Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainVictorian Elmira cemetery and final resting place of Mark Twain and his family, host to an annual historical-society Ghost Walk.
1200 Walnut Street, Elmira, NY 14905
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public access during daylight hours. The annual Ghost Walk run by the Chemung County Historical Society and Elmira Little Theatre is a separately ticketed event.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Rolling Victorian cemetery grounds with paved internal roads and some uneven older sections
Equipment
Photos OK
Burial Site of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and His Family · Victorian Rural-Movement Cemetery · Distinct from the Adjacent Woodlawn National Cemetery · Site of an Annual Historical-Society Ghost Walk
Woodlawn Cemetery is a 19th-century civilian cemetery in Elmira, laid out in the Victorian rural-cemetery style with winding drives and elaborate family monuments. Its best-known feature is the family plot of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, the writer Mark Twain, who married Olivia "Livy" Langdon of Elmira and spent many summers writing at the Langdon family's nearby Quarry Farm.
Twain died in 1910 and is buried at Woodlawn alongside Olivia and other members of the Langdon and Clemens families. The family monument is a regular destination for literary visitors, and the cemetery is closely tied to Elmira's identity as Twain's adopted summer home.
Woodlawn Cemetery is frequently confused with the adjacent Woodlawn National Cemetery, a federal cemetery established during the Civil War. The national cemetery holds the graves of nearly 3,000 Confederate soldiers who died as prisoners at the Elmira prison camp, often called "Hellmira." The two are neighboring but separate institutions with very different histories.
The civilian Woodlawn remains an active cemetery and a documented part of Elmira's heritage. Each year the Chemung County Historical Society partners with the Elmira Little Theatre to stage a Ghost Walk, in which actors portray figures buried on the grounds as a living-history program.
Sources
The ghost stories at Woodlawn are gentle ones, in keeping with the cemetery's reputation as a friendly place. A regional magazine feature on "the friendly ghosts of Woodlawn" collected the recurring reports: cold spots that move through warm afternoons, footsteps on the cemetery roads with no walker in sight, and a woman in period attire seen among the older monuments.
The most-repeated detail involves Mark Twain himself. Visitors near the Clemens family plot describe catching the smell of cigar smoke, which they connect to Twain's lifelong fondness for cigars. The phenomenon has become part of the cemetery's lore and a talking point on the annual Ghost Walk.
That Ghost Walk, run by the Chemung County Historical Society with the Elmira Little Theatre, is as much living history as ghost story. Costumed actors portray notable people buried at Woodlawn, telling their real biographies to visitors walking the grounds at dusk.
The paranormal reports are anecdotal, drawn from the magazine feature and the historical society's programming rather than verified investigation. The cemetery's appeal rests more on its documented history and its connection to Twain than on any claim of activity.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Visit Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira during daylight hours and pay respects at the graves of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and his family, including his wife Olivia Langdon Clemens. The civilian Woodlawn Cemetery is distinct from the adjacent Woodlawn National Cemetery. Stay on the roads where practical and visit only during the day.
The Chemung County Historical Society and the Elmira Little Theatre stage an annual Ghost Walk in which costumed actors portray notable people buried in the cemetery. The event is seasonal and separately ticketed; check the historical society's schedule for dates.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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