Galveston's Haunted Burial Grounds (the Broadway Cemeteries)

Along Broadway, between about 40th and 43rd streets, lies one of the oldest and most storied burial grounds in Texas — a complex of seven historic cemeteries founded in 1839, the same year Galveston was chartered. Generations of islanders rest here: yellow-fever victims, Civil War soldiers, founding families, and the uncounted dead of the 1900 Storm. When the city raised its grade after that storm, fill was laid over these grounds, and the cemeteries are said today to hold graves in layers, one era resting above another. That documented history is why this is also one of the most legend-haunted cemeteries in the state. We walk it with respect: the ghost stories are folklore, plainly labeled, but the dead beneath your feet are real, and their history deserves a quiet voice. Stay on the paths, read the stones, and remember where you are.