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Reported phenomena, as catalogued
+ 1 further entry on record
1849 cemetery, the oldest public cemetery west of the Mississippi, holding 25,000+ burials including a mass grave from the 1850 cholera epidemic. The Sacramento History Museum runs official paranormal investigation tours.
1000 Broadway, Sacramento, CA 95818
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Self-guided daytime visits are free. Sacramento History Museum's paranormal investigation tours are $50/person plus a $1.50 processing fee.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Mostly level cemetery paths; some uneven ground around older markers.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1849 · Oldest public cemetery west of the Mississippi River, founded 1849 on land donated by John Augustus Sutter Jr. · Site of mass burials from the 1850 cholera epidemic (approximately 600 victims) · Burial place for 25,000+ people including California governors and one of the Central Pacific 'Big Four' (Mark Hopkins Jr.) · California Historical Landmark (1957) and National Register of Historic Places (2014)
John Augustus Sutter Jr., son of John Sutter and a founder of Sacramento, donated 10 acres in 1849 to establish a public cemetery for the new city. The cemetery is widely cited as the oldest public cemetery west of the Mississippi River. Margaret Crocker, widow of judge Edwin B. Crocker, donated an additional 23 acres in 1880, ultimately growing the cemetery to 44 acres.
The 1850 cholera epidemic devastated Sacramento; approximately 600 victims were buried in mass graves at the City Cemetery (with another 800 interred at the nearby New Helvetia Cemetery). A monument commemorating these deaths was erected in 1852, though the exact location of the mass burials is no longer known. Among the cholera dead was William S. Hamilton, son of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.
The cemetery is the final resting place for over 25,000 people, including California governors John Bigler, Newton Booth, and William Irwin; multiple U.S. Representatives; California Supreme Court justices; and Mark Hopkins Jr., one of the Central Pacific Railroad's 'Big Four' founders.
The site was designated California Historical Landmark in 1957 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. The cemetery is also widely noted for its restored heirloom roses, said to be among the finest collection of historic roses in California, and is maintained as a Specialty Park by the City of Sacramento.
The Sacramento History Museum operates official Old City Cemetery Paranormal Investigation tours through the site; the City of Sacramento publishes a free self-guided walking-tour brochure for daytime visitors.
Sources
The most documented presence at the cemetery is May Hollister Woolsey, who was born November 12, 1866, became ill in September 1879 (reports cite either a mosquito-borne illness or measles complicated by encephalitis), and died on September 21, 1879, just shy of her 13th birthday (per abc10 and Find a Grave). Her grief-stricken parents reportedly tried to contact her through a spiritualist and then sealed her belongings in a trunk behind a wall; the trunk was rediscovered intact in 1979 and the contents are now part of the Sacramento History Museum collection. Visitors report 'peaceful and friendly' encounters near her grave; she is described as sometimes appearing playful, sometimes as walking toward her former home (per Calexplornia and abc10).
Local lore also describes a railroad engineer who reportedly died trying to stop a runaway train; he is described as appearing in a black civilian suit standing by his own grave (per HauntedHouses.com and OnlyInYourState). Some sources name him as 'William Brown,' but no specific full name has been independently confirmed against a verifiable burial record at this cemetery, so the engineer figure is presented here without a confirmed identity. Additional consistently reported phenomena include a phantom pit bull that follows visitors before vanishing, and a Victorian-era couple dressed in black who appear and disappear together.
The Sacramento History Museum's Old City Cemetery Paranormal Investigation tours frame these accounts as part of the site's living folklore; the museum notes that 'visitors often say the cemetery is alive with energy' but does not assert specific entity identifications. All claims here trace to museum-tour materials, local newspaper coverage, and tourism directories rather than first-person investigative reporting.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Wander 44 acres of Gold-Rush-era burials, including governors, founders, and the 1850 cholera mass grave. The City of Sacramento publishes a self-guided walking-tour brochure.
Two-hour after-hours paranormal investigation run by the Sacramento History Museum; group capped at 15. Monitoring devices provided; participants may bring their own handheld equipment.
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San Diego, CA
El Campo Santo was established in 1849 as the Catholic cemetery for San Diego's Mexican-California community in Old Town, with approximately 477 burials through its 1880 closure. In 1889 a horse-drawn streetcar line was cut through part of the cemetery, and in 1942 that path was paved as San Diego Avenue, entombing more than 20 graves under the modern street. The San Diego Historical Society restored the visible cemetery in 1933, and in 1993 ground-penetrating radar located the buried graves — their positions are now marked by small bronze discs in the sidewalk and pavement.
Portland, ME
Established in 1668, Eastern Cemetery is Portland's oldest historic site and oldest landscape, occupying roughly seven acres at the base of Munjoy Hill. The grounds hold an estimated 4,000 marked graves and an additional ~3,000 unmarked burials. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and has been preserved and interpreted by the nonprofit Spirits Alive since 2006.
Portland, OR
The cemetery began with the 1846 burial of pioneer Emmor Stephens on a family farm in what is now southeast Portland. In 1854 Colburn Barrell bought the land and dedicated 10 acres as 'Mount Crawford,' named after his business partner Crawford Dobbins, who died with 23 others when the steamboat Gazelle exploded at Canemah that April. Later renamed Lone Fir, the 30-acre site holds about 25,000 burials including six Portland mayors and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. It is now operated by Metro.