These 8 Haunted Cemeteries Near Washington DC Are Not For the Faint of Heart

There are over 65,000 graves in the Congressional Cemetery, which means there are more than a few ghosts floating about. One ghost who has been spotted on the grounds is Civil War Photographer Matthew Brady. Congress promised to pay him for his war photos but never did and he died penniless. Some say you can see Brady wandering the cemetery looking for Congressmen to pay it. And many stories say you can her the sound of John Phillip Sousa, the Marine Corps bandmaster playing his sousaphone late in the evenings.

Rock Creek Cemetery is home to many of Washington’s most historic figures including author Upton Sinclair; Charles Francis Jenkins, the inventor of the television; four Supreme Court Justice and Clover Adams. Adams is perhaps the most famous resident of Rock Creek Cemetery. Her widower had the famous Grief Statute built for her in the cemetery. There are many stories that Clover’s spirit can be seen at the statue in the evenings.

This cemetery first began as the final resting place for Georgetown residents in 1849. Over the years, many groundskeepers and ghost hunters reported seeing a carriage hearse pulled by six headless horses around the Van Ness family mausoleum.

Holy Rood is perched on a hilltop over looking Wisconsin Avenue on the border of Georgetown and Glover Park. The 176 year old cemetery has fallen into disrepair on and you’ll find many toppled over gravestones during your visit. The cemetery has a history of being ignored by its owner, Georgetown University, which has left many of the spirits to roam restlessly.

Mount Olivet is home to some notorious figures from our history including Mary Surratt and John Lloyd, who were convicted of conspiracy in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Another famous figure is Henry Wirz, the Confederate officer in charge of Andersonville prisoner-of-war camp in the Civil War, which held as many as 32,000 Union soldiers. All three are said to haunt the cemetery. There are more than 100,000 others buried in the largest Catholic cemetery in the area.

Just across the bridge from DC, Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for American heroes including members of the military, veterans, presidents and civil rights leaders. Witnesses have heard and seen many unexplained activity in the cemetery, especially near the Old Post Chapel. There have been reports of phantom visitors and mysterious sounds.

Located in Alexandria, the Episcopal church was frequently visited by George Washington and Robert E. Lee and is the burial site for many soldiers killed during the Civil War. Over the years, many supernatural figures have been seen on the property.

The cemetery at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is haunted by the female stranger buried there. The woman’s life is a mystery but the legend says she died at Gadsby’s Tavern across the street. The story says that she was sick for three weeks at the tavern and before her death, her husband had those attending to her swear to never reveal the identity of either him nor the woman. She is buried in the cemetery and her epitaph reads "To the Memory of a Female Stranger…"