Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainAge
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public access.
Access
Limited Access
Uneven ground; watch for sunken graves
Equipment
Photos OK
The cemetery in Monette, Arkansas is unremarkable in most respects — a rural burial ground serving a small agricultural community in Craighead County. The mausoleum at the center of its local legend is a different matter.
The structure was built with glass panels — an unusual choice, though glass-fronted mausoleums existed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, typically in more prominent or elaborate cemetery designs. When the body inside began to decompose visibly, the community response was to seal the glass with concrete and paint over the exterior. The original glass and the remains beneath now exist behind the concrete coating.
What identifies the occupant — who they were, when they were buried, why no name or date was ever attached to the exterior — is not recorded in available sources. The anonymity of the burial is part of what distinguishes this site from standard cemetery lore.
The reported phenomena at Monette Cemetery organize around the sealed mausoleum. Visitors have described hearing what they characterize as a man crying out from within or near the concrete-covered structure — not a continuous presence, but an intermittent sound, at night.
The lantern-bearing figure is distinct from the sound phenomenon. Accounts describe a man walking through the cemetery with a lit lantern — visible, mobile, and apparently oriented in purposeful movement rather than static presence. Whether the lantern-carrier and the mausoleum's occupant are considered the same entity in local lore is not specified in available sources.
A cold spot near the mausoleum is reported consistently enough to have become part of the standard visitor account at this location.
A small Arkansas cemetery containing an unusual feature: a mausoleum that was originally glass-fronted, later sealed in concrete and painted over when the occupant's remains began to deteriorate visibly. The structure has no name or date marker. Sunken graves throughout the grounds require careful footing.
Helena-West Helena, AR
Maple Hill Cemetery in Helena was established after the 1863 Battle of Helena damaged or destroyed the city's original burial ground. The cemetery contains more than 73 Confederate soldiers including 23 killed in the July 4, 1863 assault on Helena, and holds the graves of three Confederate generals. It serves as one of the primary historical sites documenting the Battle of Helena's human toll.
Los Angeles, CA
Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a 62-acre cemetery at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, California, founded in 1899 as Hollywood Cemetery on a 100-acre tract of former farmland. Paramount Pictures' studios occupy 40 acres of the original cemetery property. The cemetery was renamed Hollywood Memorial Park in 1939 and Hollywood Forever in 1998 after a 1990s bankruptcy and revival. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Terlingua, TX
Howard E. Perry established the Chisos Mining Company on May 8, 1903, beginning commercial mercury extraction from the cinnabar-rich rock around Terlingua Creek. At its peak in 1917, the mine produced 7,200 flasks of quicksilver and employed 125 workers around the clock. The company became insolvent on October 1, 1942, and the site was abandoned. The cemetery on the slope below the company town holds burials from 1903 through the mid-twentieth century, including those who died from mercury exposure and the 1918–19 influenza epidemic.