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CEDAR GROVE CEMETERY

609 South Maple St., Lebanon, TN 37087

directions

Take I-40 East for 28 miles to Exit 238, US 231 South toward Lebanon. Turn left onto US 231 South. Follow this road for a mile before turning left onto West Adams Avenue. Turn left onto South Maple Street. Cedar Grove will be the cemetery on your left. The cemetery on your right is another one called Memorial Cemetery that is not reputed to be haunted.

history

Even though Cedar Grove Cemetery has been the city cemetery of Lebanon, Tennessee, since 1823, it wasn’t at its current location until it was moved from the churchyard of the College Street Church of Christ in 1846. Many of the important men from the area are buried here in this cemetery, including a Confederate general, a Tennessee governor, and a Supreme Court chief justice.

The cemetery itself also contains more than 130 Confederate soldiers who died during the war or were veterans who died later. The cemetery remains in use and is still growing. The cemetery land encompasses 34.6 acres, but at this point only 23 acres are being used for burials.

ghost story

There is only one ghost story reported here at Cedar Grove, but this story is repeated quite often. At night, when gazing into the cemetery from outside its gates, people will often see strange lights moving throughout the cemetery. Many times these lights will be purple and white and will float among the headstones quickly.

Oftentimes people will see these lights out of the corner of their eyes and then will look closer to find that the lights have vanished. Other times, people will see the lights clearly and they will slowly float throughout the cemetery. These lights will look almost like distant lanterns being carried by some unseen spirits.

visiting

It is difficult to describe the rules for visiting this cemetery. First of all, the ghosts here are lights, so the only time that you can experience these ghosts is after dark. Many of the sightings have been made by people who are on the adjacent street. These witnesses will see the lights from the public road and will watch them in fascination until they vanish.

Watching the lights from the street is probably the best way to experience these ghosts, but there is another way. This cemetery does not close. The cemetery staff would prefer that everyone stay out of the cemetery after dark, but officially, the cemetery is open throughout the night. We believe that it is just as easy to experience these ghosts from outside the cemetery gates as it is within, but if you see something strange inside and want to take a closer look, it is not illegal to enter the cemetery.

There is also a candlelight tour of the cemetery every October. The tour does not tell any ghost stories or encourage ghosts in any way, but it is a guided tour of the cemetery after dark that does focus on the more famous grave sites.