Gilson Road Cemetery

A small, secluded colonial-era cemetery at the end of Gilson Road, accessed only by a narrow path through the woods.

Gilson Road Cemetery in Nashua covers less than an acre of ground, yet paranormal investigators consistently rank it among the most haunted cemeteries in the United States. The small burial ground contains graves dating to the late 1700s, including the oldest legible stone marking Hannah Robbins, who died on January 29, 1796, at twenty years of age. The cemetery takes its name from John Gilson, one of the first European settlers in what became Nashua, who explored the Merrimack Valley region as early as 1747 alongside another pioneer from Dunstable.

The Gilson family plot tells a heartbreaking story of colonial-era mortality. John Gilson died March 17, 1837, and his wife Betsey rests beside him. Between their graves stand three small memorial stones for unnamed infants who never survived long enough to be given markers with more than blank faces. The cemetery is dotted with similar tiny stones marking the graves of babies and young mothers who died in childbirth, a silent record of how brutal frontier life could be.

The strangest physical artifact in the cemetery belongs to young Walter Gilson, who died on August 28, 1811, aged five years, eight months, and twenty-five days. His headstone contains a hole approximately one inch in diameter drilled directly into its center. The hole appears deliberately made rather than the result of damage, but its purpose has never been explained. Some speculate it was meant to allow the child's spirit to pass freely, while others suggest it held a small memorial object that has long since vanished.

The paranormal legends are layered with both colonial and pre-colonial folklore. One persistent story claims that Native Americans banished a crazed medicine man to this land, where he lured young warriors by promising them spirits that would aid them in battle, then sacrificed them to dark forces to extend his own life. Visitors report hearing whispered warnings in the wind telling them to leave or face death. Another legend holds that a fierce battle between rival tribes took place on this ground, leaving the soil saturated with violence.

The most frequently reported modern phenomena include the Lady in White, a ghostly woman seen wandering the cemetery's perimeter, and the Gilson Boy, a spectral child who runs across the road in front of approaching cars and vanishes the instant anyone draws close. Strange lights, described by researchers as Unidentified Light Objects, concentrate along the back stone wall, particularly near Joseph Gilson's grave, where a green, glowing effect has been observed and photographed repeatedly. Investigators report an unusually high number of orbs, cold spots, and physical sensations in the cemetery.

A dark motorcyclist has also been reported appearing regularly at the cemetery entrance, often as a precursor to heightened paranormal activity. Investigators from multiple groups have documented equipment malfunctions, battery drains, and EVP recordings within the grounds. Despite its intense reputation, nearby residents in the Tanglewood housing estate across the road report no paranormal disturbances in their homes, suggesting whatever energy exists remains contained within the cemetery's boundaries.