Fitch Bits: Ghostly Inhabitants of the Central Burying Ground

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Watch the video above or read the article below!

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post.

We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg and following us at Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg! Now onto the haunting story!

DID YOU KNOW

that the Central Burying Ground in the Boston Common is rife with spectral activity?

There's no way to miss this cemetery if you've ever been to the Common, and it might just be the best place to meet a ghost! This spot was "established to alleviate overcrowding at King's Chapel, Copp's Hill, and Granary Burying Grounds." It was also considered "least desirable because it was the farthest from the market center of the town." It's filled with British soldiers, revolutionaries who fought at Bunker Hill, and foreigners who died while visiting Boston. It's essentially a paupers' field for people who couldn't afford one of those fancy holes in the ground downtown.

People have reported seeing shadowy figures appear, then disappear when they look directly at them. It's also said to be home to restless spirits taken from their bodies at the nearby Great Elm, otherwise known as the Boston Common Gallows!

It gets creepier, though! Visitors have said they've been poked from behind, heard keys rattling, been brushed against by unseen forces, and even grabbed by invisible hands. There was one woman so convinced that someone had tapped her on her shoulder that the tour guide she was with had to convince her that no one was near her!

The best story comes from Jim McCabe. He saw "a teen girl with long red hair, sunken cheekbones, and a mud-splattered red dress" in the 1970s. He saw her standing motionless in the back of the cemetery. Then she vanished and reappeared by the gates. After that, he felt her hand slide into his pocket, pull out his keys, and shake them in the air before dropping them!

So, the next time you visit the Common, keep your keys in your hand or you're going to be slightly inconvenienced by a scary ghost teen!

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About the Author

Ed Sweeney documents folklore, odd history, hauntings, and cryptid cases at SlightlyOddAmerica.com. He wrote Slightly Odd Fitchburg: The Odd and Haunted History of Central Massachusetts, is a content creator, and founder of the Slightly Odd Society

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