*Originally published June 16, 2021 as a promotional piece. Some information may be missing.
A visit to one of the most haunted cities in the country wouldn't be complete without visiting its famed cemeteries. Established soon after Florida became a US territory, the Huguenot Cemetery is in a high traffic area of downtown St. Augustine, just outside the Visitor Center and across the street from the Old City Gate.
It was first used for the interment of victims of the 1821 yellow fever epidemic, then for burial of members of the city's Protestant population. The burial traditions and funerary materials demonstrated at Huguenot, compared with the nearby Tolomato Cemetery (established by the Catholic Church in 1777), highlight both the differences and commonalities in funerary and religious practices and traditions of the two distinct groups residing in 19th century St. Augustine.
The Huguenot Cemetery's primary significance is derived from the fact that it was the first cemetery in St. Augustine dedicated for Anglo-American civilians rather than preserved strictly for members of the Catholic faith.
The grave markers at Huguenot display a range of the funerary art popular in the 19th century, including finely carved headstones by skilled stone masons popular in the 1820s-40s, false box tombs with inscribed ledgers, and elaborate monuments that were in favor during the Victorian period.
The work of several prominent stone carvers from the southeastern US has been identified at the cemetery, among them Thomas Walker, as well as members of the White family, who had shops in Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina.
The cemetery property was sold to the Presbyterian Church in 1832, and they have maintained ownership and care of the land since then.
By the late 19th century overcrowding of graves, along with the resulting concerns for sanitation and public health, resulted in the closing of the small public and religious burial grounds of St. Augustine. New cemeteries, including the San Lorenzo and Evergreen, were subsequently opened to parishioners and the public.
After the cemetery was closed to burials in 1884, the church continued maintenance of the grounds. Some restoration efforts were made in 1946 and again in 1951.
It eventually became necessary to keep the cemetery gates locked and to restrict visitation to the site. While this kept the property relatively secure from vandalism and theft, natural weathering and deterioration of the grave markers continued.
Since 1989, organizations associated with the Presbyterian Church and dedicated to the preservation of the cemetery have been formed and have continued to work tirelessly to keep the grounds in shape and to keep alive the memory of the approximately 436 people buried within the cemetery grounds.
They have documented the Huguenot Cemetery's grave markers, researched the genealogical information about those buried there, made measured drawings of some of the significant gravestones and box tombs, and restored grave markers.
To prevent damage and negative impact to the grounds due to large numbers of visitors, members of the Friends of the Huguenot Cemetery group conduct guided tours of the cemetery at specified times of the week.
Every ghost tour we've taken in St. Augustine included a stop at the Huguenot Cemetery to hear its history, some ghost stories, and to provide a photo taking opportunity. Of course the gates are locked to the ghost tours, but no tour of the haunted history of St. Augustine would be complete without a stop by the most haunted cemetery in the old city. Some of Huguenot's most famous ghostly encounters include:
~ Little Elizabeth, the yellow fever victim known to lurk around the Old City Gate, has also been spotted among the trees near her burial site. She's been known to wave to guests she encounters. It's said sightings of her are most common between midnight and 2am.
~ Judge John Stickney passed away in 1882, leaving behind his orphaned children who were sent to live with family members in the north. Years later as adults, the children chose to have their father's body exhumed and re-interred in Washington, D.C., closer to their home. On the exhumation day, the grave diggers took a short break, and when they returned, they found that thieves had stolen the judge's gold teeth. To protect their jobs, the workers closed up the casket and said nothing in the hopes that no one would notice. It is believed that this act of thievery haunts the old judge and inspires him to haunt the cemetery. His tall dark figure is said to have been spotted during both the day and the night walking around the graves, apparently searching for something.
~ Some who have toured Huguenot Cemetery have heard the sound of a man laughing.
~ Others have heard leaves crackling or bushes moving but have found nothing around that could reasonably be considered the source of the noise.
Attempts to capture paranormal experiences at this sacred burial ground often end the same way: photos with glowing orbs, flashes of light, shadows appearing behind people, and strange mists. In most cases, however, visitors take dozens of pictures only to find that they don't have anything unusual in them.
St. Augustine itself radiates a supernatural quality. I myself can attest to the fact that you can actually feel this quality around you as the sun goes down. It's no wonder, considering that from antiquity all the way to modernity, the city has been embroiled in events of blood and violence.
Tribes of natives have butchered each other. There have been colonial periods rife with genocide, war, pirate raids, famine, and plagues. When modernity made its entrance, St. Augustine devolved into a haven for smugglers, rum runners, carpet baggers, and corrupt officials. The bay upon which the city sits is itself called Matanzas, Spanish for slaughter. Nearly every landmark in the city has a story of violence and death. For a while, those villains and their victims were laid to rest in the Huguenot Cemetery.
A1A & Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
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