Est. 1875 · One of Reno's Oldest Cemeteries · Pioneer-Era Burial Ground
Hillside Cemetery sits on a slope above Reno, Nevada, and is among the oldest cemeteries in the city, with origins in the 1870s as Reno grew from a Truckee River crossing into an established town. The grounds hold many of the region's early settlers from the pioneer era, and the cemetery's age and weathered markers make it one of the most visible reminders of Reno's first decades.
Like many 19th-century cemeteries, Hillside has faced periods of neglect and preservation concern over the years, and public access has at times been limited while the grounds were stabilized. Local historical and preservation interest has kept attention on the cemetery as a record of the area's pioneer population.
Its age and atmosphere have also made it a fixture of Reno's haunted-history coverage, where regional tourism and ghost-walk write-ups list it among the city's notable haunted spots. The historical record of the cemetery is far better documented than its paranormal reputation, which rests on local lore rather than investigation.
Sources
- https://www.visitrenotahoe.com/articles/ghost-tours-haunted-spots-reno
- http://backyardtraveler.blogspot.com/2025/03/explore-renos-most-haunted-spots.html
Sense of being watchedReported apparitions
Hillside Cemetery's haunted reputation rests almost entirely on its age and setting. Regional tourism writing and Reno haunted-roundup coverage name it as one of the oldest cemeteries in the city and include it among local haunted spots, where the appeal is the hillside's weathered pioneer-era graves rather than any single well-known story.
The phenomena attached to the cemetery are the familiar lore of old burial grounds: a sense of being watched among the markers, vague figures reported at the edges of the grounds, and the general unease that aging cemeteries collect. No named individual, documented event, or formal investigation anchors these accounts in the available sources.
Because the haunting record is thin and the cemetery is a sensitive, sometimes access-limited historic site, this listing is held for review. The historical value of Hillside as a pioneer-era cemetery is well established; the paranormal layer is local atmosphere rather than corroborated activity.