Parking Lot Cemeteries
In the middle of a movie theater parking lot in New Brunswick, NJ sits the lonely grave of Mary Ellis (shown above).
According to legend, in the late 1700s, Mary's family moved to a lovely piece of property overlooking the Raritan River. While living there, she fell in love with a sea captain who had sailed up the river. When he left, he promised to return and marry her. Every day, she would ride down to the river to look for his ship. She died thirteen years later, still awaiting her fiance's return. (It's romantic, sure. But weren't there any other guys in the neighborhood?)
Mary's family buried her in a wooded grove not far from their farm. Over the years, the land was bought and sold many times. Eventually, her grave was surrounded by mini-malls and shopping centers. Today, it sits on a raised patch of earth in the middle of a parking lot.
Surprisingly, Mary's isn't the only parking lot grave around. Roadsideresort.com has a terrific list of cemeteries overtaken by modern times. Check it out here.
posted by Kirsten Miller at 5:45 PM
10 Comments:
That's so wrong. The dead should be left alone, not just built around. I wouldn't be surprised if the person who decided to over-develope that area was huanted by the ghost of the person they practically built a mini-mall over. Seriously, people need to learn when to say when.
That is bordering on immoral. Just because the land was bought and sold so much doesn't mean they have to disrespect the dead. Couldn't they have bought/sold only the land that didn't have her grave, or made a cemetery? Maybe built a church with its own? Sheesh! A MOVIE THEATER parking lot? Even being buried out in the middle of a field would be better than that. Poor old Mary! Lost love and disrespected grave. :'( I mean, her grave is about seven feet above the parking spaces, but still, I really don't think that's okay. *worried face*
wow. That's kinda sad... and wow, she's dedicated. I would probably do the same thing though... xP makes me feel dumb...
I agree with Lady Dahlia, the dead should be left alone. It's wrong to dig up, or build over a grave site.
Lucky they didn't break the grave down. How scary, seeing a grave in the middle of nowhere. There's something called a cemetery. It's wrong to have a grave in the wrong place.
There's something like that in Parker, CO, where I live. A family plot (a bunch of graves of various relatives in one family) sits about three feet above the blacktop on the edge of a strip mall parking lot. It's surrounded by a fence and it's on the very edge of the parking lot. It is nigh impossible to get into (trust me-I've been there), seeing as the gate is padlocked and the fence sits on the very edge of the raised bit, making it highly improbable that one would be able to climb into the plot without severely injuring oneself on the sharp, metal spikes on top. ;)
All in all, a great piece of history.
I donno you guys. Like, I see what your saying, but I'm just surprised and thankful that they left the graves their at all. Most builders/contracters/ect. would just build over it. Or throw it into a guest room, like Lester Lue. :) Cool history though
Hey, just wanted to say that hauntedorchid.blogspot.com has an article that Kiki Strike fans might be interested in. :)
I agree with Undiscovered Universe. At least they left the graves alone.
THAT IS WRONG!!But what shopping mall? I live vey close to New brunswik in little town Called German Valley. not the real name!
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