Taylor's Historic Burial Ground on Eureka Road
22395 Eureka Rd, Taylor, MI 48180
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free, public cemetery
Access
Limited Access
Grass and paved paths
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1884 · Wayne County Historical Cemetery · Peter Coan Burial Site · Pioneer Era Interments
The cemetery off Eureka Road in Taylor is among Wayne County's older burial grounds. When it was formally platted in 1884 as a church cemetery, it incorporated remains that had already been interred on the property since at least the 1840s, relocated from private family cemeteries as the area developed. In 1923 the burial ground took on a new name — West Mound Cemetery — in reference to the prominent sand hill that defined the landscape.
More than 3,200 graves occupy the site, 114 of which date from the nineteenth century. A state historical marker commemorates the cemetery and notes that Peter Coan, recorded as Taylor's first landowner, is among the interments. The cemetery is adjacent to a commercial area, including the parking lot of a mall across Eureka Road — an urban contrast that lends the site an unusual character.
The Shadowlands Haunted Places Index entry and regional legend hold that figures dancing and singing can be observed at night from the road, and that a young woman in a long dress has been seen crossing between the cemetery and the mall parking lot.
The Taylor Methodist Episcopal congregation built the first church in Taylor Township in 1882 on land donated by Marlin H. H. and Rachel Coan for both a church and burial ground. The cemetery was platted in 1884, and at that time remains dating from as early as the 1840s were relocated to the site from private family cemeteries. The burial ground was renamed West Mound Cemetery in 1923, taking its name from the large sand hill on which it stood. The West Mound Methodist Episcopal Church continued to serve the community as a place of worship until 1962. A Michigan Historical Center marker placed in 2001 documents the cemetery, which now contains approximately 3,200 graves including 114 that date to the nineteenth century. Among those interred is Peter Coan, Taylor's first landowner.
Sources
The folklore associated with this cemetery is loosely documented. Regional accounts describe two categories of reported phenomena: dancing figures visible among the headstones after dark, accompanied by singing — which some have interpreted as a residual imprint of some past social gathering or religious ceremony — and a more specific figure, a young woman in a long dress, seen crossing Eureka Road between the cemetery and the parking lot of the adjacent commercial area.
The proximity of an active mall parking lot to a nineteenth-century burial ground creates an unusual visual landscape. Whether the woman-in-dress accounts reflect a genuine anomaly or the psychological effect of liminal geography — the boundary between a commercial strip and a historic graveyard — has not been studied.
Independent documentation beyond the Shadowlands Haunted Places Index is thin for this location. The historical marker at the site confirms the cemetery's age and significance but contains nothing about paranormal activity.
Notable Entities
The Taylor Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery (later renamed West Mound Cemetery) dates to remains relocated here as early as the 1840s. Among its 3,200 graves are 114 nineteenth-century interments. A historical marker documents the site. Evening visitors have reported seeing figures and hearing singing near the burial ground.
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