Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainCoweta County's 1833 cemetery holds 269 Confederate soldiers from Brown's Mill's field hospitals — and annual guided historical tours that sell out each fall
96 Jefferson Street, Newnan, GA 30263
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Free self-guided access year-round; guided October tours: Adults $65, Children under 12 $30, VIP $135
Access
Wheelchair OK
60-acre maintained cemetery with paved and unpaved paths; some uneven sections
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1833 · National Register of Historic Places (2012) · Civil War Field Hospital Dead (1863–1864) · Confederate Soldiers' Section — All Confederacy States Represented · Two Georgia Governors Interred · Revolutionary War Veterans
Oak Hill Cemetery was founded in 1833, making it one of the oldest organized cemeteries in the Coweta County seat of Newnan, Georgia. The grounds span 60 acres and contain more than 12,000 recorded burials, including Revolutionary War veterans and two Georgia governors: Ellis Arnall and William Atkinson.
The cemetery's most historically dense section dates to the Civil War. Following the Battle of Brown's Mill — fought July 30, 1864, approximately three miles south of Newnan, where Confederate cavalry under Gen. Joseph Wheeler routed a larger Union force under Gen. Edward McCook — Newnan's churches and public buildings were converted into field hospitals. The wounded died in numbers the town had not anticipated. Between 1863 and 1864, 269 Confederate soldiers, representing every state that formed the Confederacy, were interred at Oak Hill in a dedicated soldiers' section. Only two of the 269 graves could not be positively identified.
The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 27, 2012. Today, free self-guided tour brochures are available at the entrance, and the Newnan-Coweta History Center operates annual fall tours that combine the cemetery's grounds with performances and archival material from the local historical collection. Those tours consistently sell out, reflecting the depth of community attachment to this site.
The cemetery is open 24 hours, seven days a week, with free admission to the grounds.
Sources
Oak Hill Cemetery's haunting reputation grows directly from its documented history. After the July 30, 1864 Battle of Brown's Mill, Newnan received hundreds of wounded Confederate soldiers. The town's churches, homes, and public buildings became field hospitals, and 269 men died there over the following months — far more than the community expected to absorb. That concentrated death left a mark on local memory that has never fully faded.
Visitors and local lore describe figures in period military dress moving through the Confederate soldiers' section, particularly after dusk. The accounts do not describe dramatic encounters but rather the quieter kind: a man standing between two markers who is not there when you look directly, or the sound of boots on the unpaved paths when the cemetery is otherwise empty. The Woolfolk family's connection to Newnan also feeds into Oak Hill's dark reputation, though the axe-murder victims of 1887 are buried in Macon's Rose Hill Cemetery rather than here.
The Newnan-Coweta History Center's annual fall tours lean into the cemetery's genuine historical weight rather than theatrical scares — performers portray documented historical figures, and archival items not on public display are brought out for tour guests. The result is an event that draws on the site's atmosphere without needing to invent a haunting.
Notable Entities
Walk the 60-acre grounds freely year-round. Self-guided tour brochures and maps are available on-site. The Confederate soldiers' section — 269 burials from men who died in Newnan's Civil War field hospitals following the Battle of Brown's Mill — anchors the historical core of the cemetery. Two Georgia governors (Ellis Arnall and William Atkinson) are also interred here, along with Revolutionary War soldiers.
Annual fall tours run by the Newnan-Coweta History Center, typically scheduled in October. Each 90-minute tour includes a guided cemetery walk with performers, a museum tour at the McRitchie-Hollis Museum (74 Jackson St), live entertainment, and a BBQ dinner. New tours depart every 20 minutes from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Tickets sell out — advance purchase via Eventbrite is strongly recommended. Adults $65; Children under 12 $30; VIP $135.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Atlanta, GA
Historic Oakland Cemetery was chartered in 1850 as the six-acre 'Atlanta Cemetery,' renamed Oakland in 1872, and expanded to 48 acres. Approximately 70,000 people are interred, including roughly 6,900 Confederate soldiers (3,000 unidentified), four Confederate generals, six Georgia governors, 27 Atlanta mayors, Margaret Mitchell, golfer Bobby Jones, and Maynard Jackson, Atlanta's first African American mayor. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 28, 1976.
Ferndale, CA
Established in 1868 on a steep hillside above Ferndale's Eel River Valley, the cemetery served the Victorian dairy-farming and lumber community through its founding generations. Its moss-covered stonework and rhododendron canopy drew the production crew for Stephen King's 1979 Salem's Lot miniseries, which used the site as the fictional Harmony Hill Cemetery.
Aerial survey · USDA NAIPGalveston, TX
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