Rienzi Cemetery

Rienzi Cemetery is one of Wisconsin’s oldest and most mysterious burial grounds, with a history that stretches back to the early days of the Wisconsin Territory. The cemetery began with the death of William Tallmadge, the 19-year-old son of Wisconsin Territory governor Nathaniel Potter Tallmadge, who was buried on June 12, 1845, in a spot he had personally chosen on his family’s land known as Rienzi Hill. Not long afterward, Nathaniel Tallmadge donated the hill and surrounding acreage as a public cemetery, creating what would become the final resting place for Civil War generals, politicians, musicians, athletes, and other notable figures. The cemetery’s connection to the spiritualism movement of the 1800s only adds to its eerie reputation, as Tallmadge documented his family’s own communications with spirits on that land in the 1853 book Spiritualism, Volume 1.

Today, Rienzi Cemetery is best known for its darker legends, including the Witch’s Circle located at the back of the cemetery. According to local folklore, the circle marks the burial place of excommunicated nuns from the Sisterhood of the Nativity who were accused of witchcraft and buried in unconsecrated ground.

The cemetery’s old stone receiving vault has also become part of local legend, with rumors that a glowing portal to Hell appears inside after dark.

You can find the Tallmadge family at the top of the hill.

Reported Paranormal Activity at Rienzi Cemetery:

• Apparitions and unexplained sounds throughout the cemetery grounds
• Strange sensations and paranormal activity reported near the Witch’s Circle
• A glowing portal to Hell appearing inside the old receiving vault
• Stories of witchcraft, cursed burial grounds, and unexplained occurrences after sunset
• Spiritualist history tied to Nathaniel Tallmadge’s communication with the dead

More eerie legends of Wisconsin’s most haunted cemeteries →