Columbus City Cemetery in Columbus, Texas, is a wonderful, photogenic cemetery about an hour and a half west of Houston, where I-10 meets Highway 71. It’s across from the second largest oak tree in Texas.
Columbus is well worth the drive, especially early in November when they celebrate “Live Oaks and Dead Folks,” in the city cemetery.
Ghost hunters should visit the cemetery just after dawn or at dusk. The cemetery is in a large, mostly-empty field, accessed from a dirt path that’s studded with tall weeds. In areas with poisonous snakes, it’s not smart to explore areas like this in the dark.
Because the cemetery is covered with trees that shield the graves, it’s possible to take flash photos after the sun comes up, if you get better results with artificial light.
In the photo above, the sun was up, but I needed a flash photo to see much of anything there. The tree cover is that dense.
At the center of the photo, the dark object at horizon level is the angel monument that you’ll see in one of our daytime orb photos. (That’s the photo on the cover of my 2007 book, The Ghosts of Austin, Texas.)
Even in daylight, you can still capture orbs in photos at Columbus City Cemetery. That’s a rare treat for ghost hunters.
Columbus City Cemetery, in Columbus, Texas, is one of the most photogenic cemeteries in southeast Texas, and it may be one of its most delightfully haunted.
In the daytime photo above, an orb appears near the angel monument. The skies were heavily overcast, so this wasn’t a lens flare; the sun wasn’t visible, and no flash was used.
During three separate visits to the cemetery, nearly every photo of this angel shows at least one orb, and sometimes two or three.
These graves are almost in the center of a very large field that’s been set aside as the Columbus City Cemetery at 1300 Walnut Street in Columbus, Texas. Only a small percentage of the graves have headstones, but those that do are often extraordinarily beautiful… and haunted.
This cemetery is described in more detail in my book, The Ghosts of Austin, Texas. That book contains a full chapter about haunted sites in nearby Columbus.
Beeler Family Cemetery in Houston is an odd little cemetery. It’s about two blocks from busy Eldridge Parkway. (The Parkway has its own rumors of ghosts, and an unusual number of auto accidents involving drivers who’ve ‘lost control’ of their cars.)
Beeler Cemetery is small, contains about half a dozen grave markers, and it’s in one of Houston’s ‘pocket parks’ amid upscale corporate offices.
In May 2006, we joined the Texas Paranormal group for an investigation of this cemetery. Because the cemetery is surrounded by immaculately groomed lawns and sterile corporate buildings, we weren’t expecting much.
Even in the daytime, there is a strong presence around the tallest monuments. (One of the most active is shown, above.)
At night, some of our photos showed moderate orbs around them. Amanda Beeler’s grave seems to be the most active.
Orbs at the back of Beeler Park, Houston, TX
However, the stronger energy is outside the cemetery, and in back of it. We’ve heard that there are unmarked graves outside the cemetery.
The photo at right is one of several with bright orbs.
‘Outsider’ graves
Some of the most haunted graves are located outside cemetery walls.
Especially at church cemeteries, graves outside the walls usually belong to suicide victims, murderers and people considered ‘too sinful’ to be buried among regular church members.
When graves are outside a family cemetery, that’s an even more harsh condemnation.
We weren’t surprised when our photos showed vivid orbs in back of Beeler Family Cemetery.
Notes from the Other Side
When I tried to do a reading on Amanda Beeler to see why her grave is most active, the woman who responded was named ‘Olive’, not Amanda. I’m not sure if it’s the same woman — perhaps a nickname — or a different person.
Olive had given birth to a daughter, but trusted the wrong man. That trust led to something disastrous, possibly her death. She’s not trapped here, but she returns because she’d like someone to acknowledge the subterfuge of the man she’d trusted.
(I’m not sure who he is. There’s not enough information to work with, yet.)
I did a second reading to learn about a man who haunts the land in back of Beeler Family Cemetery. He’d accomplished all that he was supposed to during his lifetime. Oddly, he trusted the same man as Olive had. His ghost lingers because he’s either protecting Olive (and perhaps others), or wants to help expose the man who’d betrayed both of them.
This cemetery — and its hauntings — are active and part of an ongoing story that hasn’t concluded yet.
These aren’t unhappy spirits who are trapped here, but they’d like their history to be accurately reported. So, they are likely to respond to perceptive visitors and ghost hunters.
Ghost hunting tips
Although this is an upscale area in the daytime, it’s quite deserted at night. Also, the cemetery is partially hidden from the street. It’s especially important not to ghost hunt alone in settings like this where you may have a false sense of security.
There are many street lights around Enclave Parkway, where this cemetery is. Be sure to watch for them when taking photos, as they can be a source of false orbs.
The sandy soil at this cemetery can also produce false orbs if the dust is raised as you walk, or by the wind. It’s vital to take two photos in sequence, as close together as possible, to rule out natural explanations for orbs and other anomalies.
Driving directions
To visit the cemetery after visiting Bear Creek Park, take Eldridge Parkway south from Patterson Road. After passing I-10 and Memorial Drive, look for Enclave Parkway on the left. (There is a traffic light with a protected left turn.)
If you’re arriving from I-10, take the Eldridge exit and turn south. After the traffic light at Memorial Drive, watch for Enclave Pkwy on the left.
Shortly after turning onto Enclave Pkwy, look for the Pocket Park sign on your right. Turn right immediately after it; it will look like a driveway, and there is room for a few cars in the small parking area. The cemetery is surrounded by a black metal fence in a wooded area.
If you drive past Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation on the right, you’ve gone too far.
If you approach from Briar Forest, take Enclave Parkway almost to where it intersects Eldridge. Look for Cabot Oil & Gas on your left. Turn left at the driveway immediately after Cabot’s sign. [Google Maps]
Bear Creek Park is in Houston, Texas, around haunted Patterson Road and Highway 6. [Google Maps]
The park includes many fields that are popular for sporting activities at night, but the park itself is very dark.
Bear Creek Park is also the home of the most famous “blue light cemetery” in the Houston area. However, that isolated cemetery is very difficult to find unless you know exactly where to look, and — due to access restrictions and a history of violence at the site — not recommended as a research site.
Nearby Patterson Road is a more famous and accessible haunted site. (See our preliminary report: Houston – Haunted Patterson Road.)
After investigating Patterson Road on 11 May 2005, we took a photo inside Bear Creek Park for comparison. Although this print (from film) is very dark, it shows one of the best orbs of the evening:
It’s not a great photo, and it’s only one orb. I realize that’s not impressive. However, I’m reporting this site (and sharing the photo) because:
Day or night, our investigations have been consistently odd, in certain areas of the park.
The picture (above) was taken at random, so we can’t tell you exactly where it was. It’s most likely that we stopped at the first parking lot on your right as you enter the park from Patterson Road. This is a very small parking area that will hold four cars or less.
The camera was pointed to the right of the gate that leads to hiking and equestrian trails.
The image quality is too poor to determine if there are other genuine orbs in the photo. However, the one that the arrow points towards is definitely a real orb.
Follow-up: After we posted this photo, someone identified this as the site where a motorcyclist was killed a few years ago.
This is exactly what I look for in a haunted site: When we find an anomaly, without knowing ahead of time that it was at a spot with a ghostly history.
We found no elevated EMF readings and no conclusive EVP during our May 2006 visit.
Photos
The following photo is typical of the few orb photos that we took during our investigation.
We’ve analyzed the three apparent anomalies using numbers to indicate them.
1. This orb is too bright, opaque, and irregular to be a ‘ghost orb’. It is probably an insect. I’m not sure whether the light area on or in front of the upright monument is natural or an anomaly.
2. This is probably an insect or a reflection of the orb indicated by #1. It may be a genuine anomaly–it is a circle and translucent–but with the light in the background and the vivid, buglike orb nearby, we have to discount it.
3. This is probably an insect, or it may be a distant light.
It’s possible that this cemetery is haunted, but we saw little evidence of it in May 2006.
Further investigations, especially around Halloween, might be more productive. The moved bodies plus unmarked graves suggest that some hauntings are likely. We just didn’t find much evidence to support that.
However, despite its convenience, this doesn’t seem to be a ‘hot spot’ for ghost research. Nearby Patterson Road is vastly better.
Bear Creek Bridge on Houston’s Patterson Road is haunted.
It may not be as haunted as nearby Langham Creek Bridge, but it’s worth investigating anyway.
At Bear Creek Bridge, we’ve heard the tapping on the outside of the car.
During several other visits, we’ve seen the “sparkle” effect when we’ve taken flash photos. Psychic members of our team sensed energy there, as well. (See our May 2005 reports.)
With the Texas Paranormal Society, we visited Bear Creek Bridge in May 2006. We did not hear the tapping sound this time.
However, the visual anomalies were stronger.
In fact, we felt that the park was far more haunted than during our previous investigations at Patterson Road. More recent reports suggest that’s been a trend over many years.
In May 2006, most of our photos showed minor orbs on the south side of the bridge, and a few other anomalies. All of them had to be discounted due to fleeting mists that night, as well as flying insects.
The sparkles were extraordinary on this evening. The effect was probably enhanced by the bugs, but it’s easy to tell the difference between bugs in real life, and in photos.
For example, that’s definitely a bug – probably a moth – in the Bear Creek photo at right.
Because there were bugs when we were researching, we discount any orbs that look questionable.
(If the orb isn’t a perfect circle, or if it seems to have a solid mass near the center, it’s probably not paranormal.)
In this case, it’s clearly an insect.
Tip: If you’re ghost hunting after dark and any street lights are near, study them for a few minutes. Many insects are drawn to light, and you’ll be able to see them in front of any lamp or street light.
Not sure? Turn on a flashlight and prop it, pointing slightly up, on the ground. Then, walk away, at least a dozen feet. After that, wait and see if the light attracts bugs.
If you see bugs there, they’re probably in your photos, as well.
Orbs at a ‘hanging tree’?
In this next photo, minor orbs seemed to linger around one tree. It’s the wrong shape to be a ‘hanging tree’, but it had that kind of energy around it.
Though the nearest Civil War battles occurred at Sabine Pass and in Galveston Bay, soldiers did march in this area.
Something happened near this tree. The orb isn’t much, but the other, related psychic evidence was compelling.
Our EVP indicated activity, as well.
Most legends related to ghosts in that area describe soldiers who deserted their comrades and were caught… and then hung as traitors.
The area deliberately flooded after the Galveston Flood has its own ghostly history, and those spirits may lurk in the wooded areas of Bear Creek Park.
Nearby, “blue light cemetery” is famous, as well, but not as accessible.
I recommend investigating around Bear Creek Bridge, especially near this tree. It’s on the south side of Patterson Road in Houston, and on the Eldridge side of the Bear Creek Bridge, not the Highway 6 side.
The side of the road slopes steeply, but there is room to park parallel to the road, just off the pavement.
Columbus City Cemetery in Columbus, Texas, is a wonderful, photogenic cemetery about an hour and a half west of Houston, where I-10 meets Highway 71. It’s across from the second largest oak tree in Texas.
For example, that’s definitely a bug – probably a moth – in the Bear Creek photo at right.
In this next photo, minor orbs seemed to linger around one tree. It’s the wrong shape to be a ‘hanging tree’, but it had that kind of energy around it.