Lexington's oldest public cemetery holds Jackson, two Virginia governors, and nearly 150 Confederate veterans—and serves as the final stop on the town's ghost tour.
314 S Main St, Lexington, VA 24450
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Cemetery open to the public at no charge; guided ghost tours have a ticket fee
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved paths through cemetery; some sections on sloped or uneven ground
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1840 · Stonewall Jackson Burial Site · Civil War History · Virginia Governors · Confederate Veterans Cemetery
The cemetery on South Main Street in Lexington was originally organized as the Presbyterian Cemetery in the early decades of the 19th century. For generations it served as the primary municipal burying ground for Lexington's civilian and military residents alike, eventually encompassing roughly seven and a half acres and nearly 7,500 interments.
The site's most celebrated burial is that of Thomas Jonathan 'Stonewall' Jackson (1824–1863), the VMI professor-turned-Confederate general who was accidentally shot by his own men at Chancellorsville and died of pneumonia eight days later. Jackson's grave, marked by a bronze statue erected in 1891 by sculptor Edward Valentine, has drawn visitors since the years immediately following the Civil War. His first wife Elinor Junkin Jackson (died 1854), his second wife Mary Anna Morrison Jackson (died 1915), and other family members are buried in the surrounding plot.
Also interred here are Governor John Letcher (1813–1884), who served as Virginia's wartime governor 1860–1864, and Governor James McDowell (1795–1851). Confederate General E.F. Paxton, who was killed at Chancellorsville the same battle where Jackson fell, lies nearby. Poet Margaret Junkin Preston, known as the 'Poet Laureate of the Confederacy,' is another notable burial.
In September 2020, Lexington City Council voted to rename the cemetery from Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery to Oak Grove Cemetery, citing the desire to move away from Confederate-linked naming. The renaming generated regional attention but did not change the publicly accessible nature of the grounds or the location of Jackson's grave.
Sources
Lexington's ghost tour tradition dates to 1996, when local artist and folk legend Mark Cline—creator of Enchanted Castle Studios and the roadside attraction Dinosaur Kingdom II—began leading visitors through the historic town streets to Oak Grove Cemetery. The tour's nocturnal cemetery segment, with guides in 19th-century costume, is where most accounts of paranormal activity at the site are concentrated.
The most frequently reported claim is an apparition associated with Jackson's grave: witnesses describe a figure in military dress observed near the bronze statue, particularly on fog-heavy nights. Guides also relay accounts of figures in period clothing moving between the Confederate veteran plots in the cemetery's older sections and then vanishing.
The cemetery's paranormal reputation is amplified by its density of Civil War-era burials. With 144 Confederate veterans, two wartime-period governors, and multiple VMI officers interred in a small area, it occupies a significant place in Lexington's commemorative landscape and provides a natural setting for ghost lore to accumulate.
The virginiahauntedhouses.com database, which aggregates regional haunting reports, lists the cemetery as a documented site with multiple independent claims. The Frommer's travel guide has also noted its reputation as a haunted attraction.
Notable Entities
Walk the grounds of Oak Grove Cemetery (formerly Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery) using the Historic Lexington Foundation's published walking tour map. The route passes Jackson's grave with its bronze statue, the burial plots of Governors John Letcher and James McDowell, 144 Confederate veterans, and Confederate General E.F. Paxton—who died alongside Jackson at Chancellorsville.
Mark Cline's 90-minute walking ghost tour through historic Lexington concludes after dark inside Oak Grove Cemetery, where guides in period costume share stories of the town's most persistent hauntings. Tours depart Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. from the Lexington Visitor Center at 106 East Washington Street.
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