THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Ghost stories have circulated around Old Gray Cemetery for generations, most notably tales of a pale Lady in White wandering among the graves and the later legend of a mysterious dark figure commonly called Black Aggie.
Founded in 1850 and dedicated in 1852, Old Gray Cemetery is one of Knoxville's most significant historic burial grounds. The cemetery's genuine local ghost tradition is different from the Abner Baker story sometimes incorrectly attributed to it. Knox County historical research documents generations of stories about a Lady in White, a silent female apparition said to wander near the graves as though searching for something lost. A later twentieth-century tradition involves the mysterious figure known as Black Aggie. The origins and identities attached to these apparitions vary over time, making them examples of evolving Knoxville folklore rather than established historical events. Visitors should respect cemetery hours and the gravesites.