HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
An 1842 Wheeling Island burial ground cut in two by Interstate 70
Rock Point Road, Wheeling Island, Wheeling, WV 26003
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Public cemetery; no admission
Access
Limited Access
Two divided cemetery sections; the Manchester side is overgrown and poorly maintained, with fallen gravestones and uneven ground
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1842 · One of Wheeling's oldest cemeteries · Potter's field and 1890s smallpox burials · Divided by Interstate 70 construction
Peninsula Cemetery, also recorded as Peninsula & Stone Church, opened in 1842 on Wheeling Island, 21 years before West Virginia became a state. At its height it covered roughly 22 acres and held more than 1,700 graves, including a potter's field for the unclaimed and indigent dead. A pest house near Rock Point Road housed local victims of smallpox during an epidemic in the 1890s.
When Interstate 70 was routed across Wheeling Island in the 1960s, the highway cut through the cemetery and divided it into two sections. More than 100 coffins were relocated to Greenwood and Roney's Point cemeteries during the work, and additional graves were moved over the years as other Wheeling cemeteries closed. The cemetery's original entrance on Rock Point Road, on the Manchester side, was relocated after the interstate went through.
The Manchester portion fell into severe disrepair and remains largely unmaintained city property, with many gravestones lying on the ground. The Ohio County Public Library now records the site under the name Wheeling City Cemetery. The combination of epidemic burials, a potter's field, and a cemetery physically split by a freeway has kept it a focus of local history and lore.
Sources
The cemetery's best-known story is that of a woman in a black cape, described in local accounts as standing over a grave within the burial ground. Weelunk's history of the site notes the apparition as part of the lore attached to the divided cemetery, and it is repeated in regional haunted-history writeups.
The story sits within a landscape already heavy with the dead: a potter's field of unclaimed burials, smallpox victims from the 1890s pest house, and graves disturbed when Interstate 70 was driven through the grounds. Much of the Manchester section is overgrown and unmaintained, with fallen stones, which has reinforced the cemetery's reputation among local ghost-hunters.
The woman-in-black account is folklore rather than a documented, named haunting, and visitors are asked to remember that Peninsula remains an active burial ground deserving of respect.
Notable Entities
See the two halves of Peninsula Cemetery on Wheeling Island, split when Interstate 70 was built through it in the 1960s. The older Manchester section is overgrown and largely unmaintained. The cemetery includes a former potter's field tied to a 1890s smallpox pest house. There is no admission and no formal tour; visitors should treat the grounds with respect.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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