Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainSpartanburg's oldest burial ground earned its nickname as a pauper's field that absorbed 314 displaced graves from an 1914 railroad expansion.
250 Fernwood Dr, Spartanburg, SC 29302
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free to visit during cemetery hours
Access
Limited Access
Grassy cemetery grounds with uneven terrain and older grave markers
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1883 · Spartanburg's oldest public cemetery · Received 314 graves relocated from Magnolia Cemetery during 1914 railroad expansion · Potter's field and pauper burial ground
Oakwood Cemetery opened in 1883 on the western edge of Spartanburg and quickly took on the role the city's prior burial ground could no longer fill. When the Seaboard Air Line Railroad expansion tore through the older Magnolia Cemetery in 1914, more than 314 bodies were exhumed and reinterred at Oakwood — a mass relocation that consolidated the city's displaced dead in one place.
The potter's field section, where the indigent and unclaimed were buried without markers or family, acquired the local nickname 'Hell's Gate' at some point in the early twentieth century. The name stuck through the decades as the cemetery absorbed generation after generation of Spartanburg's working poor and anonymous dead.
South Carolina ETV documented the cemetery's history and persistent paranormal reputation in a 2019 feature, noting its standing as one of the most-visited after-dark locations in the upstate region. The combination of mass relocation graves, unmarked pauper burials, and over a century of accumulated history makes Oakwood a frequent stop for investigators and curious locals alike.
Sources
The paranormal reputation at Oakwood centers on the potter's field — the section where the city's poorest residents and those relocated from the railroad-displaced Magnolia Cemetery were buried. Investigators have consistently documented rapid battery drain on cameras and recorders in this area, a phenomenon reported across multiple independent visits documented by South Carolina ETV.
The most frequently described apparition is a woman in white carrying a small child. Multiple independent accounts place this figure near the older grave markers in the relocation section. A second category of reports involves children's laughter heard in parts of the cemetery that are otherwise empty, particularly near sunset.
Orb photography has been documented here since at least the early 2000s, when local paranormal investigators first published accounts from the site. The blogger behind The Hauntings of SC documented an investigation in December 2013 that recorded both photographic anomalies and audio of unexplained sounds near the central section of the potter's field.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Walk the grounds of Spartanburg's oldest public cemetery, including the potter's field section known as 'Hell's Gate.' The 1914 relocation section, where 314 graves were moved from the former Magnolia Cemetery site during railroad construction, draws the most reported activity.
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Aerial survey · USDA NAIPSpartanburg, SC
Magnolia Street Cemetery is the oldest in Spartanburg. When the Seaboard Air Line Railroad expanded through the area in 1914, more than 314 bodies were exhumed here and reinterred at Oakwood Cemetery, leaving the site truncated but still active.
Aerial survey · USDA NAIPBelvidere, IL
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Aerial survey · USDA NAIPHemlock, MI
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