Fayetteville's oldest public cemetery, established 1785 and NRHP-listed, with segregated burial sections and the first Confederate monument erected in North Carolina, an active stop on local ghost tours.
301 N Cool Spring Street, Fayetteville, NC 28301
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free to visit. Ghost tour tickets sold separately through tour operators.
Access
Limited Access
Uneven ground, historic gravemarkers, unpaved paths through cemetery sections
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1785 · National Register of Historic Places · Oldest Cemetery in Fayetteville · First Confederate Monument in North Carolina (1868) · Segregated Burial Sections (White, Free Black, Hebrew)
Cross Creek Cemetery was established in 1785 at the junction of N. Cool Spring and Grove Streets in downtown Fayetteville, sited near the creek that gave it its name — a waterway that runs from the city center to the Cape Fear River. The original section, Cross Creek Cemetery Number One, was expanded in 1833 and contains roughly 1,170 gravemarkers spanning from 1786 to 1964, representing nearly two centuries of Cumberland County deaths and burials.
The cemetery was organized from its early history into separate sections reflecting the legal and social divisions of antebellum North Carolina: sections for white Protestants, free Black residents, and Hebrew congregants each occupy distinct portions of the grounds. This structure makes the cemetery an unusual documentary record of the diverse makeup of 18th and 19th-century Fayetteville, including the presence of a free Black community during the slavery era.
Following the Civil War, the Ladies' Memorial Association undertook the relocation of fallen Confederate soldiers to Cross Creek Cemetery. On December 30, 1868, the association dedicated a monument to those dead — the first Confederate monument erected anywhere in North Carolina, predating similar structures across the state by years. The monument became a focal point of postwar commemoration in the region.
The cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 25, 1998, reference number 98001209, as a historic district covering approximately five acres. It is maintained by Fayetteville-Cumberland County Parks and Recreation. The North Carolina General Assembly created a Cross Creek Cemetery Commission in 1915 to ensure the site's long-term upkeep.
Sources
Cross Creek Cemetery's place in Fayetteville's ghost-tour ecosystem rests primarily on history rather than specific documented sightings. Ghost-tour operators, including the Visit Downtown Fayetteville Historic Hauntings Hayride, use the cemetery as an active stop and draw on the site's Civil War soldier relocations and the density of 18th and 19th-century burials as context for the claims.
The creek running near the cemetery — Cross Creek itself — features in some local lore as a conduit for paranormal energy, a common motif attached to burial grounds near running water in regional folk tradition. No formal paranormal investigation with published findings has been conducted at the site, and the haunting reports derive from oral tradition and tour-guide scripts rather than documented encounter accounts.
The cemetery's physical character supports the atmospheric draw: gravemarkers from the 1780s and 1790s stand among later Victorian monuments, the Hebrew section occupies its own quiet corner, and the 1868 Confederate monument anchors the southern end. Evening visits, particularly during the hayride season, draw consistent visitor accounts of an unsettling quality to the older sections of the grounds.
Self-guided exploration of Cross Creek Cemetery's historic sections, including the 1785 original section with gravemarkers spanning 1786 to 1964, the Hebrew burial section, the free Black section, and the 1868 Confederate monument — the first erected in North Carolina.
Seasonal ghost tour that includes Cross Creek Cemetery as an active stop, operated by Visit Downtown Fayetteville. Tour covers Civil War soldier relocations and the cemetery's layered history across its five burial sections.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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