that the land could be better used as a cemetery. Since the cemeteries that were closer to the city were quickly filling up, the Lignons decided that they would create a cemetery here on the outskirts of town and make its appearance original enough to attract new business. In 1900, instead of creating the usual cemetery of the time with upright headstones, the Lignons decided that they would lay grave markers flat on the ground. To this end, the beauty of the landscape would be the defining feature instead of the headstones themselves. The cemetery attracted plenty of business and has been in operation for more than 100 years.
ghost story
No one would guess that this peaceful and tranquil landscape has its own collection of ghost stories. Most of these ghosts seem to congregate around the Civil War–era hospital which still stands on the grounds of the cemetery. Often, people will see shadowy figures out of the corner of their eye near the building. These figures will appear and then disappear so quickly that the witnesses may wonder if they are a figment of the imagination or if there was anything actually there. Other times, people will hear what sounds like distant weeping coming from the vicinity of the old hospital. When these sounds are investigated, the source is never found.
Another strange thing that visitors report is that the eyes of the few statues throughout the cemetery seem to follow them as they walk by. The statues are not memorials to individual people but decorations positioned throughout the site. Perhaps they are sentinels, watching the living carefully to make sure they don’t step out of line.
visiting
The cemetery closes at dusk. This is OK if you are going to the cemetery, hoping that one of the statues will watch you as you pass. This phenomenon often happens in the middle of the day, so you can enter the cemetery when it is open and see if the statues are watching you.
The shadowy figures and sounds are a little harder to experience. These are mostly reported at dusk or at night after the cemetery has closed. Since the cemetery closes at dusk, that time frame just before the sun dips below the horizon is your best chance of encountering these ghosts.
SECTION II
historic houses
Oaklands Historic House Museum
BELLE MEADE PLANTATION
5025 Harding Pike, Nashville, TN 37205
directions
Take I-40 West to I-440 East. Follow I-440 East for a little more than a mile to Exit 1A, US 70 South/TN 1 West. Follow this road for a little more than 3.5 miles. The Belle Meade Plantation will be on your left.
history
Early in the plantation’s history, several modest buildings served as living quarters before the mansion was completed in 1853. In 1848, the nine-month-old daughter of the plantation’s owner, William Harding, fell ill inside one of these buildings. Despite all the care that the doting parents attempted to shower upon the ailing child, the baby died.
Despite the death of the child, the plantation itself prospered until war came to the area in the early 1860s. Fighting during the Civil War actually occurred in the front yard of the mansion. Today, evidence of this fighting is still visible in the bullet holes that riddle the home’s front columns.
In 1953, the mansion was given to the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities and has operated as a museum ever since.
ghost story
Hints of the tragedies that have occurred throughout this plantation’s many years seem to still exist throughout the property. Many people have heard what sounds like a child crying in the building even when there are no children anywhere nearby. The crying sounds distant. Those who hear it aren’t entirely sure they actually heard anything at all. They think that maybe it is a trick of the mind until the people that they are with report hearing the exact same thing.
There are motion sensors throughout the building that often go off for supernatural reasons. For a week in 1987, the motion sensors went off five of seven nights at almost the exact same time, between 3:40 and 3:47 a.m. When the authorities showed up to confront the trespassers, the building was secure and there was absolutely no one or nothing inside.
Other witnesses to the paranormal will hear footsteps in the hallways and sometimes what sounds like a woman giggling. Despite the fact that some have died here in the building, someone or something seems to be living on.
visiting
The only way for a visitor to experience the ghosts here at Belle Meade is to take a tour of the mansion during its regular hours. The mansion is open for tours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, and admission
