Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainAn 1862 Odd Fellows cemetery on Ocean Street Extension, in local lore the haunt of shadow figures and a hostile white apparition said to approach night visitors.
1927 Ocean Street Extension, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Active cemetery and funeral grounds; daytime visiting at no charge. Respect posted hours and ongoing services.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Maintained cemetery grounds with paved internal drives and grassy sections on rolling terrain.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1862 · Founded 1862 by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Santa Cruz Lodge No. 96 · Burials increased during the 1876-1877 California diphtheria epidemic · Burials increased after the 1898 California Powder Works explosions · Resting place of Santa Cruz founder Elihu Anthony and suffrage advocate Georgiana Bruce Kirby
Santa Cruz Memorial Park was founded in 1862 by Santa Cruz Lodge No. 96 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and it carried the IOOF and Odd Fellows names for much of its history. It sits on Ocean Street Extension, on the rolling ground above the city. In some local listings it is informally associated with the Graham Hill area; its formal identity, however, is as the Odd Fellows / Santa Cruz Memorial Park cemetery.
The cemetery's growth tracked the disasters of the late 19th century. Burials increased sharply during the 1876-1877 diphtheria epidemic that swept through California, and again after the 1898 explosions at the California Powder Works, the gunpowder mill upstream on the San Lorenzo River whose accidents killed and injured workers over the plant's operating life.
The grounds hold several figures central to Santa Cruz's founding. Among them are Elihu Anthony (1818-1905), often called the founding father of the city; Georgiana Bruce Kirby (1818-1887), a writer and advocate for women's suffrage; and Velma Huskey (1917-1991), a pioneer in early computing. The park remains an active cemetery and funeral ground today, operated under the Santa Cruz Memorial name.
Sources
Santa Cruz Memorial Park appears in regional haunted-place listings, where its 19th-century origins and the waves of epidemic and disaster burials are read as the seedbed of its ghost reputation. The reported phenomena follow the familiar grammar of cemetery lore: dark shadow shapes moving between markers, faces that visitors believe they can pick out in weathered headstones, and small drifting lights described as orbs.
The most specific claim is a hostile white figure said to approach people who linger in the cemetery after dark. Accounts describe it as confrontational rather than passive, which sets it apart from the more common drift-and-vanish apparitions reported at other Santa Cruz sites.
None of this lore is documented in the cemetery's recorded history, and it traces to aggregated ghost listings rather than to news coverage or historical accounts. For that reason this entry is held for review: the cemetery and its founding history are well established, but the haunting itself rests on unverified, single-channel claims. Visitors should also remember that this is an active cemetery, and any after-dark visiting would mean trespassing outside posted hours.
Self-guided daytime walk through an 1862 Odd Fellows cemetery whose burials include several Santa Cruz founders. The grounds are an active cemetery, so visits should be quiet and respectful of services.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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Aerial survey · USDA NAIPSanta Cruz, CA
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Modesto, CA
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