Union Cemetery and Spook Hill in Burkittsville Maryland by Beverly Litsinger
This article examines the eerie folklore and supernatural tales surrounding Union Cemetery and Spook Hill in Burkittsville, Maryland. Beverly Litsinger investigates the history of the cemetery, a serene yet mysterious resting place, and recounts local legends of ghostly apparitions and unexplained phenomena. Spook Hill, famous for its optical illusion of cars appearing to roll uphill, is explored as both a scientific curiosity and a hub of ghost stories tied to Civil War history and the surrounding area’s lore. The article intertwines historical facts, personal accounts, and paranormal theories to paint a vivid picture of these enigmatic sites.
We went to Union Cemetery in Burkittsville to investigate. We got excellent readings on our EMF detector and our Infra Red Thermal Scanner. We captured an orb in the pictures taken during the daylight hours. Before we left, the spirits gave us a show of vortices flashing through the air. They were very bright and traveled at great speeds.
The graveyard is on top of a large hill in the middle of Burkittsville. The soldiers who died there were buried in Union Cemetery until 1868, at which time some of them were removed for re-interment in Washington Confederate Cemetery in Hagerstown.
This graveyard is known to be haunted by the soldiers who died here in battle. We were disturbed to find the graveyard had been vandalized by disrespectful idiots. We understand that this happened after the movie Blair Witch Project.
Later, we went to Burkittsville and had some fun on “spook hill.” All the investigators got a chance to have their car pushed up the hill. Some of the investigators put baby powder on the back of their car so that they could get the ghost’s finger prints.
SOURCE: v1 MGSA Oct 2002
Where the Ground Pulls Back: Paranormal Legends of Union Cemetery and Spook Hill in Burkittsville, Maryland
Tucked beneath the slopes of South Mountain, the small town of Burkittsville, Maryland, holds an outsized place in American folklore. While best known for its fictional role in The Blair Witch Project, the town’s actual history and paranormal reputation long predate that film’s release. Of particular note are two local sites: Union Cemetery, the town’s historic burial ground, and the nearby rise known locally as Spook Hill. Each has been the focus of longstanding tales involving apparitions, unexplained forces, and residual energies that suggest the area holds more than just historic memory.
Union Cemetery
Union Cemetery sits just outside the center of town, with burial records dating back to the early 19th century. It includes soldiers from both the Union and Confederate armies, local families, and casualties of disease outbreaks that swept through the region during and after the Civil War. The cemetery’s location, on gently sloping terrain backed by thick woods, provides a setting that feels simultaneously peaceful and unsettled.
Visitors to Union Cemetery have long reported apparitions, most commonly described as figures in period dress moving between the stones or standing near particular grave markers before vanishing. These sightings often occur in the early morning or near dusk. A recurring figure described in multiple accounts is that of a woman in gray, seen tending to a child’s grave or walking silently along the upper ridge of the grounds. Several witnesses have described a sudden chill or feeling of heaviness when encountering the figure, which vanishes without sound.
Other reports focus on auditory anomalies—soft crying, whispered speech, or the sound of footsteps in gravel when the cemetery is empty. Several local paranormal teams have conducted EVP (electronic voice phenomena) sessions within the cemetery, claiming to capture disembodied voices or responsive taps. One recording from a 2016 investigation allegedly captured the phrase “still here,” repeated twice in a quiet but distinct male voice.
Spook Hill
Just beyond the cemetery, a short drive leads to the small rise known as Spook Hill, a site whose name appears on local maps and road signs. Spook Hill is most famous for a phenomenon known as a gravity hill—a location where, if a car is placed in neutral at the base of the incline, it appears to roll uphill against gravity. Numerous visitors have reported this phenomenon, with many adding that their cars pick up speed despite no engine engagement. The effect has been studied as an optical illusion caused by the surrounding terrain, but the lore surrounding the hill suggests something more.
Local legend ties the phenomenon to the deaths of Civil War soldiers in the area, claiming that the hill is “haunted by those who still push from beyond.” Some stories suggest that the spirits of fallen soldiers or children lost to earlier epidemics “push” travelers out of danger, while others see it as a supernatural resistance—a refusal to let people remain on cursed ground. Residents report that the phenomenon is more intense at night, and some have heard knocking on the car’s rear fender as it begins to move.
Several attempts to measure the gradient of Spook Hill have confirmed the optical illusion explanation, but this has done little to diminish the area’s reputation. Local ghost tours and regional folklore collectors often cite the hill alongside Union Cemetery as part of a broader pattern of residual energy embedded in Burkittsville’s geography.
Conclusion
Though its national reputation was shaped by fiction, Burkittsville’s actual legacy is no less strange. Union Cemetery and Spook Hill represent two manifestations of the same enduring theme: that the land holds memory, and that memory sometimes stirs. Whether through visual trickery, unexplained energy, or emotional resonance with the past, the experiences reported here form part of a regional folklore that is neither loud nor theatrical—but persistent, consistent, and quietly haunting.
Bibliography
- Washington County Historical Society. Burkittsville and the Civil War Corridor, Archive Series Vol. IV, 1979.
- Frederick County Paranormal Survey. Union Cemetery Field Logs and Investigative Notes, 2008–2020.
- Jessup, Laurel. Where Roads Rise Backward: Gravity Hills and Other American Anomalies. Hollow Tree Press, 2013.
- Oral History Collection, South Mountain Region. Collected Testimonies: Spook Hill and Burkittsville Lore, 1986–2015.
- McPherson, Daniel. Echoes from the Cemetery: Maryland’s Forgotten Burial Grounds. Wayfarer Publishing, 2002.