One of Cleveland's oldest cemeteries is throwing open its gates after dark this weekend, with tiki-torch history tours on Saturday and a prize-driven scavenger hunt on Sunday, both free to the public. East Cleveland Township Cemetery, established in 1859 and still run almost entirely by volunteers, is leaning into the Halloween spirit with two days of programming meant to draw history buffs, geocachers and costumed regulars alike.
The cemetery sits at 1621 E. 118th St. in Cleveland, across Euclid Avenue from Case Western Reserve University's baseball field, according to Signal Cleveland. The nighttime tours run at 7 p.m. and again at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, with torches lighting the way through the grounds. A separate scavenger hunt kicks off at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25, giving attendees one hour to track down monuments and landmarks that match posted clues.
A Cemetery Born From a Decades-Old Land Dispute
The cemetery's history stretches back to land once shared by Cleveland, East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights, and the city of Cleveland annexed the property in the 1890s. A lawsuit settlement eventually led to the creation of the East Cleveland Township Cemetery Foundation, with Cleveland, East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights signing ownership of the cemetery and its assets over to the foundation in 2003. The foundation itself traces that settlement to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy A. Fuerst, who brokered the agreement among the three municipalities in the summer of 2003, according to the East Cleveland Township Cemetery Foundation, which describes itself as a 501(c)(3) organization.
Today the foundation operates and maintains the cemetery land, and the grounds are run by volunteer board members who do most of the upkeep themselves, supported entirely by donations. Nancy West, who serves as vice president, secretary and treasurer of the foundation, called the cemetery “a labor of love,” per the same account from Signal Cleveland. West said the site has been renovated and turned into an urban park, and she's currently working to raise $60,000 to pay for tree maintenance and removal services.
More Than 200 Trees, Some Dating to the Civil War
That fundraising push matters because the cemetery's tree canopy is part of its draw. The property has more than 200 trees, per West, including at least one Moses Cleaveland tree, and others identified by TalkDeath as dating to the Civil War era. Signal Cleveland's report notes the tour will include stories about notable residents, including early Cleveland pioneers, along with interesting and tragic stories tied to Halloween, as West described them.
The torchlit tours have built something of a following over the years. Geocachers attend every year, the outlet reports, and a retired train driver reportedly shows up dressed as an old-time train conductor. Brandi Wiles, who is affiliated with the Cleveland Death Society, warned attendees to watch for groundhog holes and buckeyes while walking the grounds after dark.
Scavenger Hunt Brings Prizes and a National Program to Cleveland
Sunday's scavenger hunt is part of a wider effort. Wiles is hosting the hunt and running it at East Cleveland Township Cemetery for the first time, according to Signal Cleveland's reporting. The event is organized under TalkDeath, an organization that promotes education and community around death and dying and runs a nationwide series of cemetery scavenger hunts each Halloween season. TalkDeath frames the series as a way to invite community members into cemeteries, reducing stigma and showing that “cemeteries can be spaces for the living,” the organization says.
TalkDeath will post the hunt's clues on its social media and website at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, and attendees will have one hour to find monuments and landmarks around the cemetery that match them, uploading selfies with their finds to the website. Prizes will go to whoever finds all 13 clues first, whoever finds the highest number of clues, and for accolades such as most creative photography, per TalkDeath. Winners will be announced later that same day. The event will also include vendors, food trucks and entertainment on the grounds, according to Signal Cleveland.
The weekend's events echo a tradition that goes back at least to 2013, when cleveland.com documented a similar free, all-ages Halloween walking tour at the same 1621 East 118th St. address, also held at 7 and 8:30 p.m. That earlier tour highlighted residents buried on the grounds, including Civil War veterans, a thread that still runs through the cemetery's storytelling more than a decade later.
