Welcome back, everyone.
We are back and ready to go over at The Raven. We will be recording and investigating all the creepy shit again, so don't you worry. We took a little longer break than I was hoping, but things happen. This week's story is a short one, but it was a blast to check out. I took off work last week, and we were able to check out a few places. Though they don't have a ton to them, I thought we should check them out.
Located at 5239 West Florissant Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Calvary Cemetery is home to over 300,000 bodies.
The cholera epidemic of 1833 caused more than 4,000 deaths in St. Louis alone. To prevent the sickness from spreading, Missouri decided to bury their dead out of the city limits. Senator Henry Clay sold 323-acres of his “Old Orchard Farm” for the cemetery because the neighboring one, Bellefontaine Cemetery, was full.
An unknown number of the bodies were soldiers from the civil war, which were carelessly thrown together in a mass grave.
There are several famous individuals buried at this location, including Dred Scott.
Oh, and the cemetery was built on top of a Native American burial ground. It's pretty obvious this wasn't done with care, so I would imagine that would cause activity. That could explain all of the ghosts that I am about to tell you about. Maybe there are stuck there, unable to move on because they desecrated a burial site.
Now, on to the ghosts.
First off, we have “the ghost on the hill,” which is believed to be Thomas Caute Reynolds, the confederate Governor for Missouri. His wife, Heloise Marie Reynolds, died first, and people reported him visiting her daily.
Many have reported seeing a figure on the far hill overlooking Calvary Avenue next to the Reynolds family mausoleum. It seems as though Mr. Reynolds doesn’t realize that he’s dead and continues to mourn his wife's loss.
Well, if that isn’t the saddest fucking thing, I don’t know what is.
I was hoping for a happy ending like two figures are seen overlooking the hillside, you know, a together forever kind of thing.
A few people have reported seeing multiple figures near the Reynolds family mausoleum. My hunch is their soldiers or Native Americans since they would see a bunch of figures. Of course, they could be just people, like alive people messing around in a cemetery at night. I mean, haven't we all done that?
The last ghost of the area is Annie.
Annie is a female hitchhiking ghost who will flag you down for a ride, get into your car, and then vanish. She’s apparently been at this since the 1940s.
And that's it. There wasn't a whole lot at this location, but it is a beautiful place to visit. We walked around for quite a bit; fun fact, you can GPS specific headstones. That's the only way we found Dred Scott and the Reynolds family plot because the cemetery map was so confusing.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed today's story, and we should be back up and recording soon.
-Tye
Always Cite Those Sources:
“Calvary Cemetery (St. Louis).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Nov. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvary_Cemetery_(St._Louis).
Rhoades, Nikki. “8 Disturbing Cemeteries Around St. Louis That Will Give You Goosebumps.” OnlyInYourState, 1 Jan. 2018, www.onlyinyourstate.com/missouri/st-louis/9-disturbing-cemeteries-around-st-louis-that-will-give-you-goosebumps/.
St. Louis Paranormal Research Society. “Calvary Cemetery's ‘Ghost on the Hill.’” St. Louis Paranormal Research Society, 19 June 2017, www.seeaghost.com/single-post/2017/06/19/Calvary-Cemeterys-Ghost-on-the-Hill.
Staff, KSDK. “Hauntings around St. Louis.” Ksdk.com, 30 Oct. 2014, www.ksdk.com/article/life/hauntings-around-st-louis/63-205917740.