Special Report

Spookiest Cities to Visit This October

Evan Comen

Published: October 11, 2024 11:16 am

24/7 Wall St. Insights

• The U.S. is home to dozens of old, well-preserved cities with historic cemeteries, ornate Victorian mansions, and macabre memorials and museums.
• Cincinnati is home to 7 historic cemeteries, tied with New York as the most of any state.
• Massachusetts is home to 6 of the 40 spookiest cities to visit, the most of any state.
• Also: 2 Dividend Legends to Hold Forever

Some places are made for October. The air gets crisp, shadows get longer, senescent leaves show their true colors and fall off the tree. In some cities, this passage of time is accented by historic cemeteries, ornate Victorian mansions, and macabre memorials and museums.

To determine the spookiest cities to visit this month, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on housing characteristics, historic building status, town history, and establishment listings. Cities were ranked based on an index of median home age, the number of Gothic Revival and Victorian buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places per capita, number of historic cemeteries in the NHRP, number of off-beat or “spooky” establishments (with descriptions including keywords “witch,” “spooky,” and “occult”), and city or town founding date. Data on median home age is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey.

40. Key West, FL

• Founding date: 1828
• Median home age: 56 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 22 listings
• Spooky things to do: Blue Heaven Rooster Cemetery, Key West Cemetery, African Cemetery at Higgs Beach, Robert the Doll, Captain Tony’s Saloon

39. Eureka, UT

Eureka, Utah (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Ken Lund

• Founding date: 1870
• Median home age: 85 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 15 listings
• Spooky things to do: Silver City Cemetery, Eureka City Cemetery, Fitch Cemetery

38. Seattle, WA

Colorful row of houses, blue, green, yellow, orange, blue, green, pink, purple, orange, yellow, green, blue, black and silver cars, street sign, N 35th and Meridian Ave N, Seattle, Washington, USA (BY 2.0) by Wonderlane

• Founding date: 1851
• Median home age: 51 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 226 listings
• Spooky things to do: Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Comet Lodge Cemetery, Lake View Cemetery, Nevertold Casket Company, Georgetown Castle

37. Tallahassee, FL

• Founding date: 1824
• Median home age: 38 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 66 listings
• Spooky things to do: Grave of Elizabeth Budd-Graham, Airport Cemetery, Ghost Roads of Fallschase, Sod Cemetery, Blackwood-Harwood Plantations Cemetery, Greenwood Cemetery

36. Natchez, MS

• Founding date: 1716
• Median home age: 61 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 119 listings
• Spooky things to do: Grave of Florence Irene Ford, Cemetery Bluff District, Natchez National Cemetery, Jefferson Chapel A.M.E. Church and Cemetery

35. Knoxville, TN

• Founding date: 1786
• Median home age: 51 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 117 listings
• Spooky things to do: Old Gray Cemetery, Knoxville National Cemetery, First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Lebanon in the Forks Cemetery, Bethel Confederate Cemetery and Winstead Cottage

34. Framingham, MA

• Founding date: 1700
• Median home age: 60 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 17 listings
• Spooky things to do: Grave of Peter Salem, Sarah Clayes House, Graves of John Cloyce & Abraham Rice

33. Memphis, TN

• Founding date: 1819
• Median home age: 54 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 184 listings
• Spooky things to do: Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis Gong Chamber, Elmwood Cemetery Office and Entrance Bridge, Zion Cemetery, Sculptures of Dionicio Rodriguez at Memorial Park Cemetery, Memphis National Cemetery

32. Arlington, VA

• Founding date: 1801
• Median home age: 48 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 65 listings
• Spooky things to do: James Parks Grave, The Graves of Robert E. Lee’s Garden, Joseph Marthon Memorial Mainmast, Mary Randolph Gravesite, McKee Grave, Abner Doubleday Gravesite, Gravelly Point Park, Pierre L’Enfant’s (Second) Gravesite, Headstone-Eating Trees, Netherlands Cari

31. Dayton, OH

• Founding date: 1796
• Median home age: 74 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 123 listings
• Spooky things to do: Grave of Johnny Morehouse, Woodland Cemetery Gateway, Chapel And Office, Woodland Cemetery Association of Dayton Historic District

30. Buffalo, NY

• Founding date: 1801
• Median home age: 85 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 193 listings
• Spooky things to do: Ely S. Parker’s Grave, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Concordia Cemetery

29. Detroit, MI

• Founding date: 1701
• Median home age: 77 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 291 listings
• Spooky things to do: Beth Olem, St. Agnes Church and School, Eastside Historic Cemetery District

28. Portland, OR

• Founding date: 1845
• Median home age: 60 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 624 listings
• Spooky things to do: The Freakybuttrue Peculiarium, The Witch’s Castle, Creepy’s, Lone Fir Cemetery, Willamette National Cemetery

27. Minneapolis, MN

• Founding date: 1867
• Median home age: 74 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 152 listings
• Spooky things to do: Grave of Hubert H. Humphrey, Beltrami Park / Maple Hill Cemetery, Grave of Callum DeVillier, Lakewood Cemetery Memorial Chapel, Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery, Fort Snelling National Cemetery

26. Hartford, CT

• Founding date: 1635
• Median home age: 72 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 150 listings
• Spooky things to do: Ancient Burying Ground, Cedar Hill Cemetery, Old North Cemetery

25. Rochester, NY

• Founding date: 1817
• Median home age: 85 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 156 listings
• Spooky things to do: Mount Hope Cemetery, Grave of George Washington’s Drummer Boy, Susan B. Anthony’s Grave, Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Sam Patch’s Grave

24. Worcester, MA

• Founding date: 1722
• Median home age: 73 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 289 listings
• Spooky things to do: Worcester State Hospital, Worcester Common Burial Ground, Hope Cemetery

23. Cambridge, MA

• Founding date: 1630
• Median home age: 78 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 212 listings
• Spooky things to do: Mount Auburn Cemetery, Graves of Henry and William James, Old Burial Ground, Mount Auburn Cemetery Reception House

22. Pittsburgh, PA

• Founding date: 1758
• Median home age: 82 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 192 listings
• Spooky things to do: Shark Tombstone, Homewood Cemetery, Winter Mausoleum, Allegheny Cemetery

21. Quincy, MA

• Founding date: 1792
• Median home age: 65 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 108 listings
• Spooky things to do: Drumlins and Tombolos of Spectacle Island, Abigail Adams’ Grave, USS Salem, Hancock Cemetery, Mount Wollaston Cemetery

20. Baltimore, MD

• Founding date: 1729
• Median home age: 77 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 33 listings
• Spooky things to do: Edgar Allan Poe’s Grave, Curtis Creek Ship Graveyard, Fell Family Cemetery, Biddison Family Cemetery, Elijah Bond’s Ouija Board Grave, Grave of John Wilkes Booth, Westminster Presbyterian Church and Cemetery, Green Mount Cemetery, St. Paul’s Cemetery, Lou

19. Duluth, MN

• Founding date: 1857
• Median home age: 74 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 45 listings
• Spooky things to do: S.S. William A. Irvin, Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum, Ely’s Peak and DWP Railroad Tunnel, Grave of the Last Surviving Union Soldier

18. Lancaster, PA

• Founding date: 1730
• Median home age: 85 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 79 listings
• Spooky things to do: Lancaster Cemetery, Lancaster Crematorium, Woodward Hill Cemetery

17. St. Louis, MO

• Founding date: 1764
• Median home age: 85 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 74 listings
• Spooky things to do: Bellefontaine Cemetery, Laclede’s Landing Wax Museum, Eros Bendato, The Lemp Family Tomb

16. Newport, RI

• Founding date: 1639
• Median home age: 85 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 68 listings
• Spooky things to do: Touro Cemetery, Gravelly Point, Grave of Ida Lewis, Grave of Ann Franklin, Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery

15. Savannah, GA

• Founding date: 1733
• Median home age: 55 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 55 listings
• Spooky things to do: Grave of Corinne Elliot Lawton, Colonial Park Cemetery, Dotson Runway Graves, The Bonaventure Jogger, Graveface Museum, Grave of Gracie Watson, Laurel Grove-South Cemetery, Bonaventure Cemetery

14. Richmond, VA

• Founding date: 1737
• Median home age: 66 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 52 listings
• Spooky things to do: Shockoe Hill Cemetery, Hollywood Cemetery, Evergreen Cemetery, The Grave of Oderus Urungus, Fort Harrison National Cemetery, Richmond National Cemetery, Barton Heights Cemeteries, Hebrew Cemetery

13. Cincinnati, OH

• Founding date: 1788
• Median home age: 73 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 310 listings
• Spooky things to do: Spring Grove Cemetery, Grave of Fredric J. Baur, Columbia Baptist Cemetery, Fulton-Presbyterian Cemetery, Spring Grove Cemetery Chapel, Union Baptist Cemetery, German Evangelical Protestant Cemetery Chapel, United Colored American Cemetery

12. San Antonio, TX

• Founding date: 1718
• Median home age: 41 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 151 listings
• Spooky things to do: Grave of Pat the Horse, Miraflores, Alamo Cat Graves, Memorial Park at UT Health Science Center, Grave of Sandra West and Her Ferrari, Rube Waddell’s Grave, San Antonio National Cemetery, San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District, Fort Sam Houston Nat

11. Cleveland, OH

Shore Acres Drive, North Colli... (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Warren LeMay

• Founding date: 1796
• Median home age: 84 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 284 listings
• Spooky things to do: Grave of Alan Freed, Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magick, The Haserot Angel, Franklin Castle, Wade Memorial Chapel, Woodland Cemetery, Riverside Cemetery Chapel, Riverside Cemetery Building

10. New Haven, CT

Brains in jars (CC BY 2.0) by techbint

• Founding date: 1638
• Median home age: 73 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 73 listings
• Spooky things to do: Grave of Sarah Winchester, Crypt at Center Church-on-the-Green, Skull and Bones Tomb, Grave of Midnight Mary, Grave of Arthur Twining Hadley, Grove Street Cemetery

9. Providence, RI

• Founding date: 1636
• Median home age: 85 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 174 listings
• Spooky things to do: Providence Biltmore, H.P. Lovecraft’s Grave, H.P. Lovecraft House, Stephen Harris House, Swan Point Cemetery

8. Philadelphia, PA

• Founding date: 1682
• Median home age: 75 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 617 listings
• Spooky things to do: Harry’s Occult Shop, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Mount Moriah Cemetery, Fort Mifflin, Grave of Thomas Wiltberger Evans, The Grave of America’s Unknown Child: Joseph Augustus Zarelli, Mikveh Israel Cemetery, Philadelphia National Cemetery

7. Chicago, IL

• Founding date: 1833
• Median home age: 72 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 411 listings
• Spooky things to do: Graceland Cemetery, Bohemian National Cemetery, Inez Clarke Monument, Rosehill Cemetery, Grave of Andreas von Zirngibl, Eternal Silence, Confederate Mound, Couch Tomb, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Sideshow Gallery, Rosehill Cemetery Administration Build

6. Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles (CC BY 2.0) by Chad Davis

• Founding date: 1781
• Median home age: 60 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 252 listings
• Spooky things to do: Feral Cat Colonies of Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Odd Fellows Cemetery, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Philosophical Research Society, Evergreen Memorial Park & Crematory, Ennis House, Hieroglyph Murals at the Egyptian Theatre, Bob Hope Grave and Memorial Ga

5. Salem, MA

• Founding date: 1626
• Median home age: 84 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 50 listings
• Spooky things to do: The Witch House of Salem, Salem Witch Trials Memorial, Statue of Elizabeth Montgomery, Witch Dungeon Museum, The Satanic Temple, Salem Witch Board Museum, Joshua Ward House, Black Veil Shoppe of Drear & Wonder, Proctor’s Ledge, Greenlawn Cemetery

4. Boston, MA

• Founding date: 1630
• Median home age: 79 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 318 listings
• Spooky things to do: Tomb of the Mather Family, Forest Hills Cemetery, Grave of Christopher Seider, Chow Manderien’s Grave, Mather Home, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, Lobster Mickey, Stanza dei Sigari – Cigar Bar and Memorabilia, Central Burying Ground, Saint Augustine Chapel a

3. New York, NY

• Founding date: 1624
• Median home age: 73 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 809 listings
• Spooky things to do: Trinity Churchyard, President Ulysses S. Grant’s Tomb, Second Cemetery of the Congregation Shearith Israel, Phone Booth Graveyard, Trinity Church Cemetery & Mausoleum, New York Marble Cemetery, Chancellor Robert R Livingston Masonic Library, First Shearit

2. San Francisco, CA

• Founding date: 1776
• Median home age: 79 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 201 listings
• Spooky things to do: Buena Vista Park Tombstones, The Sutro Egyptian Collection, Presidio Pet Cemetery, Fort Miley Batteries, The Shipwrecks at Land’s End, Mescaline Grove, Aquatic Park Tombstones, Mission Dolores Cemetery, United States Marine Hospital Cemetery, ‘Wood Line’,

1. New Orleans, LA

• Founding date: 1718
• Median home age: 66 years
• Historic buildings and sites: 204 listings
• Spooky things to do: Holt Cemetery, Metairie Cemetery, Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, Saint Louis Cemetery No. 2, Nicolas Cage’s Pyramid Tomb, Marie Laveau’s Tomb, Lafayette Cemetery, Odd Fellows Rest, Tomb of the Unknown Slave, Kitchen Witch Cookbooks, Moriarty Monument, Cypres