Cleveland's oldest surviving graveyard, established 1826, where Meskwaki performer Joc-O-Sot rests and the 1860s 'Erie Street Ghost' once terrified the city.
2254 E 9th St, Cleveland, OH 44115
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public access during daylight hours; cemetery is a designated Cleveland landmark.
Access
Limited Access
Roughly nine acres of grass, uneven historic walkways, and 19th-century stonework; iron-fenced perimeter with a Gothic gateway
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1826 · Cleveland Landmark Designation · Cleveland's Oldest Surviving Cemetery · Joc-O-Sot Grave · 19th-Century Funerary Architecture
The City of Cleveland purchased the land for Erie Street Cemetery in 1826 to replace earlier burying grounds on the public square. At the time the site lay at the edge of the growing village, and the cemetery took its name from Erie Street, the original name of East 9th Street. The cemetery operated as the city's principal burial ground for several decades and remained in use long after other cemeteries opened in surrounding neighborhoods.
Approximately nine acres in size, the grounds hold an estimated 8,800 graves. The perimeter is enclosed by a 19th-century iron fence anchored by a Gothic stone gateway facing East 9th Street. Burials include early Cleveland settlers, veterans of the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War, as well as Joc-O-Sot, a member of the Meskwaki (Sauk and Fox) nation who came to Cleveland after the Black Hawk War and toured Europe and the United States as a theatrical performer before his death on September 3, 1844. Joc-O-Sot's grave is one of the most-visited markers in the cemetery.
The cemetery sits immediately adjacent to Progressive Field and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Cleveland city records confirm that Joc-O-Sot's body was disinterred in 1882, likely for medical study; his fractured headstone, broken by a falling tree limb in 1877, was later restored and remains in place. The cemetery is owned and maintained by the City of Cleveland and was designated a Cleveland Landmark, preserving it from redevelopment despite its high-value downtown location.
The cemetery has been the subject of historical scholarship by Cleveland authors including William G. Krejci, whose research has surfaced long-forgotten 19th-century newspaper accounts about the cemetery and its surroundings, and a marker recognizing Joc-O-Sot was placed by the Ohio Historical Society at the site.
Sources
According to Tours of Cleveland and Cleveland Vintage, the most enduring legend at Erie Street Cemetery centers on Joc-O-Sot. Buried in 1844 far from his Meskwaki homeland in present-day Iowa, he is described in local folklore as a restless presence both in the cemetery and on the grounds of adjacent Progressive Field. The folklore frames his unrest as the result of being buried away from his people, an account that should be read in the context of his actual life as a documented performer who toured the eastern United States and Europe and was received by Queen Victoria in June 1844. Joc-O-Sot's headstone, fractured by a falling tree limb in 1877, has reportedly cracked or shifted repeatedly after repair, a phenomenon central to the legend.
A second legend, rediscovered through 19th-century newspaper research, concerns the 'Erie Street Ghost' that appeared in local press between roughly 1861 and 1863. Newspaper writers of the period described a colossal white phantom, said to stand between ten and twenty-five feet tall, with reports placing it both inside the cemetery and along Erie Street (today East 9th). Some accounts described the apparition wearing a pointed hat or bearing antlers. Cleveland historian William G. Krejci surfaced the story in his research on lost Cleveland ghost lore, where it had been forgotten for more than a century.
Modern reports include a recurring 'Woman in White' apparition near the iron gates and disembodied voices on the grounds at dusk. None of these accounts have first-source documentation comparable to the contemporaneous 1860s newspaper coverage of the Erie Street Ghost.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Walk the nine-acre grounds of Cleveland's oldest surviving cemetery, including the marked grave of Meskwaki performer Joc-O-Sot (d. 1844) and headstones of early Cleveland settlers and Civil War veterans.
Erie Street Cemetery is a regular stop on the Strange & Spooky Cleveland Downtown Ghost Walk, where guides recount the 1861-1863 'Erie Street Ghost' newspaper accounts (recently rediscovered by historian William G. Krejci) and the Joc-O-Sot tradition.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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