November
2004 - El Campo Santo Cemetery - San Diego, California
Legend:
This cemetery was partially paved
over with a road. It is said ghosts appear to be
crossing that section of the road at night and cars
that park on the street have trouble starting. Among
the numerous spirits sighted at the location, psychics
claim that the site is to this day overseen by the
spirit of the gravedigger whose own grave is near
the cemetery's SE corner.
History:
This
Roman Catholic Cemetery was established in 1849 and is
located on San Diego Avenue in San Diego's Old Town.
An estimated 477 bodies were buried here,
but not all of them stayed within the walls of the cemetery!
In 1889 a horse-drawn streetcar line was built through
part of the cemetery, which later became San Diego Avenue.
In 1942 it was finally paved over, leaving as many as
18 graves under the street and sidewalk.
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Saturday
November 6, 2004:
After we were stood up by our ghostly
date at the 'haunted' El
Fandango Restaurant, Damon and I headed toward the
graveyard. It was just a short five minute walk away,
and when we arrived we were shocked at the size of this
it. It was a lot smaller than either of us had anticipated.
Even though our research uncovered that only 477 people
were buried here, we still expected something more. If
there truly was at one time over 400 people buried in
this cemetery, and only as many as 18 were covered up
by the road, then they are missing a lot of graves. I
didn't get an exact count, but I estimate only about 150
markers remain in the actual cemetery! There was a lot
of open space and bare dirt. If there is any truth to
the legend that many restless spirits are seen here, then
the loss of these graves could be a reason why.
The graveyard was wedged between a couple
of restaurants, with a road directly in front of it separated
only by a small sidewalk. There were markers in the road
and on the side walk about the size of a silver dollar
where apparently bodies still remain. Behind the cemetery
was a parking lot and a group of residential homes. The
surrounding areas consist of bars and other tourist type
attractions. If this was my final resting spot and things
were built up around me like this for the sake of tourism,
I'd be pissed off too!
It didn't take long to canvas the area.
We took many pictures, some EVP recordings, and monitored
the temperature. There was no noticeable temperature changes,
however there is a picture that is very hard to explain
and a couple EVPs that are even harder for a skeptic like
myself to dismiss.
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First thing we did when we arrived at the cemetery
was to find the gravedigger's grave. The legend
says he still oversees the graveyard to this day.
It didn't take long to find him, and if anybody
was going to talk we figured it would be him.
The following EVP was taken right next to the
grave of the departed gravedigger. See if you
can't hear a message at the end.
While we were there at the cemetery,
people were coming and going pretty regularly. Remember
this cemetery is smack dab in the middle of a tourist
area. A couple and there two young kids played hide and
go seek for a little while and one group of teens decided
to run through the graveyard with their shirts off yelling
and hollering at the top of their lungs. So it is entirely
plausible that, even though Damon and I tried to wait
until people left to continue to collect evidence, the
voice recorder could have picked up someone in the graveyard
or possibly out on the street. But then again, with the
disrespect that this graveyard receives, it's also entirely
plausible that if ghost do exist, that really could be
a message from the gravedigger himself. Finally feed up.
Just wanting some peace.
Behind the gravediggers plot, there was
a peculiar marker that showed a hand pointing to a wall.
The marker read:
BILL MARSHALL
IS NOT HERE,
BUT ON THE
OTHER SIDE
OF THIS WALL
By this time Damon and I were starting
to feel that this was some kind of joke. The whole cemetery
probably was nothing more than a clever recreation of
a real cemetery. An unusual monument if you will, remembering
those that actually settled Sand Diego. That is why you
will detect our negativity in the following EVP recording.
While we recorded this, it was just us in the corner.
No one, that we knew of, was anywhere near us. Plus you
can plainly here both of us talking while the anomaly
begins.
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Finally, the last piece of evidence that
might support a haunting is the picture below. This was
just a random picture of the graveyard. Directly in the
middle of this shot is what some people have said looks
like an apparition of woman.
Actual full sized image (1600x1200) of the picture taken
that night.
Is this an actual apparition of a woman
or a light trick? I can't be sure. Upon blowing this photo
up and running a few color enhancing programs on it, there
appears to be a blue ball of light (see above) hovering
around it. However I believe deep down inside that it
is just a perspective issue.
This was for me the most disappointing
hunt while actually being there, yet the most rewarding
hunt after reviewing the evidence. I cannot and will not
say that this stuff is proof of ghosts and of hauntings,
nor will I excuse these as light tricks and background
noise. I will say however, that it has strengthened my
desire to find out more, and to continue searching for
answers. I have yet to have a personal encounter with
a ghost, and unfortunately that is what it is going to
take for me to fully believe.
This
Roman Catholic Cemetery was established in 1849 and is
located on San Diego Avenue in San Diego's Old Town.
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EVP:
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