Greenwood Cemetery - Shreveport, LA (The Spectral Skid Mark)

130 Stoner Ave.

Shreveport, LA 71101

32.500049,-93.731724

            It wouldn’t be right to touch on hauntings in Shreveport without visiting a couple of creepy cemeteries. Besides, aren’t all cemeteries haunted? Sadly, the answer would be no, but they sure make for some great places to visit to admire historical graves and get a case of the “heebie jeebies”. The Greenwood Cemetery, not to be confused with the smaller Greenwood Town Cemetery, is a short distance from the Red River. It initially started as a small ten-acre plot of land called the New City Cemetery. Formerly, the land is said to have been part of a home known as the Stoner

Map and legend of the cemetery grounds, along with the
locations of the most notable gravesites.

Plantation. Research also shows that prior to that, the land housed a Civil War military hospital as well as the first charity hospital. In 1905, the name would be changed to Greenwood Cemetery, and the site has grown to over seventy-acres.
            The cemetery is the home to individuals of all races, ranks and titles. Several Confederate soldiers have been laid to rest here along with four former mayors of Shreveport. One of the most notable burials here is that of Milton Taylor Hancock, the inventor of the modern disc plow. In 1892, Hancock’s four year old daughter, Ethyl, would pass away. She was buried in a cast-iron coffin that was placed in the family tomb. A chair would be placed inside the tomb, which Milton’s wife, Nina, would sit in each evening when she visited Ethyl. In 1903, tragedy would strike again, as they lost their twenty-four year-old daughter, Irene. She would also be buried in the vault with her young sister, followed by her parents.

            Visitors to the cemetery have reported capturing strange light anomalies on photograph in the form of unexplainable balls of light. Several years ago, a friend of mine paid a visit to Greenwood

Family tomb for Milton Taylor Hancock.

Cemetery late one night. After a few hours of nothing, she decided to start playing back some of the audio she had recorded. At one point, she recorded what sounded like a female voice talking in the distance. As she focused on the recording, trying to make out what was being said; she felt a sudden cold spot brush past her. The visit was in the middle of the summer and if you are familiar with our lovely weather in Louisiana, you would know that the words “cold” and “summer” do not go together unless you are referring to a beer. She then felt the sudden urge to take several random photographs. When she did, she noticed a collection of what appeared to be ectoplasm in the images. Ectoplasm is not the green slime you may think exists from watching Ghostbusters, as it is actually seen looking like wisps of smoke. Ectoplasm is simply the energy left behind from an entity either trying to manifest or has just dissipated. Consider it a spectral skid mark in the underwear of time! I must say, that was one hell of an analogy!
            If you do plan on paying a visit to Greenwood Cemetery, I highly recommend that you obtain proper approval from the appropriate officials prior to going. Keep in mind that if you do encounter something strange, it may not necessarily originate from the cemetery. Remember, if records are correct, a plantation and two hospitals stood here prior to the cemetery so anything is possible as to the origins of these reported hauntings. Proceed with caution but remember nothing here is harmful, at least on the paranormal side. It’s always the living you have to worry about in public places like this. While some carry holy water, sage and “magic stones” as their protection, I usually prefer my .45, 10mm, or .40. Should things get really hairy, I can always pull out the trusty AR-15, AK-47 or the king of all handguns, my S&W .500! Yes, I like guns and I don’t mind using them!