Sacramento City Cemetery
Another ghost hunting adventure led me to Sacramento,CA and the historical Sacramento City Cemetery located at 1000 Broadway on the corner of 10th Street and Broadway.
The cemetery is one of California’s oldest and was established in 1849 with a ten-acre gift to the city from John Sutter. The earliest known burial in the cemetery was of Captain James Homans in 1849. The expansion of the cemetery continued and was finally complete in 1880 with a donation from Margaret Crocker that brought the city land holdings to 60 acres. Currently, the cemetery covers only a portion of that and contains over 25,000 graves of pioneers, immigrants, and many people important in the early days of California’s history.
One poignant spot in the cemetery is a mass grave for almost 1000 people that perished in the 1850 cholera epidemic and then a separate commemorative marker for the 17 doctors that lost their lives caring for the cholera victims. There is also a marker that states over 3,000 pioneers were buried in unmarked graves somewhere within and around the cemetery. The area surrounding the cemetery is all residential and built before careful excavations would have taken place, so it’s quite likely there are many remains under the homes in close proximity to the cemetery.
While I was in the cemetery I took numerous photos, but never captured anything except some interesting grave markers and monuments. Another person was managing a recorder in the hopes of picking up some EVPs, but we didn’t get anything when we listened later. I personally didn’t experience anything out the ordinary while I was at the cemetery, but one person did feel like something grabbed her and then quickly let go. She wasn’t scared, but she was definitely caught off-guard and stayed in the area for a while to see if she heard or felt anything more. Over the years, I’ve heard stories that people have had many different encounters while visiting the cemetery. While I didn’t experience anything paranormal on the particular day I went I did see some amazing monuments and get a little glimpse into California’s history and some of the people that figured prominently in it. Maybe next time I’ll have a different tale to tell.