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Evergreen Cemetery There are some places where history seems to settle into the ground and never quite leave. Evergreen Cemetery is one of those places. Established in 1858, Evergreen is one of the oldest cemeteries in Santa Cruz County and the final resting place of many of the people who helped shape the early history of Santa Cruz. Pioneers, immigrants, soldiers, merchants, children, murder victims, and those who died by their own hand are buried beneath the old trees and weathered headstones. Some have been remembered for generations. Others were nearly forgotten. And then there are those whose stories refuse to stay buried. Evergreen has long been said to be one of Santa Cruz's most spiritually active locations. Visitors have reported seeing shadowy figures moving between the headstones, hearing children laughing and crying somewhere in the woods, and catching glimpses of people who seem to disappear the moment they are noticed. One of the strangest stories tells of an elderly woman with her hair pulled back into a bun. She has been seen outside what appears to be a small shack, quietly sweeping the area around her doorstep. There is nothing particularly frightening about the scene. Until the witness looks again. The woman is gone. So is the shack. What was there only moments before has seemingly vanished. Then there are the children. Visitors have reported hearing the unmistakable sounds of children playing somewhere among the trees—laughter, cries, and the sounds of children running as though engaged in a game of hide-and-seek. But when someone follows the sounds, there are no children to be found. Only the graves, the trees, and the silence. Perhaps the most famous ghost associated with the area, however, is Andrew Jackson Sloan. The Ghost of Andrew Jackson Sloan Andrew Jackson Sloan was not a legend. He was a real man whose violent death became one of Santa Cruz's oldest ghost stories. According to the traditional account, Sloan was riding through Arana Gulch in 1863 when he was confronted by several men and shot. His body was eventually buried at Evergreen Cemetery. Years later, reports began surfacing of a strange figure appearing in the same general area. One of the earliest accounts came in 1895, when a woman and her daughter reportedly encountered a tall, thin man dressed in a dark coat and broad-brimmed hat while traveling through Arana Gulch. They could not explain who he was. But when they later described the man to someone familiar with the investigation into Sloan's death, the description was immediately recognized. It was said to be Andrew Jackson Sloan. Other sightings followed over the years. The dark figure would appear and disappear along the old paths, sometimes described as walking through the area and at other times seeming almost to glide. But Sloan's story contains an unusual twist. Later historical research raised questions about the circumstances of his death, suggesting that the traditional account may not tell the entire story. If that is true, then some of the earliest people who claimed to have seen Sloan's ghost may have encountered something far stranger. They may have seen Sloan himself. It is a mystery that remains unsettled. And perhaps that is exactly why his story has endured. A Cemetery Filled with Stories Evergreen is not simply a cemetery filled with ghost stories. It is filled with real tragedies. Some of the graves belong to people whose lives ended before they had a chance to truly begin. Among them is Julia Arcan, a nineteen-day-old infant who died while her family was crossing Death Valley in 1850. The Arcan family's journey west became part of California history, and Julia's death occurred during one of the most difficult portions of their journey. Her tiny grave at Evergreen is a reminder that the people who crossed the country in search of a new life did not all survive the journey. Some never made it beyond the wilderness. Others arrived only to face a different kind of hardship. One of those stories belongs to Marie Holmes. Marie Holmes Marie Holmes was a young English immigrant who found herself living in Santa Cruz in the late nineteenth century. She was only twenty-one. Marie worked in one of the city's houses of prostitution, and according to accounts from women who knew her, she was deeply unhappy with her life. She reportedly spoke frequently about taking her own life. In May 1898, she finally did. Marie drank an entire bottle of carbolic acid. She died from the poison, leaving behind a story of loneliness and despair that might easily have disappeared into the history of old Santa Cruz. But the women who knew her did not forget her. They paid for her burial and mourned her death. Marie was laid to rest at Evergreen Cemetery. For years, stories circulated that Marie's spirit had been seen among the graves. But unlike the legend of Sloan, there is little reliable firsthand evidence that anyone has actually seen Marie's apparition. Historian Traci Bliss, who has spent years researching Evergreen, has said that she and cemetery volunteers have never encountered anyone who could substantiate the story. Still, Marie's story remains one of Evergreen's most repeated ghost tales. Perhaps because there is something unsettling about the idea that a young woman who felt so disconnected from life might still be searching for a place to belong. The Forgotten Dead Evergreen also contains the graves of approximately one hundred early Chinese immigrants. Many of their original wooden markers disappeared over the years, leaving people buried there without names or permanent memorials. In 2014, a Chinese memorial gate was installed at Evergreen to honor those forgotten graves and acknowledge the Chinese community that helped build early Santa Cruz. Chinese traditions surrounding death included the belief that spirits who were not properly remembered or honored could become unsettled. That history has contributed to stories of spiritual activity around the cemetery's Chinese section. Whether those stories represent actual paranormal encounters is impossible to prove. But the history behind them is real. These were people who came to Santa Cruz, worked here, built businesses and homes, raised families, and eventually died here. Some were remembered. Others disappeared almost completely from the historical record. For those who believe in restless spirits, Evergreen's forgotten graves provide plenty of reason to wonder what happens when a person's name disappears but their remains remain behind. When Evergreen Was Forgotten There was a time when Evergreen Cemetery itself was nearly forgotten. Years of neglect allowed vegetation to overtake portions of the property. Headstones became damaged or disappeared beneath the growth, and the cemetery developed a reputation as a dark and isolated place. A devastating flood in 1955 caused additional damage. The neglected cemetery became a place where teenagers dared one another to go after dark. The stories grew but the shadows grew longer. And Evergreen became known as one of those places where you never quite knew what—or who—you might encounter. Restoration efforts eventually brought the cemetery back from years of neglect. Today, Evergreen is cared for as an important historical cemetery, with the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History and volunteers working to preserve the graves and the stories of those buried there. But cleaning up the cemetery did not clean away its legends. The stories remain. Santa Cruz Ghost Hunters The legends of Evergreen eventually brought Santa Cruz Ghost Hunters to the cemetery. For us, Evergreen was more than an old cemetery with a reputation for being haunted. It was a place where documented history and local folklore seemed to overlap at every turn. - There was the shadowy figure associated with Andrew Jackson Sloan. - The elderly woman with the broom. - The sounds of children playing somewhere beyond the headstones. - The stories surrounding Marie Holmes. -And the forgotten Chinese graves. Each story offered another possibility. Each grave represented another life. And as we investigated the cemetery, we couldn't help but wonder how many stories had been lost simply because no one remained alive to tell them. Evergreen has attracted paranormal enthusiasts and people interested in the occult for generations. Some have attempted to communicate with the dead, hoping that something might answer. Others believe the dead should simply be left alone. Perhaps that is the safest approach. After all, cemeteries are full of people who had lives, loves, arguments, dreams, tragedies, and unfinished business. Maybe some stories really do follow us into the grave. Or perhaps the atmosphere of an old cemetery, combined with nearly two centuries of history, is enough to make the living imagine they are not alone. Either way, there is something about Evergreen after sunset, the trees become darker, the headstones disappear into the shadows. The paths seem to stretch farther than they did in daylight. And somewhere beyond the graves, you may hear what sounds like a child laughing. You may catch a glimpse of an elderly woman standing beside a long-forgotten doorway, with her broom, before vanishing. You may see a dark figure moving between the trees. And if you look again—perhaps there will be nothing there. Or perhaps, at Evergreen Cemetery, the dead are simply waiting for someone to remember their names. To learn more about Evergreen Cemetery please visit the Museum of Arts & History website at https://santacruzmah.org/evergreen/ To uncover a fascinating tale about Andrew Jack Sloan we recommend Ghosts in the Gulch, an Evergreen Cemetery Mystery , written by S.L. Hawke. |
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Actual news articles / Sc sentinel. / Images are depiction generated art & not factual depictions.
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