Adelaida Cemetery

California · United States · Cemetery

A woman in a long white nightgown lays flowers on the grave of one of her children, lost in the diphtheria epidemic.

Adelaida Cemetery in California is small, old and set among the hills north of Paso Robles.

A woman in a long white nightgown is described there on Friday nights, between ten and midnight. She lays flowers on the grave of one of her children.

The child died in the diphtheria epidemic, and that is the part of this account that is documented rather than reported. Diphtheria swept rural California in the late nineteenth century and it took children in numbers that are difficult to take in now. Families lost several within a fortnight. The graves in this cemetery show it.

An update filed in February 2004 corrects parts of the story that had grown around her, and those parts are left out here.

What remains is a woman bringing flowers to a child, which needs no improving and probably explains why the story has lasted.

The cemetery is public and should be treated as a burial ground.

FAQ

Where is Adelaida Cemetery located?

Adelaida Cemetery is in California, United States.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.