Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA mid-1800s pioneer burial ground on a quiet Clackamas County road, Damascus's oldest cemetery with over 1,400 interments, where visitors consistently report seeing a young girl's apparition and hearing unexplained sounds among the oldest headstones.
19428 SE Chitwood Road, Damascus, OR 97015
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free and publicly accessible.
Access
Limited Access
Grass and gravel cemetery paths; uneven ground among older headstones. No formal parking lot.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1855 · One of Clackamas County's oldest active burial grounds, with interments predating 1855 · Formally established 1876 on land deeded by the Chitwood family · Over 1,400 documented interments including many unnamed early Oregon pioneers · Maintained continuously since 1895 by the Damascus Cemetery Association
The Damascus Pioneer Cemetery's origins predate Oregon's statehood. The earliest known burials occurred before 1855, when the Tualatin Valley area was still frontier territory and Damascus was a small farming community along emigrant routes. The land was formally conveyed for use as a public burial ground on April 26, 1876, when James Thompson Chitwood and Margaret Chitwood deeded the property, naming the road that remains today.
The Damascus Cemetery Association of Damascus, Oregon, was formally organized on December 16, 1895, and was registered with the Oregon Secretary of State as Damascus Pioneer Cemetery on May 16, 2000. Historical records compiled between May and December 1999 by researcher Ilene Rounsefell and board member Barbara Ledbury, using tombstone inscriptions and sexton records, documented 1,175 burials at the time; FindAGrave records now list 1,409 memorial entries.
The cemetery includes a significant number of unmarked graves, some of which were reportedly disturbed by flooding in the mid-1990s when a basement on adjacent property was excavated. Not all early graves were formally marked, reflecting the hardships of frontier-era burial practices. The cemetery today is maintained by a small group of community volunteers without paid staff, funded by donations and plot fees, and is widely regarded as one of the better-kept historic pioneer cemeteries in the greater Portland region.
Sources
According to OnlyInYourState and HauntScout, the defining paranormal tradition at Damascus Pioneer Cemetery centers on the apparition of a young girl, estimated to be between seven and ten years old, who appears near a specific grave and lingers before vanishing. Witnesses describe her standing quietly, not interacting with visitors, and disappearing when they attempt to approach. The identity of this figure is not documented; the cemetery does contain graves of children who died young among the mid-1800s pioneer burials.
Additional phenomena reported by OregonHauntedHouses and visitor accounts collected by HauntScout include: unexplained sounds in the far left corner of the grounds — rustling, footsteps, and low sounds without visible origin; a persistent sensation of being watched and followed, particularly in the oldest section; and orb and anomalous light phenomena appearing in photographs taken at the site. The Shadowlands submission described 'extra visitors floating around' in photographs, consistent with the orb tradition.
Some accounts also mention a woman in white seen beneath the tree canopy, a figure common to many rural pioneer cemeteries and potentially reflecting the same visual folklore tradition. The cemetery's volunteer caretaker and the surrounding community are reported to be broadly aware of the site's reputation. HauntBound presents these accounts as local folklore; they are not independently verified paranormal phenomena.
Notable Entities
Self-guided walk through one of Clackamas County's oldest active burial grounds. Oldest headstones pre-date the Civil War. The cemetery is unusually well-maintained for its age and rural setting, cared for by volunteers.
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