Description: With it's beautiful location on the bluffs overlooking the James River, Hollywood Cemetery has been operating as a cemetery since the 1800's. Many prominent figures are buries here: presidents, governors, Supreme Court justices, Confederate generals, and thousands of Confederate soldiers. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
There are walking tours from Monday - Saturday, at 10 am, April - October.
The older section features elaborate tombs, iron fencing, and views of the James River and the Richmond skyline.
A pyramid stands in the rear of the cemetery and is a memorial to the Confederate dead.
There are beautiful trees, shrubs, and flowers in the springtime, and the changing of leaves in the fall beautifully frame to tombs.
There are two legends out of the many about this cemetery that stand out:
There is a cast iron statue of a dog resting on the grave of a little girl. The story goes that the statue stood outside of a business door, and the little girl would pet it each day when she passed. She died, and the statue was put on her grave to protect it from people who would steal it because of its value. Now it protects the little girl's grave from people who get too close, and occasionally moves the direction it points in.
The second is that Hollywood Cemetery has a vampire! The tomb belongs to W.W. Pool, and something has been seen leaving and returning to the tomb, described as partially decomposed, with jagged teeth, and blood around his mouth. Because of the vampire, the cemetery is supposed to be popular with satanists and goths, especially around Halloween.
Hollywood Cemetery is open year round from 8 am - 5 pm daily.
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