Earl of Craven Questers Offer Free Daytime Cemetery Tours

Weeping Arch
Weeping Arch entrance gate to Cedar Grove Cemetery on Queen Street.

Historical Society Ghostwalk Sees You Through in the Evening

While the New Bern Historical Society is preparing for Ghostwalk evenings on October 22 – 24, the Earl of Craven Questers organization is offering special free daytime tours of Cedar Grove Cemetery on Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24 at 2 p.m.  Come and discover interesting facts about historic figures that are buried there such as who founded a free school for poor children and orphans of New Bern. Who designed the first Pepsi Cola trademark?  Who wrote the NC state song, “The Old North State?”  Who was a leading carpenter who built several downtown churches in New Bern, including Christ Episcopal Church, First Baptist Church, and St. Paul’s Catholic Church?

To help with social distancing, there will be X’s marked on the Queen St. sidewalk leading to the cemetery entrance gate. Please note, masks are required. The daytime tours are free, although donations will be gratefully accepted which will be used by the Questers for repair of cemetery tombstones. The Earl of Craven Questers is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring and preserving Cedar Grove Cemetery. Over the years, the group has raised more than $50,000 for their ongoing work.

Cedar Grove Cemetery is one of the most popular “ghost sites” on the New Bern Historical Society’s annual Ghostwalk. Each year, many of the historic characters returning for the nighttime event appear there to the delight of the crowds of visitors. “The Questers daytime tours will give you the opportunity to learn even more and see Cedar Grove in a different light” offers New Bern Historical Society’s Executive Director, Mickey Miller.

To take the Questers tour, simply meet at the Queen Street entrance gate on either Friday or Saturday at 2 p.m.  Please remember that masks are required to take the tour. If there are storms the weekend of October 22 – 24, the rain dates are October 29 – 31. For more information on Ghostwalk call 252-638-8558 or visit GhostwalkNewBern.com.

Submitted by Kathy Morrison on behalf of Mickey Miller, New Bern Historical Society