Laurel Grove Cemetery lies west of downtown, on part of the former Springfield Plantation. It is named for the native laurel oaks that once grew there. Planning began as early as 1818, but the city developed it around 1850, when Colonial Park, the Old Jewish Cemetery, Potter's Field and the old burial ground for Black Savannahians were all nearly full. It was dedicated in 1852, with an address by the lawyer and poet Henry Rootes Jackson, and opened for burials in 1853.

The cemetery was segregated from the start. Laurel Grove North was for white Savannahians. Its 67 acres are laid out around a natural ravine with a central green and curving drives, and the Keeper's House, Porter's Lodge, gazebo and public holding vault were all finished by 1853. Every lot was sold during the Victorian era, and the city says it may have the highest concentration of Victorian cemetery architecture in the Southeast. Ghost City Tours notes that more than 1,500 Confederate soldiers are buried there, and Juliette Gordon Low lies there too. Laurel Grove South was set aside for enslaved people and free people of color, and it holds much of Savannah's African American history. The south section joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and the north section followed in 1983.

Both sections are open to the public daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. City rules bar haunted and paranormal tours inside city cemeteries, so please visit by day, respectfully.