SPOOKY SEASON: Alabama’s oldest cemeteries (+ their most famous decedants!)

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Church Street Graveyard, Mobile, AL” by Graveyard Walker Photography is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

We’re officially in the deep of spooky season. Halloween is two weeks away, haunted houses are up + running and ghost tours are traipsing through towns all across Alabama.

One spot that’s always teeming with the mystical are cemeteries and graveyards. We’ve rounded up five historic cemeteries around the state—and some information about famous people buried there.

Old Live Oak Cemetery | Selma

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File:Old Live Oak Cemetery, Selma.jpg” by Clément Bardot is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Selma’s Old Live Oak Cemetery is where the old meets the new. Established in the 1820s and expanded after the Civil War, the moss-draped cemetery showcases tales of honor, pride, valor and strength.

This includes the story of one Benjamin Sterling Turner, a formerly enslaved man who served as the first Black U.S. Representative for Alabama during the Reconstruction era.

  • Address: 300 Dallas Ave, Selma, AL 36701
  • More info

Church Street Graveyard | Mobile

Church Street Graveyard Entrance Sign
The entrance to the oldest cemetery in Mobile. (The Bama Buzz)

The Church St. Grave Yard (yes, I spelled that correctly) is the oldest cemetery in Mobile, dating back to 1819.

It’s also the final resting place of Joe Cain, the father of modern-day Mardi Gras. And I say ‘final’ because he was originally buried in neighboring Bayou La Batre until the 1960s when he was reburied in the historic graveyard.

The Sunday before Mardi Gras (aptly, Joe Cain Day) fills the cemetery with revelers as his fictional wives battle for posthumous superiority in Cain’s heart. Folks drop offerings for Joe, too—Mardi Gras beads, coins, candy and flowers.

  • Address: 753 Government St, Mobile, AL 36602
  • More info

Maple Hill Cemetery | Huntsville

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Grave of Clement Comer Clay (1789–1866) at Maple Hill Cemetery, Huntsville, AL” by Nick Number is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Huntsville’s Maple Hill Cemetery gets two superlatives: biggest and oldest. Founded in 1822 and encompassing 100+ acres, this cemetery is the final resting place of not one, not two, not even three—but five former Alabama governors:

  • Thomas Bibb (1782–1839)
  • Clement Comer Clay (1789–1866)
  • Reuben Chapman (1799–1882)
  • Robert Patton (1809–1885)
  • David Lewis (1820–1884)
  • Address: 202 Maple Hill St SE, Huntsville, AL 35801
  • More info

Oak Hill Cemetery | Birmingham

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File:Birmingham skyline from Oak Hill Cemetery Nov 2011.jpg” by Chris Pruitt is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

It’s not every day you visit a historic cemetery where you can also get a killer shot of the city skyline. Birmingham’s Oak Hill Cemetery offers just that.

Plus, you can visit the grave of the man who made that skyline possible, John T. Milner—a railroad engineer whose Birmingham projects paved the way for the Magic City’s economic development.

  • Address: 1120 19th St N, Birmingham, AL 35234
  • More info

Old Plateau Cemetery | Africatown

Old Plateau Cemetery is just as historically significant as it is old. Founded in 1876, the land serves as a final resting place for many enslaved people brought to Mobile from Africa aboard the Clotilde, the last slave ship brought to the U.S.

Among those buried is Cudjoe Lewis, who died in 1935. He’s believed to be the longest survivor of the transatlantic slave trade.

  • Address: Bay Bridge Cutoff Rd, Mobile, AL 36610
  • More info

Love Halloween? We do too! Here are some other spooky stories you might like:

Which historic places in Alabama should we explore next? Let us know on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn!

Liv George
Liv George

A Georgia native soaking up the sun on the Gulf Coast. Lover of Mardi Gras, beach days, and historical sites.

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