Elkhart County Home Cemetery Investigation

Elkhart County Home Cemetery is inside the Oxbow County Park, behind where the fire tower was. The old county home was torn down many years ago and the land was added to the park. The markers have not survived. The records from this cemetery came from the Elkhart County Genealogical Society Cemetery Committee.

The cemetery is listed in the Cemetery and Burial Grounds Registry of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and in the State Historical Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD) with Cemetery Record Number CR-20-19 (Elkhart County Home / Poor Farm).

Address: 23033 Co Rd 45, Goshen, IN 46528

Telephone: (574) 875-7422

Hauntings: There have been isolated reports of paranormal activity within the confines of where the old cemetery used to be. Some have reported shadow figures.

The Ghost Research Society investigated Elkhart County Home Cemetery on July 28, 2018 and the team members included: Kathie Para,  Dale Kaczmarek and Stephanie who accompanied our group.

Equipment setup: Digital recorders, cameras, Tri-Field Natural EM Meter, K-II Meters, X-Cam SLS device and the Phasma Box were employed.

Experiments performed: A Phasma Box EVP session was conducted just outside of the fence along where the cemetery used to be. No visible markers were seen and it is not known how many bodies were interred here.

Personal experiences:

Barbara Meagher: This second cemetery was then visited; however this investigator did not stay due to the hour.

Kathie Para: While attending the Michiana Paranormal Fair in Ox Bow Park, GRS members (Dale, Barb, Marge and I) participated in a public investigation of the two cemeteries in this expansive park. The property once was home to the Elkhart County Home, long since closed and torn down. Two cemeteries remain on the property, the McConnaughy family cemetery and the Elkhart County Home Cemetery.

Both cemeteries are now overgrown with brush with no remaining headstones or other grave markers and are bordered by the Elkhart River.

I personally captured no evidence either on my digital recorder or in photographs. However, there is an unmistakable feeling of perhaps some lingering spirits in both cemeteries.

Dale Kaczmarek: This overgrown graveyard with no visible stones was very close to where the Meet & Greet was conducted. It was far away from any extraneous sounds that could have created any noise contamination. I did take a walk all the way down a very rickety-looking set of stairs that led to the Elkhart River, so there is “running water” connection to this place. There was only a small sign and a wooden fence surrounding what used to be the original cemetery.

Evidence collected: This second session was not as good as the first at McConnaughy Cemetery. In fact there were no direct responses and a lot of garbled and unintelligible words and possible phrases that came through.

Conclusions: This was a good location to conduct EVP sessions. It was very secluded with very little in the way of noise and contamination. There was a stream of running water nearby which can be a conduit and energy source for spirits to use in order to manifest via sights and sounds. This would be a great location to set up additional equipment and conduct a much longer investigation to gather evidence. We could not stay here very long due to the fact that it took too much time to find McConnaughy Cemetery.

I would be interested in returning back someday with a somewhat larger group and more time to investigate.