Cincinnati Haunted Handbook. Jeff Morris
is empty. When curious onlookers gaze through the windows into the basement, sometimes they will see strange reflections of figures standing behind them. When these terrified witnesses turn around, no one is there.
The caretaker’s building, however, isn’t the only haunted location in this cemetery. People will often see figures walking among the headstones, especially at night. When people approach the area where they saw these figures, no one is found.
visiting
It’s probably best to visit this cemetery during the day, when it is easier to look through the basement windows in the caretaker’s house and see how the basement is set up. Most of the stories involve things that happen during the day because that is when people are usually around. I have caught interesting EVPs at the cemetery during the day.
Recently, the caretakers and owners of the cemetery have posted warnings that the cemetery closes at nine p.m., meaning that it is illegal to enter the cemetery at night. Unfortunately, this limitation probably resulted from the vandals who uprooted several headstones—an example of how one group of insensitive people can end up ruining a place for the rest of us.
BETH ISRAEL CEMETERY
Pleasant Avenue and Hill Avenue, Fairfield, OH 45014
directions
Take I-75 North to I-275 West. From I-275 take the Hamilton Ave/SR-127 exit (exit 36) and turn right on Hamilton Ave/SR-127. Hamilton Avenue changes its name to Pleasant Avenue. Follow this road for about five miles until you cross Hill Avenue. Just past Hill Avenue on Pleasant, Beth Israel Cemetery will be on your left. There is a Catholic cemetery across the street on your right.
history
This cemetery was built in response to the need for more Jewish cemeteries throughout the Cincinnati area. In 1849 when the cholera epidemic hit Cincinnati, there was just one Jewish cemetery in the city. Cholera quickly filled this cemetery so the Jewish community built several others in the Greater Cincinnati area to fulfill the need for consecrated Jewish burial grounds. Today it is still in operation, and it is well kept.
ghost story
This cemetery is supposedly a hotbed for EVP activity. I have not run across any stories of figures or even ghostly, disembodied sounds coming at any time of the day or night, but I have heard about people recording a strange voice they didn’t hear at the time they were there. Many times the recordings feature human whispers, but some include a barking dog or a ringing church bell that wasn’t heard when the recording was made.
visiting
As far as I can tell, this cemetery is open throughout the night. There are no signs on the gates advertising any hours of operation, and the gates are always open. I have come to this cemetery many times during the late hours of the night and have never been approached or questioned as to my intentions there.
At the same time, I can’t stress enough how important it is that you stay respectful within the cemetery, especially if you are there late at night. If people are running around, yelling, and screaming, someone is sure to call the police, and although it doesn’t close at night, I would be on the side of any police officer who arrests someone being disrespectful in a cemetery. If you go there late at night, quietly make a recording and ask respectful questions to those who are there—those who seem so anxious to speak with the living.
CONGRESS GREEN CEMETERY
50 Cliff Road, North Bend, OH 45052
directions
From Cincinnati, take Route 50 west all the way to North Bend or take I-74 West to the SR 128 exit (exit 7) and follow 128 south until you reach Route 50. Turn left on Route 50. Turn onto Miami Avenue in North Bend. There should be a sign pointing you to the tomb of William Henry Harrison. Follow Miami Avenue to Brower Road and turn left on Brower. Turn right onto Cliff Road just after the bridge. Follow the road up the hill past the William Henry Harrison tomb. Parking is on your right; the cemetery is on your left near the top of the hill.
history
The cemetery was built by the man who founded North Bend (not to mention most of the rest of the Cincinnati area). His name was John Cleves Symmes, and he hoped that North Bend would become the jewel of southwest Ohio. In 1814, Symmes was one of the first to be buried in the graveyard. At the time, it was called the Pasture Graveyard. Symmes’ son-in-law was President William Henry Harrison, and his great-grandson was President Benjamin Harrison.
In 1878, a man named John Scott Harrison died. He was the son of William Henry Harrison and the father of Benjamin Harrison. He was taken to Congress Green Cemetery, where his children noticed that a grave had been disturbed and the body stolen. To prevent their father’s body from being stolen in the same way, they buried him in a concrete vault without a marker. After the funeral, Benjamin Harrison went back to his home in Indiana, but John’s other son, John Jr., went looking for the body snatchers. His investigation led him to the Cincinnati Medical College in downtown Cincinnati. As he entered the school to question them about the recent robbery, he found the body of his father, John Scott Harrison, sprawled on a table about to be dissected.
ghost story
People say that John Scott Harrison and John Cleves Symmes both haunt this cemetery. John Scott Harrison supposedly haunts it because of the grave robbery, and John Cleves Symmes haunts it because he is upset that North Bend didn’t become the jewel of southwest Ohio. People will hear voices and see figures walking through the cemetery. Sometimes strange mists will rise from certain headstones. Other times people will see men dressed in Civil War uniforms walking through the cemetery.
visiting
The best time to visit this cemetery is during the day. Many ghost hunts have been conducted here during the day, and some strange images have been caught in photographs. The area is kind of out of the way, so many times you will be the only person wandering through the cemetery.
There are clear indications that the cemetery closes at dusk, so it is in your best interest to follow these warnings and leave when the sun goes down. There is a house adjacent to the cemetery, and the owners are likely to report trespassers after dark. Since there has been ghostly activity caught here during the day, it is not worth the risk to break the law and wander into the cemetery at night.
DARBY LEE HISTORIC CEMETERY
5999 Bender Road, Cincinnati, OH 45233
directions
This location is somewhat difficult to find. It is hidden quite well just outside of Delhi. The easiest way to get to this cemetery is to take SR-50 west from Cincinnati toward Delhi. Take a right onto Bender Road up the hill. Near the top of the hill is a retirement community known as Riverview Community. The easiest way to get to the cemetery is to park in the lot of the retirement community. Near the back of the lot, you’ll see a rusted metal sign hanging on an old shed directing you into the woods to the Darby Lee Historic Cemetery. Follow the path into the woods for about a hundred feet, and the small overgrown cemetery will be on your left.
history
The story behind this cemetery is quite inspiring. It was an important place along the Underground Railroad in the Cincinnati area. Since Kentucky was a slave state and Ohio a free state, the Ohio River was both a symbolic and physical barrier between slavery and freedom. Crossing the Ohio River was a major step on the slave’s escape to freedom, but often it still wasn’t safe for