The Weeping Arch of New Bern
The history of Cedar Grove Cemetery in New Bern, NC goes back to the year of 1800. During the yellow fever epidemic that ravaged the town, the cemetery for The Christ Church could no longer hold the bodies of the dead, so a new cemetery was built on Queen Street. Then, in 1854 an arch was erected along with a wall encircling the graveyard. That's when the creepy stuff began.
What makes the arch unique is that it's made from a locally quarried stone called 'shell stone' which is made up of sea shells and the fossilized remains of sea creatures. What makes it creepy is that it weeps on people(Or bleeds on them depending on who you talk to). The liquid seen ranges from a clear water tinted with a rust color to a deep red sticky substance again.
The legend goes that during a funeral procession into the cemetery, if one of the pallbearers is hit with a drop of liquid from the arch, they will be the next of the group to die and be carried in. Adding to the creep-factor is the old timers who can give examples of this occurring including names and dates.
The arch doesn't just weep on people during funerals either. Almost anytime, whether it has rained recently or not, the drips can be seen hitting the ground, or felt when the hit the body. What ever the color, it it said that the liquid never stains clothes and washes right out.
One of the origins of the weeping comes from the history of New Bern, where a governor named Spaight was killed in a duel with a man named Stanly. While killed according to the rules of the duel, it is said that the arch drips to the rhythm of "Avenge Spaight's blood" dripping three drops and then a pause before dripping three more drops.
The photos below were taken during a trip to New Bern in October of 2009 for the annual Halloween ghost walk. While walking under the arch, I have to admit I was excited to feel a drop hit my hand. Only to discover that it was a 'fake' drop set up by the organizers of the walk by attaching an IV bag to the arch.
Thanks for the comment
Thanks for the comment Michael, its good to know someone has checked it out as you said. When we were there, it was dressed up for the 'ghost walk' so it could've been that atmosphere. I guess it does all come down to personal experiences. Especially in this field. Again, thanks for sharing with us.
-Jason
NOT so haunted Cedar Grove
Hi everyone. My name is Michael, I'm an experienced paranormal researcher with over 15 years experience, with the last 3-5 of which have been in field work. Ive lived in New Bern NC for a little over 4 years now and have investigated the cemetery no less then 5-6 times in the last year. The cemetery is a very beautiful place, very peaceful and very old. When I first moved here and first laid eyes on Cedar Grove , I knew I had to "check it out". I'm very sorry to report though that as of this time Ive not found any evidence what-so-ever of this location being "haunted" , let alone "one of the most haunted spots in NC". This post is in no way meant to discredit this site,author or personal experiences of others, just to simply post my findings over the course of 5-6 investigations at this location in a 1 year span. While I have NO OFFICIAL stand due to lack of evidence, my 'official-unofficial' stand is that Cedar Grove Cemetery is NOT haunted. This view is subject to change if tangible evidence of paranormal activity is found, which I will be happy to share any findings. My last investigation took place on 4-10-10 between 11pm and roughly 12:30 am giving me approximately 4.5 hours of recorded evidence and 75+ still photos to analyze . Equipment used were RCA DVR with Olympus zoom-mic, KII meter, Sony 1080 HD camcorder with super night shot and Sima 20IR infrared illuminator, Sony "Xray" Hi8 camcorder with super nightshot w/ Sima zoom-mic and Sima 20IR infrared illuminator, Sony 12.1 mega-pixel Cyber-shot digital camera and a Canon 7.1 mega-pixel PowerShot SD1000 camera. At no time during ANY of the investigations were there any personal experiences, evidence collected on any media including video and audio. Ive found through years of investigating ruins,buildings,etc etc that even if there are no significant claims of 'activity' that I manage to have at least 1-2 garbled EVP or a personal experience such as a flash in the corner of my eye etc.. at Cedar Grove Ive seen and felt NOTHING. Its a beautiful place which all should visit if in the area but I personally feel that the claims of this cemetery are drummed up to help feed the local tourism industry which is a huge part of this towns capitol and are based on legend and the fact this cemetery is very old and there-fore must be 'haunted'.
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