Calvary Avenue

Calvary Avenue in north St. Louis is more than a road connecting two historic cemeteries. For generations, the stretch between Calvary Cemetery & Mausoleum and Bellefontaine Cemetery has been associated with one of the city’s most enduring ghost stories: the mysterious Hitchhiker Annie.

​

The road takes its name from nearby Calvary Cemetery, which was established in the 1850s as St. Louis expanded northward. The cemetery occupies hundreds of acres of rolling ground overlooking the Mississippi River and became the final resting place of thousands of St. Louisans, including famous figures such as William Tecumseh Sherman, Tennessee Williams and Dred Scott.

But it is the darkness surrounding Calvary Avenue that has given the road its sinister reputation.

​

According to local legend, drivers traveling the road at night sometimes encounter a young woman dressed in white. Known as Hitchhiker Annie, she is said to appear along Calvary Avenue and ask motorists for a ride. Some versions of the story say that after entering the vehicle, Annie suddenly disappears—leaving the driver alone with an empty seat.

​

Another haunting connected to the area involves Thomas Reynolds, whose mausoleum overlooks Calvary Avenue. Reynolds reportedly mourned his wife, Heloise, so deeply that he regularly visited her tomb and spent hours there after her death. Following Reynolds’ own death in 1887, stories emerged of a spectral figure appearing on the hill near the mausoleum.

​

Whether Hitchhiker Annie is a ghost, an urban legend or a story born from older sightings along the cemetery road, Calvary Avenue remains one of St. Louis’ creepiest locations. After dark, with cemetery gates looming nearby and shadows moving across the hills, it is easy to understand why some drivers keep their eyes firmly on the road.