Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA 318-year-old Gulf Coast cemetery with graves dating to 1811 and a restored slave section, featured on ghost tours and home to the graves of Edward Barq and George Ohr
1488 Beach Blvd, Biloxi, MS 39530
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
The cemetery itself is free to visit during daylight hours. Ghost tour pricing varies by operator; see letsroam.com for Blood Tide tour pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Mostly level cemetery grounds on Beach Blvd
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1811 · Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area · Enslaved People History · Notable Interments — Barq and Ohr · Gulf Coast History
The Old Biloxi City Cemetery sits along Beach Boulevard and holds the distinction of being one of the oldest surviving burial grounds on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Interments date from at least 1811, though the ground was in use earlier. The cemetery spans several centuries of Biloxi's history—from the French colonial period through Spanish rule, antebellum American development, and the Civil War and Reconstruction era.
Among the cemetery's notable interments is Edward Barq Sr., the entrepreneur who developed the root beer formula that became Barq's Root Beer, a brand that remained a regional staple for decades before its national expansion. Also buried here is George Ohr, known during his lifetime and long afterward as the 'Mad Potter of Biloxi,' whose unconventional ceramic work was largely ignored in his lifetime but was later recognized as an important precursor to American studio pottery.
The cemetery contains a restored slave section, which preserves the graves of enslaved individuals who lived and died in Biloxi during the antebellum period. The Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area has documented and recognized the cemetery for this section's historical significance in addition to the better-known interments.
Local tradition also includes the grave of the 'Hermit of Deer Island,' an individual who lived in isolation on a small island off the Biloxi coast and whose burial in the city cemetery after death drew curious visitors. The City of Biloxi maintains a cemetery tour program accessible through its tourism website.
Sources
The Old Biloxi Cemetery's reputation on ghost tours rests less on a specific named haunting than on the cumulative weight of its age and scope. A burial ground with interments spanning more than two centuries—including enslaved people, Civil War-era residents, and local figures—draws ghost-tour operators and visitors by virtue of what it represents rather than a single dramatic incident.
The Blood Tide ghost tour of Biloxi has consistently listed the Old Biloxi Cemetery as a featured stop. Tour guides cover the notable graves and the cemetery's history while framing the site within Biloxi's broader dark-tourism narrative. No specific named apparition or recurring reported phenomenon is documented in available sources.
The 'Hermit of Deer Island' legend is the most locally distinctive element—an isolated figure who lived on a small island off the Biloxi coast whose death and burial in the city cemetery prompted curiosity and, eventually, dark-tourism interest. The specific identity and history of this figure varies in local accounts.
Notable Entities
The City of Biloxi maintains a self-guided tour of the Old Biloxi Cemetery highlighting notable graves including Edward Barq (creator of Barq's Root Beer), George Ohr (the 'Mad Potter of Biloxi'), and the restored slave section. The city's tourism page provides information on notable interments.
The Old Biloxi Cemetery is a featured stop on the Blood Tide Biloxi ghost tour, which covers multiple haunted locations along the Gulf Coast. Tours operate in the evenings.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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