Colonial Park Cemetery

Colonial Park Cemetery occupies about six acres at 200 Abercorn Street and contains more than 9,000 graves. It is compact enough for a 30–45 minute daytime stop within a Historic District walk. Bonaventure is the better choice when you want to give a cemetery one to two hours and have a car or ride east of downtown.

Check the closing time in March and November

The city publishes 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for November through March and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for March through November. March and November appear in both ranges. If you plan to arrive after 5 p.m. in either boundary month, check the gate time with the city rather than guessing which line applies.

Use the city map for a short daytime loop

Download the official one-page section map before entering. My 30–45 minutes covers a slow loop through several sections and a stop at the Patriots' Arch, not a hunt for every named burial. The map shows sections, not individual graves; finding a specific ancestor means city records rather than wandering.

What the city documents

The city dates the cemetery to 1750, says it reached its current size after three expansions by 1789, and identifies it as Savannah's primary public cemetery from 1750 to 1853. It has been closed to interments since 1853. The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution records its Patriots' Arch as a Revolutionary War memorial erected in 1913 and completed in 1914.

Colonial Park or Bonaventure?

Keep ghost stories separate from the record

The City Cemeteries Division says it does not provide tours and asks visitors not to sensationalize cemetery sites as haunted. Private night tours sell storytelling. A tale told on one is not a city record, and a ticket does not include entry after the pedestrian gate closes. Treat the grounds as a burial place, stay on the visitor route and follow posted instructions.