From the Creepy Cleveland Archives
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Berea, Ohio – Contributed by Patrick
Hello, I stumbled upon your webpage ‘Creepy Cleveland’, and think it’s pretty cool. I’ve read through most of the stories. I currently reside in Austin, Texas, but grew up in Brookpark, Ohio. I know a place in Middleburg Hts/Berea, that you may find interesting. Friends and I used to hang out in woods surrounded by trucking warehouses and a marshy lake. If you look at the map below, you can see the area. Basically the borders were Eastland Rd, Sheldon Rd, Engle Rd, Bagley Rd. I hung out here in the late 80s/early 90s, but people had partied there since at least the 70s. There’s a big clearing where people used to ride dirt bikes and stuff.
Anyway, there was always a rumor of tombstones hidden in the woods. We spent a lot of time searching for them, but I always figured someone had seen the ‘St. Adalbert’s cemetary'(see map) from the woods, and mistaken this as the hidden graveyard. One of the tombstones was also rumored to be the grave of Daniel Boone. I didn’t really think it was a true story. Especially since a few friends and I had been to virtually every nook and corner of these woods, and knew them well. Most of the woods along Bagley and southern Eastland Rd eventually would meet with private property(usually fenced), as there are houses along these streets. I believed if the tombstones did exist, they were someone’s private plots or something. Anyway, over the years the land has been developed. Lots of crappy businesses popped up. I came home for the holidays a few years back. My friend Bob told me that “They found the tombstones”. They as in the developers. Weird part is that the graves were very close to a section we’d hang out in often. We probably walk within 50 feet of them many times. These tombstones are from the 1800s, and were found as the land was leveled for a strip mall/movie theater. I’ve included a map.
https://goo.gl/maps/bbpr1rrUkTpUWLnT8
The star is ‘17840 Bagley Rd’, the nearest landmark (Kmart). If you get off of I-71 and drive west on Bagley you will pass the Kmart and St Adalbert cemetery. Soon after that look for a movie theater on your right (north) side. Drive into the lot, and you’ll see the graves enclosed in a fenced off area. Pretty weird to see these century old graves surrounded by strip mall hell. Sadly, almost all Abrahm’s Lake woods has been developed. It was a pretty creepy place in itself. Even in daylight. I’m not sure what part of town you live in. Maybe you’ve been there already? Anyway, I thought it might be worth seeing, if you’re ever in that neck of the woods.
Take care
Patrick
