Olivewood Cemetery is located just off I-10 and White Oak Bayou right next to a store called Party Boy. The neglected grave yard is supposedly haunted.

Red arrow points to grave yard

With exposed human remains of ex slaves and thicket covered graves, it is no wonder Houstonians have spun ghost stories about this place for generations.

Two graves in the middle of the woods

Forgotten grave site

A cemetery angel

There are a number of unmarked graves in the cemetery. Before the land was purchased in 1875 by Houston’s first black alderman Richard Brock (who is buried in Olivewood), the land had been used as a slave burial ground.

Pivotal leaders if Houston’s post-emancipation African-American community are buried in the Olivewood Cemetery. For instance, Rev. Elias Dibble (pastor of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church) is buried in Olivewood. Rev. Dibble had lived as a slave before becoming the first black Methodist minister in the country.

Basically, Olivewood represents a Who’s Who of influential African-American Houstonians in the post-slavery era of Texas. Businessman James B. Bell, attorney J. Vance Lewis, the first principal of Jack Yates High School (which was the 2nd black school in Houston) James D. Ryan and “the singing dentist” Milton A. Baker are all buried in Olivewood. Incidentally, Dr. Baker wrote Houston’s official bicentennial song.

Two overgrown grave headstones

Lone headstone in the woods

Four graves in the woods

Work is being done to reclaim the historic cemetery from nature.  By chance, I got to speak with a descendant of one of the people buried in the cemetery, Charles Cook. Cook was at the cemetery by himself mowing and doing some weeding. I spent some time talking with him about the history of Olivewood and filmed the last bit of our conversation. Cook happens to be on the Board of Directors for a 501c3 nonprofit that is trying to restore the cemetery. They have a PayPal donation button. I encourage you to give what you can

Seven gravestones

Grave without a headstone

Lone headstone in the woods

A now-defunct City of Houston newsletter called “City Savvy” had this to say about the alleged hauntings:

Over the years, there have been numerous reports of mysterious after-dark sightings and strange movements within the graveyard.

Louis Aulbach, a Finance and Administration division manager, heard those stories while working on his soon-to-be-completed book, “Buffalo Bayou: An Echo of Houston’s Wilderness Beginnings.”

“But I remain skeptical,” he said. “It seems people think a cemetery should be haunted, so they make it so. But if they want to scare themselves silly with stories, it’s up to them.”

Cathi Bunn, a paranormal investigator, began exploring Olivewood in 1999. One moonlit midnight, Bunn said she videotaped the ghost of Mary White, buried in 1888, hovering above her headstone.

Intrigued by the anecdotes, Williams stayed late Halloween night, 2004.

“Only haunting I saw were from two big field mice,” she said.

Haunted or not, Aulbach said the important thing is for people to know about Olivewood and its significance.

As noted above, at least one ghost hunter believes to have caught an actual Olivewood ghost on film. In the photo, you can see what looks like fog. This mist is purported to be the ghost of Mary White.

One of two lion heads in the cemetery

Headless figure

Another graveyard angel

The cemetery features obelisks, statuary, curbing and interior fencing. The burial ground also includes examples of pre-emancipation burial practices, including upright pipes (symbolizing the path between the worlds of the living and the dead), ocean shells as grave ornaments and text containing upside down or backwards letters (as used in some West African cultures to signify death).

If you are interested in some of the remnants of Houston’s black history, check out my photo-essay of Freedman’s Town in the Fourth Ward – which is the location of our nation’s most serious race riot.