Greenwood Cemetery

One of the most haunted locations in central Illinois, originally an American Indian burial ground later used by white settlers. The oldest visible marker dates to 1840, and the cemetery was officially established in 1857. The oldest gravestone dates to 1813, making it Illinois' oldest modern cemetery.

Greenwood Cemetery in Decatur is possibly one of the most haunted sites in the Midwest. Incorporated in 1857, burials took place much earlier on land that was originally an American Indian burial ground. The oldest surviving gravestone dates to 1813. Between 1900 and 1926, Greenwood was Decatur's premier burial ground, but by the 1930s the cemetery association ran out of money. In 1957, the city took over ownership and volunteers restored the neglected grounds.

The cemetery's most famous apparition is the "Greenwood Bride," a woman in a white wedding dress who wanders the grounds searching for her fiancé. According to legend, her lover was murdered by bootleggers, and in her grief, she committed suicide. Witnesses report seeing her floating between headstones on moonlit nights.

During the Civil War, Decatur was frequently visited by prison trains carrying Confederate prisoners to camps. One train contained men who had died from Yellow Fever during transport. The tracks passed close to the cemetery, and the bodies were buried in an unmarked mass grave on a hillside. Years later, heavy rains collapsed part of the hill, mixing the remains together. The hill was repaired and bodies reburied, but many believe the soldiers' spirits were permanently disturbed.

Ghost lights flicker in the southeastern hills, believed to be the spirits of lost souls whose bodies were washed away by floods, now searching for their proper resting places. Phantom funerals have been witnessed processing through the cemetery gates.

The "Barrackman Steps," a short stone stairway on the western side of the cemetery, leads to the graves of the Barrackman family. Visitors report feeling watched and experiencing sudden temperature drops on the stairs.

Adding to the supernatural atmosphere, old mine shafts are said to exist beneath the cemetery grounds. Combined with its layers of history—Native American, pioneer, and Civil War—Greenwood Cemetery has accumulated over 200 years of restless spirits.