For many locals and visitors to Charleston alike, the local historic graveyards are a source of mystery and intrigue. And sometimes, even visiting one of them during the daylight hours can be a bit unnerving. While many of the graveyards in the Holy City are well groomed (like Charleston’s Magnolia Cemetery) there’s one very old graveyard that’s not so well maintained as the others – although it is maintained.
You may be a bit surprised when you first set foot in the cemetery at the Unitarian Church, found a bit off the usual beaten path and on Archdale Street in downtown Charleston.
The graveyard gained its first official resident just a few short years after the end of the Revolutionary War. The church was dedicated in 1787 after the construction was halted during the war and repairs were made following the war.
The overgrown nature of this more than 200-year-old cemetery in the heart of the historic district is something you can get over as you explore this charming old graveyard. But it's not as easy to get over the ghosts that are said to haunt this locale.
As the story goes: he met a much younger girl, named Anna, and the two were immediately in love. Some versions of this story say the two would secretly meet in the Unitarian Church cemetery.
They were forced to meet in secret because Anna was from a high-brow family in Charleston and the patriarch did not approve of his daughter's involvement with a service man.
Before long, Poe (who was enlisted under the name Edgar A. Perry) was reassigned to a new post far, far away. Some believe Anna's wealthy father pulled strings to send him away.
Soon after, Anna became ill and died. Her father bought six side-by-side burial plots in the Unitarian Church cemetery and dug them all up, placing Anna's body in one of them in an unmarked grave. Why?
It's said he did it out of spite so that Edgar (who DID return for his Anna) wouldn't be able to grieve for her at her grave. Today, visitors who see or sense Anna's ghost in the cemetery get a sense that she's looking for Edgar.
Another ghost said to haunt the cemetery is Lavina Fisher.
Although America's reported first female serial killer, who resided in Charleston at the time of her arrest and hanging, isn't known to be buried at the Unitarian Church cemetery, some visitors have reported seeing her ghost dressed in a white gown roaming the graveyard.
Although some people believe "Annabel Lee" was written about Poe's wife, many Charlestonians believe the real muse for Poe's last finished poem was Anna Ravenel.
What do you believe? And have you visited the creepy graveyard at this church and felt anything unusual during your time there? We'd love to know the answer to both so join the discussion in the comments!
Want to explore even more creepy graveyards in South Carolina? Check out five hikes that lead to abandoned graveyards in the woods, and one of the most haunted cemeteries in the state where it’s believe the apparition of a witch roams the space after dark.
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