Catawissa, Pennsylvania: Hooded Grave Cemetery
Tiny roadside boneyard is marked with its own Hooded Grave Cemetery sign. Supposedly the only two hooded graves left in the U.S., covered with decorative iron grillwork to thwart cadaver robbers.
- Address:
- 277 Long Woods Rd, Catawissa, PA
- Directions:
- From Catawissa drive south on Mill St./PA-42 for a half-mile. Turn right (no stoplight) onto tiny Long Woods Rd (easy to miss). Drive one mile to the cemetery, on the right.
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Apparently these are the last two hooded graves in the U.S. Contrary to folklore, which says that the cages were used to keep spirits in, the cages were used to keep grave robbers out. They would steal the bodies to sell for medical research.
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Grave robbers worked in large cities. Any bodies hauled by horse from this tiny rural boneyard would rot before they got to the nearest 19th century medical school. Maybe the families of the deceased were urban ex-pats (Out of an abundance of caution, we've preordered our grave hoods from a reputable online manufacturer).