Dating back nearly 200 years, Old City Cemetery in Galveston is said to be one of the most unnerving sites in Texas. The graveyard has three burial plot layers, holding over 12K bodies. It consists of seven cemeteries merged into one, including the final resting place for victims of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. It certainly raises the question as to whether or not hauntings do in fact happen, and whether this property has seen its fair share of them.
Old City Cemetery is located at Broadway and 43rd Street in Galveston. It holds a lot of the mysteries at the heart of Texas’ more unsettling stories, such as the gravesite of Elize Alberti. Alberti took her own life in 1894, but not before taking the lives of her four children in a tragedy of postpartum depression. The entire family shares the same plot at this South Texas cemetery.
Photo: Flickr/Dan Thibodeaux
There are also plots for a number of Texas war veterans, young children, and prominent families of the area. Intermixed and mingled within are final resting places for people who have suffered ill fates, were known to be on the wrong side of the law (resulting in their demise by firing squad), and all sorts of in-between. One such interred was found guilty of desertion from the Confederate Army. He was driven to his freshly dug grave together with his coffin at daybreak, where he is said to have cursed at those who were about to take his life. His final request was to be buried face down, after which he was quickly executed and buried at Old City Cemetery in an unmarked grave.
Photo: Flickr/Allison_b216
The property features a mixture of markers ranging from plain stones to mausoleums and ornate tombs. For the most part, the dates and details for those interred there can be read clearly, for others, such as those noted above, the details remain hidden or unmarked. Night ghost walks have been coordinated through the property, but evidence of actual hauntings remains to be seen.
