Whether you’re a believer in the paranormal or just love a good story, Alabama is filled with spooky legends. These sites combine history, mystery and a touch of
the supernatural. Perfect for anyone curious about the state’s haunted side!
I’m APR’s Digital Content Reporter and Producer Aydan Conchin, and this is the final Friday of Yellowhammer Haunted History! But don’t worry... it’s Halloween! And we’re ending the series with one last legendary haunt. Join me for one more trip into Alabama’s haunted hideaway — if you dare!
Let’s dive into some Yellowhammer Haunted History with one of Huntsville's spooky sites— The Dead Children's Playground.
The infamous playground is located in Maple Hill Cemetery. It is the largest and oldest cemeteries in Huntsville. Established in 1818 and originating on two acres of land, the cemetery now encompasses nearly 100 acres and contains over 80,000 burials. This includes former governors, United States senators and numerous other figures, according to US Ghosts Adventures.
The original two acres of Maple Hill Cemetery were sold to the city by a man named LeRoy Pope, one of Huntsville’s first settlers. The cemetery expanded after 1849 to include the two acres, where LeRoy and his family are buried. Several other monuments in this section suggest that there were burials at least as early as 1844.
Is the Cemetery's Playground Haunted?
Locals say the Dead Children’s Playground, tucked within the historic Maple Hill in the Rocket City, is haunted by the spirits of children buried nearby.
The spooky site is so well-know, that it's the subject of a several novels. This includes: James Kaine's The Dead Children's Playground (which is the first in his American Horrors series) and M. L. Bullock's The Dead Children's Playground (the third in her Gulf Coast Paranormal series). Dawn C. Crouch also wrote a book with the same title, Dead Children's Playground: Based on a Rocket City Urban Legend.
But what makes the playground a site for the paranormal? A pair of lurid legends offer chilling explanations for why the ghost children linger, each more tragic than the other.
The first traces back to the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. According to US Ghost Adventures, many children in Huntsville were affected by the illness. While exact numbers are hard to confirm, a walk through Maple Hill reveals small headstones dated around that time. Some say these children never truly left and now play beneath the swings and slides after dark.
The second story dates back to the late 1940s and early 1950s when the edges of the cemetery were home to a limestone quarry, reported by FactsChology. Legend has it that during the 1960s, a series of child abductions terrorized Huntsville.
Without ransom notes or suspects, fear grew that these children weren’t just missing... they were murdered. Then, a child’s skull was discovered in the quarry. The abductions mysteriously stopped soon after, but the case was never solved, and no suspect was ever named.
While this legend persists in local lore and paranormal blogs, it’s important to note that no official records or news reports confirm the story.
By 1985, the quarry land was donated to the city and transformed into what’s now Maple Hill Park, the very spot where the children’s bodies were said to be found. Almost as soon as the playground was built, strange things started happening.
Locals began reporting eerie sounds echoing through the park late at night, especially between 10:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. They supposedly heard giggling voices, swings creaking on their own and patches of dirt kicking up like someone just jumped off a swing. Paranormal investigators and curious visitors have captured strange photographs around the site. Glowing orbs appear at child-height, especially around the swings and slides.
So, is this just a story born from tragedy and time, or are the ghosts of lost children really still swinging beneath the trees? In Huntsville, even the playgrounds come with a paranormal twist.
That's a wrap on Yellowhammer Haunted Histories! Thank you for tuning in this month for ghost stories and spooky sites across Alabama!👻✨
The full series can be found here: https://www.apr.org/yellowhammer-haunted-history
