THE STORY
Reported Haunting
The Legare family mausoleum at the Presbyterian Church on Edisto Island is famous for the legend that Julia Legare was mistakenly buried alive and that the tomb's heavy door repeatedly reopened afterward.
The Presbyterian Church on Edisto Island has a historic churchyard containing the Legare family mausoleum, where Julia Legare was buried after her death in 1852 at age twenty-two. Later folklore claims Julia had fallen into a death-like coma and was mistakenly entombed alive; when the crypt was opened for another burial, her remains were allegedly found near the entrance. The legend continues that the mausoleum door repeatedly opened after being replaced or secured, and Julia's spirit is now associated with the tomb. Local historical commentary notes that the buried-alive story appears to be a later legend rather than a firmly documented event, so Ghost Atlas presents it as folklore. The correct street address is 2164 South Carolina Highway 174.