Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainDecatur's 1857 burial ground where Confederate prisoners and a weeping bride share the grounds
606 South Church Street, Decatur, IL 62522
Research updated August 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public cemetery
Access
Limited Access
Uneven cemetery grounds with hills and older stone paths
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1857 · Confederate Prisoner Burials · Macon County History · Civil War Era · Yellow Fever Epidemic
Greenwood Cemetery was formally established in 1857, though the earliest burials on the grounds date to the 1820s, predating the cemetery's incorporation. It sits on the south side of Decatur and has served as the primary municipal burial ground for Macon County through the Civil War, Reconstruction, and into the twentieth century.
The most historically significant — and most contested — chapter in the cemetery's record involves a mass grave of Confederate prisoners of war. Union forces transported captured soldiers northward during the Civil War, and a number died of Yellow Fever before reaching their destination. The prisoners were interred in a dedicated section near the southern boundary. Local accounts preserved by historian Troy Taylor allege that the speed of the burials, combined with the virulence of the fever, meant that some men may have been interred before death was confirmed. No documentary evidence has emerged to conclusively prove or disprove that claim, and it should be treated as local legend rather than established fact.
A significant flooding event along the Sangamon River reportedly disturbed this section of the cemetery, exposing remains and adding to the site's unsettled reputation. The Barrackman family staircase, a decorative stone structure on the property, became a focus of reported encounters beginning in the early twentieth century. Troy Taylor's Haunted Decatur series documents Greenwood as one of the most persistently reported haunted sites in the region, and the cemetery has been visited by paranormal researchers for decades.
Sources
The most frequently reported phenomenon at Greenwood is ghost lights — small floating illuminations drifting along the southern boundary of the cemetery, near the Confederate prisoner section. Witnesses across multiple decades describe lights that appear, move horizontally, and extinguish without any identifiable source. Troy Taylor catalogued these reports in his Haunted Decatur series and rates Greenwood as one of the most credibly documented sites in central Illinois.
At the Barrackman family staircase, a female apparition described as wearing white and weeping has been reported by visitors who stop at the structure after dusk. The figure is described as appearing at the top of the stairs before dissipating. A separate account, documented by Taylor, describes a man in Confederate-era uniform who approaches visitors in the prisoner section and asks 'Where am I?' — then vanishes when addressed directly. Taylor personally investigated the site on multiple occasions and considered the Confederate section among the most active locations in the cemetery.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Walk the grounds of Decatur's oldest active cemetery, including the Civil War Confederate prisoner section and the Barrackman family staircase. The southern edge of the cemetery — long associated with ghost light sightings — is accessible on foot.
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