Saturday, May 31, 2008

Laurel Grove Cemetery

































I guess I'm on a cemetery kick today, well I'm really just trying to play catch up on some much needed, and much missed blogging. When one of my best friends from North Carolina was in town two weeks ago, we went all over Savannah, and spent a lot of time exploring cemeteries in the area. Laurel Grove which isn't quite as popular as Bonaventure, and is off the beaten path is one of those.
Laurel Grove was developed in 1850 when Colonial Park Cemetery and others were filling up way to fast. Families actually were offered to moved deceased relatives from these cemeteries to Laurel Grove for free, which many did. The cemetery is built on a portion of the old Springfield plantation, and is named for the native laurel oaks which once filled the land. The cemetery was also developed as a segregated cemetery, and today is managed as two cemeteries. Laurel Grove North is the white section, and Laurel Grove South is the black section. As we explored we came upon many a strange sight. A section where babies were buried has a sign up called "baby land." This freaked me out to much, so I didn't take a picture, but Ramsey did, so when she emails me the pictures I'll post it for ya'll, even though it creeps me out just a tad bit. Also odd to us was the "Stranger's ground," which is scattered throughout the whole cemetery. I am assuming that these are burial sights of unknown people. There were no gravestones here, just lone signs. Their is a whole section of confederate soldiers graves here as well. Some of them are marked unknown, others not. This is a beautiful section of the cemetery, and very open, as a vast majority of the cemetery is shady and covered in Spanish moss that grows like wild fire down here, but we do love it so. The confederate section of the cemetery is reportedly one of the most active as far a paranormal activity goes. As Ramsey and I slowly drove around, she caught at one point movement out of the corner of her eye, which freaked her out a little, but of course we high tailed it to the place she saw the movement, and we were welcomed by a rather large monument with the name "Smith." Laurel Grove is quiet and pleasant, and has quiet a peace to it. You feel as though you are walking among spirits there, but it wasn't creepy at all. Like I said it's off the beaten path, so thank the good Lord we didn't have to herd through the tourists as we did at Bonaventure, (not that we don't like ya'll), but we really got to explore. Of course I am bombarding you with pictures of our Sunday morning in Laurel Grove Cemetery, I sure hope you enjoy!!

8 comments:

Unknown said...

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

you are fantastic!!!

a kiss for you, my dear friend!

god bless u dear

can we exchange our link

r u ready to do?

Betsy Brock said...

I love the angel especially! And the beautiful fern pattern on that one stone!

Bebe said...

Hi Emily,
I've been enjoying your ghost stories and cemetery rambles! They say that Savannah is filled with spooky ghouls and that's probably true because of its long history. I have a copy of Al Cobb's first Savannah ghost book, but I didn't know he had a second one out. I'll have to get that one, too.

Have you read Nancy Roberts's ghost books ~ she has a lot of them, like "Ghosts from the Coast" and "GA Ghosts", etc. Also loved Margaret Debolt's "Savannah Spectres". I didn't want to go into the kitchen at night after I'd read that one!!! :)

Hope you are having a nice weekend!
Spookily, Bebe :)

Isabel said...

What an extraordinary cemetery. Love the photos!!!
Like you, I am also a fan of cemetery art. That angel is fantastic!
I'll be back to visit.

Gayla said...

The photos of the cemetery and that fabulous music are wonderful. I just ambled across your blog and think it's lovely. Have a good week... G.

Faith's Vintage Vanity said...

I love all the old statue's and I find old cemetery's enchanting! Beautiful pictures.

Faith

Tess Kincaid said...

Hey, just checking to see if you are still around. No ghost mishaps? ;)

Betsy Brock said...

Yes, I was coming over to ask the same thing! Your bloggy friends miss you! Hope you didn't get lost in a beautiful old cemetary somewhere! LOL