Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainShelbyville Illinois Veterans Burial Ground
Shelbyville, IL 62565
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Cemetery visits are typically free.
Access
Limited Access
Grass and gravel cemetery paths
Equipment
Photos OK
Civil War Veterans · Illinois Military History
Shelbyville, the seat of Shelby County, was settled in the early 19th century and developed several cemeteries serving the surrounding rural community. The county's Civil War-era veterans are interred across multiple sites, including sections within the larger municipal cemeteries.
The Shadowlands account describes sightings of soldiers in period dress, the sound of gunshots, floating orbs, and cameras switching on and off without operator input. These are standard categories of paranormal report associated with veterans cemeteries throughout the Midwest, but the specific location matching this description was not identified through web research. Without a unique identifier — a street address, formal cemetery name, or corroborating local source — this entry requires human verification before proceeding to published status.
Shelby County was organized in 1827 with Shelbyville as the county seat. Cemetery records for the county are maintained through the Shelby County Historical and Genealogical Society — established as a historical society in 1962 and incorporated in 1968 — which holds documentation of military burial grounds and family plots across the county. The ILGenWeb Shelby County project and Genealogy Trails provide cross-indexed cemetery transcriptions used by family historians researching Civil War and later veteran burials in the region.
Sources
Reports attached to this location describe visual apparitions of figures in what witnesses interpret as old military dress, seen at or near the burial ground. Accompanying sounds described as gunshots — without any plausible modern source — recur in the account. Orbs of light and cameras activating without human input round out the phenomenon list.
This pattern of reported phenomena is consistent with residual-type activity attributed to military burial sites elsewhere in Illinois. However, no independent source — local news, historical society documentation, paranormal investigation report, or regional folklore record — was found that corroborates or elaborates on these specific claims at this specific Shelbyville location. The inability to uniquely identify the cemetery by name or address limits verification.
A self-guided visit to the veterans burial ground near Shelbyville. The specific cemetery matching this Shadowlands entry could not be uniquely identified during research — verify location before visiting.
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Aerial survey · USDA NAIPBelvidere, IL
Bloods Point Cemetery was established in 1836 in Flora Township, Boone County, taking its name from Arthur Blood, an 1830s settler and the first European-American resident of the region. The cemetery serves as a burial ground for over two centuries of local residents.
Aerial survey · USDA NAIPHemlock, MI
Richland Lutheran Cemetery is located in Richfield Township, Saginaw County, on Dice Road approximately a quarter mile east of Hemlock Road. The cemetery records 953 burials and dates to the 19th century. The broader Dice Road corridor gained regional notoriety in the 1970s through documented paranormal investigation of a nearby farmhouse.
Alton, IL
Elijah Parish Lovejoy, a Presbyterian minister and newspaper editor, was killed by a proslavery mob in Alton, Illinois on November 7, 1837, while defending his printing press. He was subsequently recognized as the first American journalist killed in the line of duty. The Illinois state memorial dedicated to Lovejoy in Alton City Cemetery was completed in 1897 and consists of a 93-foot central shaft topped by a 17-foot bronze Victory figure, flanked by two smaller shafts with bronze eagles.