P.T. Barnum's 1849 garden cemetery, where a crying child is said to be heard
2675 North Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06604
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Active municipal-era garden cemetery open to the public during daylight hours; no admission fee. Visitors should respect graveside services and posted hours.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Rolling park-like cemetery grounds with paved drives and grassy sections
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1849 · Founded by P.T. Barnum · Rural Garden Cemetery (1849) · Burial Place of General Tom Thumb
Mountain Grove Cemetery was laid out in 1849 on the rural-cemetery model then spreading through the northeastern United States, which moved burials out of crowded urban churchyards and into landscaped, park-like grounds where families could visit in a garden setting. The cemetery was founded by P.T. Barnum, the Bridgeport showman and impresario, who took an active role in its layout and is himself buried on the grounds.
The original grounds were surveyed in the rural-cemetery style, with winding drives and monument plots arranged across rolling terrain on North Avenue. Over time the cemetery grew to hold the remains of more than 40,000 people.
Its best-known graves draw visitors year-round. Across from Barnum's plot stands the monument to Charles Stratton, the performer known as General Tom Thumb, topped with a life-size statue; Stratton is buried beside his wife, Lavinia Warren, whose marker reads simply "His Wife." The blind hymn writer Fanny Crosby and former Bridgeport mayor and U.S. Register of the Treasury Daniel Nash Morgan are also interred here.
The cemetery remains active and is maintained as a working burial ground and historic landscape, open to the public during daylight hours.
Sources
The haunting attached to Mountain Grove Cemetery is a single, persistent piece of local folklore: that on the grounds a young boy can sometimes be heard crying for his mother. The story circulates on Connecticut ghost-lore listings and in regional roundups of haunted Bridgeport, where it sits alongside the cemetery's genuine claim to fame as Barnum's resting place.
No newspaper account, cemetery record, or other primary source reviewed for this entry documents a specific child's death behind the legend, and the story should be read as folklore rather than established history. Out of respect for the families buried here, this entry does not embellish the account.
The cemetery itself makes no haunted claim and runs no paranormal programming; it is a working burial ground and historic landscape. The crying-child story is the only reported phenomenon associated with the site, which is why this entry is held for further review rather than published as a confirmed haunting. Visitors come chiefly for the history of the place and the Barnum and Tom Thumb monuments.
Walk the grounds of the 1849 rural cemetery founded by P.T. Barnum. Notable graves include Barnum's own plot, the life-size statue marking Charles Stratton (General Tom Thumb) and his wife Lavinia Warren, and hymn writer Fanny Crosby. Open during daylight hours; visit respectfully and stay clear of active services.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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