Alabama is home to several haunted places, many of which have been frightening people for decades. One place in particular is the historic Church Street Graveyard. To learn all about this cemetery, including the one feature that makes it truly haunted, take a look below.
Church Street Graveyard is located in Mobile, Alabama. It opened in 1820, which makes it the city's oldest cemetery.
Covering approximately four acres, this historic cemetery is the final resting place of several notable figures such as Don Miguel Eslava, a Spanish governmental official, General Edmund Gaines, a hero of the War of 1812, and Eugene Walter, an award-winning author, screenwriter, poet, and actor.
Today, Church Street Graveyard is best known for the live oak tree that's growing just outside its wall. However, this isn't just any old oak tree. It's a haunted oak tree with a story that'll most certainly chill you to the bone.
As the story goes, a man by the name of Charles R.S. Boyington came to Mobile from Connecticut in 1833. On May 11, 1834, he was seen walking toward Church Street Graveyard with his friend Nathaniel Frost. Later that day, Frost was found robbed and left for dead outside the cemetery. Mr. Boyington was arrested while attempting to flee Mobile. On February 20, 1835, he was hanged by the neck and buried in Church Street Graveyard.
Prior to his hanging, Mr. Boyington declared that a mighty oak tree would spring from his heart to prove his innocence. An oak tree did eventually grow from his grave, and ever since then, there have been several reports of crying and whispering sounds coming from it. The story of the Boyington Oak continues to be one of Alabama's most haunted tales, which just so happens to be featured in Kathryn Tucker Windham's "Jeffrey's Latest 13: More Alabama Ghosts."
