Suffolk's primary historic cemetery since 1802 — Confederate generals, a U.S. Senator, and a lantern-lit ghost walk
Cedar Hill Drive, Suffolk, VA 23434
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Cemetery grounds free and publicly accessible during daylight hours. Lantern ghost walk requires ticket purchase.
Access
Limited Access
25-acre historic cemetery with uneven ground, gravel paths, and older raised marker sections
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1802 · Established 1802 — Suffolk's Primary Historic Cemetery · National Register of Historic Places (2006) · Confederate Brigadier General Lawrence O'Bryan Branch (KIA Antietam 1862) · Confederate Brigadier General Laurence Simmons Baker · 25-Acre Historic Burial Ground
Cedar Hill Cemetery was established in 1802 on the western edge of what was then the town of Suffolk, Virginia. For more than two centuries it served as the primary burial ground for the city and surrounding Nansemond County, accumulating a cross-section of southeastern Virginia society from Revolutionary War veterans through the early twentieth century.
The cemetery's most historically prominent interment is Confederate Brigadier General Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, a North Carolina native who served in the Confederate Army and was killed at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862 — one of the bloodiest single days of the Civil War. Branch was shot in the head during the fighting and died on the battlefield. His remains were brought back to Suffolk for burial. Brigadier General Laurence Simmons Baker, another North Carolina officer who survived the war, is also buried at Cedar Hill.
The presence of two Confederate general officers, along with a U.S. Senator and a North Carolina governor, gave the cemetery particular significance for the region's nineteenth-century establishment. The 25-acre grounds were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006 in recognition of their historical and architectural character, including the range of nineteenth-century grave marker styles represented.
Suffolk's city tourism program has incorporated Cedar Hill Cemetery into the 'Legends of Main Street' ghost walk, which pairs the cemetery's documented history with accounts collected from visitors and staff about unexplained occurrences along its paths.
Sources
Cedar Hill Cemetery has been a stop on Suffolk's official ghost walk for at least several years, included in the 'Legends of Main Street' lantern tour as one of the city's primary dark-history sites. The city's tourism program documents the stop explicitly, citing spirits and unexplained occurrences along the cemetery's paths as part of the tour's content.
The cemetery's connection to the Civil War — particularly the burial of General Lawrence Branch, killed on one of the war's bloodiest days — gives the location a historical weight that supports the paranormal tradition. Branch was shot in the head at Antietam, a battle that produced approximately 23,000 casualties in a single day, and his remains were transported home to Suffolk for interment. That kind of violent, consequential death in a distant place, followed by burial in home ground, is common to many of the most persistent haunting traditions in American cemetery culture.
No formal paranormal investigations or overnight access programs exist at Cedar Hill. The ghost walk is the primary structured dark-tourism experience here, offered through the city's official tourism apparatus.
Notable Entities
A 25-acre cemetery established in 1802 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. The grounds hold Confederate Brigadier Generals Lawrence O'Bryan Branch (killed at Antietam in 1862) and Laurence Simmons Baker, a U.S. Senator, and a North Carolina governor. Interpretive markers identify notable sections.
Suffolk's official 'Legends of Main Street' ghost walk tours Cedar Hill Cemetery by lantern light with staff-led storytelling about spirits and documented unexplained occurrences along its paths. The walk connects the cemetery's notable interments to Suffolk's broader dark history.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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