HENDERSONVILLE CEMETERY
115 Walton Ferry Rd., Hendersonville, TN 37075
directions
Take I-65 North for 12 miles to Exit 95, the Vietnam Veterans Boulevard exit toward Hendersonville/Gallatin. Follow this road for 3 miles to Exit 3 to the Johnny Cash Parkway toward Hendersonville. Follow this road for a little more than 3 miles, and then turn right onto Walton Ferry Road. The cemetery is not easy to find. It is actually hidden behind a strip mall on your left, on a small strip of grass between the Roma Pizza & Pasta restaurant and the loading dock for the grocery store.
history
For the last few decades, cemeteries in general have gotten larger. While at first it may seem that the growth of cemeteries may have something to do with the increase in population, it may also be the result of the speed of travel. The deceased can be moved farther distances nowadays and loved ones can travel farther distances in order to regularly visit them. The days of burying loved ones on your own property are all but gone. While the days of small cemeteries have almost passed, many such cemeteries remain scattered throughout the country. For many of these cemeteries, records were never kept and a lot of the history has been lost.
This small cemetery, nestled in Hendersonville behind a grocery store and a strip mall, has been around since the 1800s. The dates on the headstones also show that many of the people buried here were children. While the stones do not describe what could have caused so many children to be buried within so small a place, many afflictions from the 1800s and early 1900s, such as cholera, tended to smite the young.
ghost story
Young people, cut down before they have ever had a chance to really experience life, will typically create ghosts. The ghosts at this cemetery are most often seen by the people who run the shops in the nearby strip mall. Since the cemetery is hidden behind the mall, those who regularly have reason to walk out behind the buildings are often the only ones who are even aware that the cemetery is there. The ghost that is most often seen at the cemetery is that of a little girl. When the witnesses see the girl, they generally report that she is dressed in white and is running around the cemetery as if she is playing. As quickly as she appears in the cemetery, she suddenly vanishes.
The little girl is not always seen wearing white; she is sometimes seen in a pinafore dress. The girl in the pinafore acts similarly to the girl in white, but since there are so many children buried in the cemetery and she is wearing something different, some witnesses feel that there are two different spirits who haunt the cemetery.
Beyond the two little girls, witnesses will also encounter balls of light floating through the cemetery and shadowy figures walking around and through the small cemetery. Ghost investigators who have entered the cemetery with audio equipment have captured phantom voices on their recordings.
visiting
Exploring this cemetery at night is legal. At this time, there are no signs or rules that suggest that this cemetery, like many others, closes at dusk. This would make a search for shadow figures or balls of light much easier.
RESTHAVEN MEMORIAL GARDENS
2930 US 41A, Clarksville, TN 37043
directions
In order to get to Resthaven Memorial Gardens, take I-24 West for 25 miles to Exit 19. Turn left on TN 256 South. After about a half mile, turn right onto US 41A. Follow this road for about 9 miles. The cemetery will be on your left just past Miller Road.
history
There was once a plantation house that sat just behind the cemetery’s current location, and the plantation itself encompassed much of the cemetery land. Many slaves worked on the plantation and the owner was known for being quite harsh on them. Nothing was tolerated here.
The plantation owner’s daughter ended up falling in love with one of the slaves, and they secretly carried on an affair on the grounds for quite some time. This all ended, though, when the owner’s daughter became pregnant. She withheld it from her father as long as she could, but eventually she began to show her pregnancy. In a fit of rage, her father demanded she tell him what happened. Terrified of what her father would do to her, she told him that she was raped by a slave. The father found the slave and brutally murdered him.
ghost story
The grounds of the cemetery are haunted. Many of the ghosts seem to be remnants of those people who are buried here. Visitors will often see dark shadowy figures walking throughout the cemetery that mysteriously vanish when approached.
Other witnesses to the paranormal will actually see the ghost of the slave who was brutally killed on the grounds of the cemetery. He is seen roaming the grounds, supposedly looking for his lost child.
Many times, the ghosts here are seen in the dead of night. Strange lights, which look like white or green lanterns, may be seen floating throughout the grounds of the cemetery. Many people who see these lights will be suddenly approached by them and will drive away from the scene in terror. Those who flee from these lights will often have rocks thrown at their cars.
visiting
Open only during daylight hours, you are unable to actually enter this cemetery after nightfall. This doesn’t make it impossible to experience the ghosts here, however. The cemetery is boxed in by two public roads, US 41A and Miller Road. You can drive up and down these roads or even stop your car on these roads near the cemetery at night and gaze into the cemetery looking for figures or lights.
Some of the ghosts are even seen during the day as well. You can certainly enter the cemetery at any time during regular hours and try to experience the ghosts here.
WOODLAWN MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY
660 Thompson Lane, Nashville, TN 37204
directions
Take I-65 South for about 4 miles to Exit 79, the Armory Drive exit. Merge onto Armory Drive and follow the road for about a mile. Take a left onto Sidco Drive and follow this road for a little more than half a mile. Turn left onto Thompson Lane. The cemetery will be on both your right and left just after the turn. Since the cemetery is surrounding you, it is hard to miss. There is a large sign at the main entrance.
history
Ghosts seem unlikely at Woodlawn given its natural and tranquil appearance. If you delve deeper into the area’s history, though, many facets of this place give this cemetery a unique, darker tinge.
During the Civil War, battles raged nearby and many of the wounded from the battles were taken to a building which still stands within the cemetery grounds. This building was used as a hospital, and many soldiers suffered and died within it. Today, the building still stands, surrounded by bouquets of flowers and a small duck pond.
For almost half a decade after the Civil War, the Lignon family used the property as farmland
