Woodland Cemetery

Along the banks of the Ohio River in Ironton, Ohio is Woodland Cemetery, also known as the City of the Dead. Founded in 1871, it presently contains more than 8,000 graves.  If you happen to be in the cemetery after dark, you might catch a glimpse of ballerina Antoinette Peters, also known as Teenie. It has been reported that on nights when the moon is full her ghost can be seen dancing outside her mausoleum where her body is entombed. Not long after her funeral, her mausoleum was broken into by vandals. Aside from breaking part of the top of her glass coffin, they stole a brooch she received from a Russian Czar which was a valued possession of her. They also heartlessly off two of her fingers to steal her rings. There are also stories of the Slapped Lady who descends the stairs in the dark, and Dr. Lowry, murdered by his heirs, desecrated by a vengeful undertaker, bereft of his organs, and continually wandering with his mother, trying to find them. Aside from the stories of hauntings at Woodland Cemetery, there are beautiful statues, gravestones, landscaped gardens, and historical graves. Continuing to be a popular burial site, Ironton’s “City of the Dead” will continue to grow with a sleeping population for many years to come!