10/22/2024
***CANCELED***
Unfortunately due to illness we need to cancel this year's annual ghost walk. Sorry for any inconveniences
We will hosting our 11th annual ghost walk at Yankee Hill Cemetery in French River on October 30th at 8pm. We will me up at the cemetery! See everyone there! Please feel free to message with any questions, etc.
Below is a bit of history:
Yankee Hill Cemetery was established in 1774. A small, 6 m square log chapel was constructed on the SW corner of the present cemetery (Reference Point #1). The oldest surviving headstone is 1815.
The first settlers arrived in 1773 on the snow-rigged brig, Elizabeth.
So... we have decided to do our annual ghost walk at the Yankee Hill Cemetery located in French River, near the New London Lighthouse. I have posted a bit of history I found below.
We will meet up at the cemetery at 8pm. Feel free to bring any equipment you would like to use during the walk.
The harbor was to become a home port for American vessels involved in the mackerel fishery in the 1840's and 1850s, which probably lead to the name Yankee Hill for the hill near the harbor. Local weather extremes and the sinking of the Elizabeth in 1775 doomed the settlement, which was abandoned by the turn of the century.
Between October 3-5, 1851, the Island experienced one of the worst natural disasters of the province's history -- the "Yankee Gale". This vicious storm claimed up to 120 vessels and 250 sailors. Many of those lost were American fishermen, hence the name "Yankee Gale". At least 25 American sailors are said to be buried in the Yankee Hill Cemetery.
The Yankee Hill Cemetery was abandoned in 1904, and only recently has been restored to its present condition.
