retirement community parking lot. Then follow Bender Road to wherever you had parked your car.
HOPEWELL CEMETERY
6471 Camden College Corner Road, College Corner, OH 45003
directions
Take I-75 north to I-275 west. Take I-275 to the Colerain Avenue exit, and take Colerain Avenue/US-27 north toward Butler County. Continue to follow US-27, turning left when you get into Millville onto Millville Oxford Road. Follow this road all the way into Oxford and then turn left onto East High Street. Then turn right onto North Main Street/OH-732. Continue to follow OH-732, turning left after five miles onto Hamilton Richmond Road. Follow Hamilton Richmond Road/OH-732 for another three miles then turn left onto Camden College Corner Road. The cemetery and church will be on your right.
history
This cemetery was the first public cemetery in Israel Township and is one of the oldest cemeteries in all of Preble County. The first burial here was in 1813. A man named Thomas McDill returned home from the War of 1812 with an illness that soon took his life. Many Revolutionary War veterans and Civil War Veterans have been buried here throughout the years. More than a thousand graves populate this small graveyard.
Perhaps the strangest and most tragic thing about this cemetery is the number of children who are buried here. Most of the graves hold children under the age of eighteen. Much of this is due to several epidemics that swept through the area in the 1840s—primarily cholera as well as other diseases. Hopewell became almost a monument to all those children who were lost throughout the years.
ghost story
This creepy cemetery in the middle of nowhere is reputed to be one of the most haunted cemeteries in the southwestern part of Ohio. Through the years many strange stories have been told about this graveyard.
Some of the more common and harmless ghost stories involve strange lights. People who visit at night will sometimes see what appears to be a light from a lantern bouncing along throughout the cemetery. Other reports simply involve a floating ball of light that weaves its way through the headstones. On one side of the church, which stands in the middle of the graveyard, there is a motion-sensor light that will come on if anyone is near the entrance. People report that this light will often turn on by itself, even when there is no one close to the church.
Another somewhat harmless phenomenon involves voices that seem to come from all around the cemetery. These voices are so clear that the witnesses are certain there is someone else nearby. The strange thing, though, is that this place is so isolated there is almost no feasible way that someone could be way out in the middle of nowhere without a car. If anyone drove up, the car would be easy to see in the surrounding area.
Other stories about the cemetery are not quite so harmless. According to legend, if you visit this place at night, you will be plagued by bad luck. Another story says that if you leave your car and walk through the cemetery, when you return to your car there will be a surprise waiting for you inside. Unfortunately, anyone who has received this surprise refuses to reveal what it is, saying only that it startled them so much when they saw it that they almost ran their car off the road.
visiting
Hopewell Cemetery closes at dusk. This time limit is clearly posted on a sign just inside the cemetery. Since most of the paranormal activity only takes place at night, the closing time is unfortunate for us ghost hunters.
The cemetery is quite isolated. There are very few houses anywhere near this place. The graveyard is on the outskirts of Hueston Woods State Park, a large expanse of wilderness in itself. You can still see the stars from out here. This isolation adds to the creepiness of the place and makes it easy to see if there are other people in the area. It would be difficult to get to this place without a car, and your car would be clearly visible from the road.
It is completely legal to stand outside the walls of the cemetery and look into it. This is your best bet if you want to see the ghosts without trespassing. The lights should be visible from the road and the voices should be clearly audible. You can even just sit in your car on the road and listen. It is rare that another car will go down the road late at night, and if another car is coming, you can pull away or pull over and let the other car pass.
KINGS ISLAND CEMETERY
6300 Kings Island Drive, Mason, OH 45040
directions
Take I-71 North from Cincinnati to exit 24, Western Row Road. At the end of the exit, go straight at the traffic light. Kings Island will be on your right. The cemetery is just off the road to your right. The cemetery is between the Kings Island parking lot and the Great Wolf Lodge parking lot on Kings Island Drive. It is easy to miss so keep careful watch for it just past the last exit from the Kings Island lot onto Kings Island Drive.
history
Before Kings Island dominated the landscape in this area, a small nondescript cemetery sat along the road surrounded by a picket fence. Some of the headstones in the cemetery date back to the mid 1800s, and some of the words on the headstones have faded to the point where they are illegible.
Today the cemetery seems like an anachronism surrounded by modern wonders. On one side of the cemetery is the main road. On another side stands the Great Wolf Lodge, a large indoor water park and hotel. And on the remaining two sides are Kings Island Amusement Park and the parking lot. This small cemetery seems dominated and almost forgotten amid all of this development. Perhaps it is this domination that has encouraged ghosts to come out. Perhaps the ghosts just don’t want to be forgotten.
ghost story
The most famous ghost from this small cemetery is a young girl. She is often seen in Kings Island itself in the area between the water park and the amusement park, but she is also seen in the cemetery. People will see her standing inside the wooden fence, looking out toward the amusement park. Many times when people see her, they only see her out of the corner of their eyes on the way out of the parking lot. By the time they realize that it’s too late at night for a girl as young as she to be inside the little cemetery, they have past her.
Other people will feel unwelcoming presences when they are inside the cemetery, or they will feel like they are being watched. At night, people will often see shadowy figures moving throughout the cemetery, especially when they are driving out of the park through the exit near the cemetery.
visiting
The biggest obstacle to visiting this cemetery during the day is parking. It costs money to park in Kings Island’s lot, and there is really no parking anywhere else near the small cemetery. It seems the only options are to park down the street at the theater or pay for parking at the amusement park.
Once you are parked, you still might face some obstacles. Although there are no signs that say anything about the cemetery closing at dark, it is possible that the cemetery is off limits at that time. Kings Island is heavily guarded after closing, so it is likely that you will be approached by security if you are in the cemetery after hours.
If you are visiting the park itself, the cemetery might be a stop to consider on your way out or in. I personally wouldn’t suggest you go to the cemetery in the middle of the night when Kings Island is closed. I went once in the
