Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA remote 19th-century woodland cemetery near Frewsburg, ranked among New York State's most haunted; folklore centers on a young girl said to have been killed and buried here, whose laughter and apparition are widely reported.
Gurnsey Hollow Road, Frewsburg, NY 14738
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free; a small rural cemetery reached by remote dirt roads and forest paths. Visit respectfully and during daylight.
Access
Limited Access
Deep-woods cemetery accessed via dirt roads and forest trails; uneven, isolated terrain.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1850 · 19th-century rural cemetery near Frewsburg with multiple children's graves · Ranked #2 most haunted place in New York State by New York Makers magazine (2017) · Featured in Weird U.S. and regional Western New York media
Gurnsey Hollow Cemetery (sometimes spelled Guernsey Hollow) lies deep in the woods off Gurnsey Hollow Road near Frewsburg, in the Town of Carroll, Chautauqua County, New York. Reaching it requires leaving the highway for progressively more remote dirt roads and forest paths, an approach that has reinforced its eerie reputation. The cemetery dates to the 19th century and contains the graves of early local settlers, including a notable number of children — common in an era of high infant and child mortality, but a detail that heightens the site's somber atmosphere.
The cemetery's fame is largely a product of regional ghost lore rather than any single documented tragedy. It has been featured in Weird U.S., covered by regional publications, and in 2017 was ranked the second most haunted location in New York State by New York Makers magazine. Local outlets such as The Villager have profiled it as a 'lesser-known' Western New York landmark whose notoriety far exceeds its tiny size.
The land takes its name from the Gurnsey (Guernsey) family and the surrounding hollow. Because the cemetery is small, isolated, and long associated with paranormal storytelling, it has become a destination for ghost hunters, geocachers, and folklore enthusiasts. HauntBound treats the dramatic origin legends below as folklore — the historical record does not independently confirm the specific murder stories attached to the site.
Sources
The defining legend of Gurnsey Hollow, repeated across regional sources, claims that in the late 1800s a young girl — variously described as seven years old and possibly mentally disabled — was stoned to death or hanged by early local residents and buried at the spot where she died, marked today by a large stone cross atop a small hill. No name is attached to the girl in any source, and the historical record does not corroborate the killing, so HauntBound presents this strictly as folklore rather than documented history.
Reported phenomena are extensive and widely shared among visitors, ghost-hunting groups, and paranormal media. They include the apparition of a young girl who is said to laugh at visitors, follow them, and even scratch them; a 'lady in white'; a wandering young boy; an elderly woman; floating orbs of light; moaning and unexplained noises; and frequent failures of flashlights, cameras, phones, and even stalling vehicles.
The original Shadowlands submission that flagged this site repeats the stoning legend and describes glowing graves, balls of light, and children laughing. Unlike many single-source Shadowlands entries, Gurnsey Hollow's reputation is independently documented across regional news (The Villager), magazine rankings (New York Makers), Weird U.S., and numerous ghost-hunting accounts — which is why it ships as a corroborated haunted destination, even as the specific origin legend remains unverified folklore.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Hike to the isolated woodland cemetery known across Western New York for its ghost lore, including the reported apparition of a young girl, orbs, and disembodied laughter near a hilltop stone cross.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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