Grace Episcopal Church and Cemetery
Grace Episcopal, organized in 1827 with its present Gothic Revival building completed in 1860, anchors one of the most atmospheric and reputedly haunted graveyards in Louisiana. Shaded by ancient live oaks, the cemetery is famous for a true Civil War story: in 1863, John Elliott Hart, commander of the Union gunboat USS Albatross, fell ill with yellow fever while shelling St. Francisville and took his own life aboard ship. His fellow officers came ashore under a temporary truce and buried him with full Masonic honors at Grace Church, an event reenacted each June as 'The Day the War Stopped.' Hart's restless spirit is among the figures visitors and paranormal enthusiasts report sensing here. The church itself was damaged by Union gunfire during the war, and the moss-draped grounds behind its rusting iron fence have long fed the town's reputation as Louisiana's most haunted community.
📍 11621 Ferdinand Street, St. Francisville, LA 70775, St. Francisville, LA · Get directions