In 1912 the old cemetery, located in Brewery Gulch in Old Bisbee, was closed and replaced by Evergreen Cemetery. By 1914, the bones of the residents buried there were all removed and relocated. Because some of the records were unfinished and many of the tombstones have rotted away, many feel that there are still buried souls are under City Park’s grounds where the old cemetery used to be.
Buried in the Evergreen Cemetery are many of Bisbee’s most prominent residents from its colorful past. Many played important roles in the history of Bisbee and are part of Bisbee’s ghost stories. Perhaps the Copper Queen Hotel’s most famous ghost like Julia Lowell, the prostitute that killed herself after her lover rejected her, can be found there. Maybe little Billy and Albert, the fourth floor's most active spirits, are buried there too.
After having dinner, we decided to go to Evergreen Cemetery. Autumnforest (Sharon) had told me of her experiences there and said it was a must for us to see while in Bisbee. We found a map showing us the location of the cemetery, and piled in one car to find it. The sun was going down by the time we got there. The gate said that they lock up after sunset so we decided to find another way in. We ended up parking near an abandoned building. While Kelly and Marsi tried to get inside the building, Mike stood outside and kept watch. They couldn’t bust down the door (crazy girls), so they just gave up. We found an old gate at the back of the building to gain entrance to the cemetery. The cemetery was much bigger than I expected it to be. As you look out upon the cemetery, there are many headstones that seem to go on forever. The graves that we first came upon were more recent and had 2009 dates on their headstones. We didn’t see any with 2010 burial dates on the any of the headstones we walked by. As we walked on, the dates were getting older and older. Some dated as far back as 1800’s. As the sun went down and the cemetery got dark, we started to get an eerie feeling all around us. At one point, Mike started to feel dizzy and ill while standing by a group of graves. As he moved out of that particular area, he felt better. I thought I was hearing whispering all around me, which gave me chills. Even though we never saw a ghost, we felt the many spirits that were buried there. We definitely want to go there again and do more exploring in the dark. We also want to find Julia, Billy and Albert’s graves.
Next is part three, our experiences while sitting in both rooms in the darkness…
