This Orlando based cemetery was first established in 1871 by the Drawdy family.
The family decided to set aside two acres of their land to create a family cemetery.
Pioneers within the local community were also permitted to be buried there.
Updated 2/10/2020 – The Rouse family purchased land leading up to the cemetery, and decided to expand on the burial grounds.
In 1986 the two cemeteries officially merged.
The Rouse cemetery is now a total of four acres.
The first residents of Orlando to be buried here have unmarked graves.
They have markers, but said markers do not provide any biographical details on the person in the ground below.
Today some locals believe that Individuals in these graves haunt the cemetery, unable to move on without permanent recognition.
Last year, Danielle wanted to find out whether or not such rumors were true.
She was driving by the area one evening and decided to have an impromptu ghost hunt.
“I’d hate to think that those poor people are unable to move on because they have useless markers,” she commented.
Obtaining Proof
Photo credit: dangerousminds.net
“I thought if I, perhaps, captured video evidence of these hauntings, and presented the theory to the community officially, maybe something could be done about the issue,” Danielle shrugged.
“If they aren’t at rest now, then exhuming their bodies and testing their DNA wouldn’t do much harm, right?
So I visited the cemetery right as the sun was setting.”
“I pulled out my phone and started recording my journey.
I began to examine each headstone, trying to figure out where the unmarked ones were.
As I got deeper and deeper in, I started feeling more uneasy.
“Maybe it was just the fact that I was in a cemetery by myself as it was getting dark…. but I kept feeling like I just wasn’t alone.
And by that I don’t mean that there were people visiting graves too.
The place felt active and alive somehow,” Danielle murmured.
“At last I found my first unmarked grave.
I started recording it as called out to the spirits to make contact with me if they wished.
The moment I stopped talking, I heard a bunch of twigs snapping all around me.
“Frantically I started jerking the camera around, looking for a spirit.
As I did this I began to feel a cold spot immediately form behind me.
It was so intense, so noticeable I became too scared to turn around and look,” she whispered.
“Instead I decided to move forward and loop around from behind.
The moment I moved the air felt normal again…that is, until I made a complete circle and stood in front of the unmarked grave.
Then it felt like I was in Antarctica again.
“’Is anybody there?’
I asked, barely above a whisper because, frankly, I was scared of getting a response.
I heard another huge snapping sound behind me and I bolted for the cemetery entrance.
I didn’t stop running until I made it past the gate,” Danielle admitted.
“After I had calmed down a bit, I peered into the cemetery, seeing if I could see anything within distance.
And right before my eyes, I saw this strange…. mist, floating right where I had felt the cold spot.
That’s when I knew that people who had talked about the cemetery being haunted in Orlando were right.”
