Old Burying Ground

Established in the early 1700s, this cemetery chronicles 300 years of history in North Carolina's third oldest town. Weathered tombstones mark the final resting places of pirates, sea captains, and victims of disease and disaster.

The Old Burying Ground in Beaufort, North Carolina, was established in the early 1700s, making it one of the oldest cemeteries in the state. Spread beneath a canopy of gnarled live oaks and ancient cedars, the burial ground holds more than three centuries of the coastal town's history within its weathered headstones and iron fences. Among the graves are a British naval officer from the Revolutionary War who, according to tradition, was buried standing upright and facing England; an unidentified girl said to have been interred in a barrel of rum after dying at sea; and the grave that draws the most visitors and the most ghost stories.

The most famous burial in the Old Burying Ground is that of a young girl, often referred to simply as the Little Girl in the Rum Keg. According to the legend, an English family settled in Beaufort in the 1700s with an infant daughter. When the girl was old enough, she persuaded her mother to let her sail with her father back to England to see her native country. The father promised his wife he would return their daughter safely. On the voyage home, however, the child died. Unable to bear breaking his promise -- and with the captain fearing her body might carry yellow fever and infect the crew -- the father purchased a barrel of rum from the ship, placed his daughter's body inside to preserve it, and brought her back to Beaufort for burial. Her grave is marked with a primitive wooden plank bearing the words "Little Girl Buried in Rum Keg." Visitors leave stuffed animals, toys, bead necklaces, coins, flowers, and seashells at the grave, turning it into a colorful memorial that stands out among the gray and weathered stones. No documentation has been found to verify the story or identify the child, though similar accounts of rum-preserved burials exist at other coastal cemeteries, including Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington.

After dark, according to visitors and locals, the little girl comes out to play. Those who visit the burying ground late at night claim to see the ghost of a small child moving through the headstones -- skipping, running between the gnarled trees as though the cemetery were her own haunted playground. Some report hearing a young girl giggling or humming to herself when no one else is present. Toys and trinkets left at her grave are sometimes found moved to other locations in the cemetery by morning, as though she has carried them with her during her nightly wanderings. The gates are locked after hours, but the child's ghost appears untroubled by barriers meant for the living.

Other graves in the Old Burying Ground carry their own supernatural reputations. Cold spots are reported near the older monuments on warm days, and visitors describe the feeling of being watched as they walk the paths. The cemetery is maintained by the Beaufort Historical Association, which offers guided tours that explore both the documented history and the folklore. The Old Burying Ground was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, recognized for its historical significance and its extraordinary collection of funerary art spanning three centuries of coastal Carolina life -- and, if the stories are to be believed, for at least one resident who refuses to rest quietly.