There are certain emotions one is expected to find when visiting the final resting place of a loved one. Loss. Grief. If you were to venture deep into the Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama, you might be able to hear the sound of joy and happiness. But if you listen closely, you will notice the sounds aren’t coming from the living.
Dead Children’s Playground
The Maple Hill Cemetery is one of the largest and oldest cemeteries in the state of Alabama. It was officially founded in 1822 but was known to be a burial plot long before that. The oldest known grave is that of an infant named Mary Frances Atwood who was buried in 1820. Tucked away in the middle of the one hundred acre property sits a play area for children. The official name is Drost Park, but it is better known as the Dead Children’s Playground.
According to local lore and legend, the playground is host to numerous paranormal activity. Visitors have reported the swings swaying on a non existent breeze. Photographs have captured orbs as if they were going down the sliding board. Witnesses also claim to have heard the disembodied voices of the children that were interred in the adjacent cemetery.
Legend of Murder
Decades before the construction of the playground in 1985, the area was a limestone quarry. Legend has it, that sometime in the 1960’s a series of kids went missing in the community. Fear quickly spread throughout the area. Legend tells of someone walking through what would come to be known as the Dead Children’s Playground and finding a small human skull. The former quarry was searched unearthing the bodies of some of the most recent child abductions. The bodies showed signs of a long detainment. Once the dumping sight was discovered, the killer must have been spooked, ending the rash of kidnappings.
Public Outcry
In 2007, the ever growing area needed to expand the cemetery, so the city tore down the playground to make more room. There was such a public outcry from the community, the playground was put back with new and better equipment. The playground stands to this day and is still a hotbed of paranormal activity that is said to be the most active from the hours of 10pm to 3am.
Drost Park would be a lovely place to have a family picnic and let the kids run off some energy throughout the daytime hours. But once night falls, the kids of Maple Hill Cemetery come out to play.
Loading ...