701 Passover Lane

The Key West City Cemetery was established in 1847.

Originally located near the beach, where the ground was softer, the island’s main burial ground was relocated to its current location after a severe hurricane swept the island, disinterring bodies and washing them across Key West.

Paranormal hotspots are reported throughout the Key West Cemetery.

Click the link for a free cemetery map listing the graves of many of our island’s famous residents and spirits.

401 Duval Street (access graveyard behind church on Bahama Street)

The old graveyard behind St. Paul’s church has burials that pre-date the Civil War.

Many of the graves were moved to the City Cemetery when the present church was constructed, and at least six people are buried beneath the church.

A columbarium graces the Memorial Garden, and some of the old graves abutting the side of the church.

Visitors report the spirits of children and an angry sea captain.

White Street at Angela Street

An Army barracks was established on the site of Peary Court in 1831 and a cemetery followed.

Of the 468 people interred there, all but 104 died between 1862 and 1865 during the Civil War. Most died from typhoid and yellow fever.

The military abandoned the burial ground, and in 1927, the bodies were thought to be relocated to Fort Barrancas in Pensacola.

An archeological dig conducted as part of a planned development discovered that not all of the bodies had been moved.

Mystery orbs are often seen at night hovering over the burial grounds.

1010 Windsor Lane

The graveyard beside St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Catholic Church is the final resting place for several who devoted their lives to the convent.

There have long been whispers in the community that a few infants associated with the convent are buried here, too.

The spirit of Sister Louis Gabriel has been seen near the cemetery at the church’s Hurricane Grotto.

She built the grotto after receiving a divine message telling her it would protect Key West from hurricanes.

1074 Atlantic Blvd

Three illegal slave ships were intercepted by the US Navy in 1860 and diverted to Key West.

Island residents worked tirelessly to provide food and shelter for the almost 1500 Africans once destined for slavery, but despite their efforts, hundreds of them died and were interred in a mass grave at Higgs Beach.

Many of the bodies were removed and relocated during the construction of Fort West Martello, and paranormal activity in the area is reported regularly.

This beach is also the site of an early Key West cemetery.

Smallpox, yellow fever, and chronic diarrhea took their toll on the soldiers, prisoners, and other unfortunate souls who found themselves isolated at Fort Jefferson during the Civil War.

Bodies were buried on Garden Key, Hospital Key, Bird Key, and Loggerhead Key.

Some of the graves remain, while some washed away.

Mysterious lights appear underwater near Bird Key. Spirits roam the old fort, and Fort Jefferson's rangers have unbelievable tales of their encounters with the ghosts of the Dry Tortugas.

600 Eaton St.

A cemetery was discovered underneath Key West’s Old Stone Methodist Church in December of 1951.

No one is certain how many graves were there, but the one belonging to Marie Charlotte Florance Phillipe was moved to the church garden along Simonton St.

A descendant of Phillipe spent decades looking for her grave and was surprised to find a Catholic person buried at a Methodist church.

When she found the grave, she brushed off the dirt and said, “I am your great, great, great granddaughter.”

At that moment, a burst of cold air shot up from the ground, and she was hugged from the grave with such force it broke her purse strap.

One theory suggests Marie died during a hurricane and was buried where her body was discovered.

81801 Overseas Hwy., Islamorada

Located on the Cheeca Lodge property, the Pioneer Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 50 pioneer Anglo-Bahamian Conchs who organized the first community on Matecumbe Key.

Descendants of the Russels, Parkers, and Pinders are buried here.

People visiting the graves after the sun goes down report the presence of a young woman beside them and the sensation of a child trying to hold their hand.

The cemetery is unique, as it is located on the beach in the hotel complex.

The Cheeca Lodge must be commended for respecting and maintaining this important part of the Florida Keys past.

If you plan a visit, just let the person at the resort’s guard gate know you are there to visit the cemetery.