Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA small family cemetery at the heart of a major research university campus, where Agnes Dunn — who nursed the dying — is said to rise at midnight to continue her rounds.
900 E 7th St, Bloomington, IN 47405
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free; open grounds on IU campus
Access
Limited Access
Small outdoor cemetery on uneven ground; surrounded by campus pathways
Equipment
Photos OK
Dunn and Brewster Family Burial Ground · Perpetual Covenant Preserved Within IU Campus · 19th-Century Land History of Monroe County
The land that became Indiana University Bloomington was originally acquired from the Dunn and Brewster families in the mid-19th century. As part of the conveyance, the families negotiated a perpetual covenant preserving their cemetery on what is now the central campus. The cemetery occupies a small, fenced plot between the Indiana Memorial Union and the Sample Gates — an incongruous pocket of family history at the center of a major research institution.
The graves include members of the Dunn family across several generations. Agnes Dunn is the figure most prominently attached to the cemetery's ghost tradition; she served as a nurse during wartime and is said to have dedicated her life to caring for the dying.
The Indiana Daily Student documented the cemetery and its legends in 2024, drawing on both local historical records and paranormal accounts accumulated over decades of student interest. The cemetery is a named stop on IU Folklore's annual Ghost Walk, which visits sites across campus each autumn.
Sources
The central legend attached to Dunn Cemetery is Agnes Dunn, who served as a nurse during wartime and is described in local accounts as having cared for the dying until the end of her own life. The ghost tradition holds that she rises at midnight and moves through the cemetery grave by grave, continuing the rounds she kept in life.
The Indiana Daily Student reported in 2024 on the Agnes Dunn legend alongside other IU campus ghost stories, noting that the account has circulated among students for generations. Visit Bloomington's official tourism documentation also includes the cemetery and Agnes Dunn's legend as part of Monroe County's paranormal heritage. The IU Folklore Ghost Walk, which draws participants each autumn, treats the cemetery as a primary stop on the campus route.
Notable Entities
A small, walled family cemetery situated between the Indiana Memorial Union and the Sample Gates on the IU Bloomington campus. The Dunn and Brewster family graves are accessible on foot during daylight hours.
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