly around Christmas. Minerva was midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil features the mysterious voodoo priestess who is really modelled on Valerie Fennel. Aiken Bowls a real life inhabitant of Savannah, the book Immortalises. Bulls who cast hexes and charms and gathers dirt from cemeteries for her rituals. She has since passed away.

Tourists now often bring soil samples from Bona Venture home as mementos. Not even the most renowned bona venture inhabitants like Johnny Mercer, a Grammy winning recording musician from Savannah or Conrad Aiken, a former American poet laureate. Have shown any signs of showing up in first hand stories, but if you do decide to stop by and hear the faint sounds of Hurray for Hollywood playing in the background. You may want to consider it as a sign.