In 1963, a group of teens desecrate a cemetery and wake up the spirits from their graves. Find out who these ghosts are and the tragedy that took their lives. Listen in after the jump.

Show Notes

One night in 1963, a group of teens on a double date went into the woods by an old ghost town. After kicking over and smashing graves, something came for them. It was angry and aggressive: It swiped at them, held them down, and hurt them like the teens hurt it.

Then we step back in time to see how this town fell away into obscurity. Lost in time. Only known for its disaster over a century ago.

Special thanks to Melissa Becker for additional research into the Ravensdale mining disaster.

Sources:

Stein, A.J. (Sept. 18, 2001). “Ravensdale coal mine explosion kills 31 men on November 16, 1915,” Historylink.org, retrieved from: https://historylink.org/File/3576

Broom, J. (Nov. 16, 2015). “Ravensdale marks 100 years since mine disaster killed 31,” The Seattle Times, retrieved from: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/puget-sound/ravensdale-marks-100-years-since-states-worst-mining-disaster/

Beitler, S. (no date). “Ravensdale, WA Coal Mine Explosion, Nov 1915,” GenDisasters.com [originally reported in the Waterloo (IA) Evening Courier on Nov. 17, 1915], retrieved from: https://www.gendisasters.com/washington/19222/ravensdale-wa-coal-mine-explosion-nov-1915

Editors (Jan. 19, 2022 – last updated). “Ravensdale, Washington,” Wikipedia.org, retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravensdale,_Washington

Smull, B. (July 4, 1976). “Despite the 1915 mine explosion, Ravensdale clung to life,” The Globe News, retrieved from: https://blackdiamondhistory.wordpress.com/2014/11/18/ravensdale-despite-the-1915-mine-explosion-ravensdale-clung-to-life/

McNair-Huff, R. and McNair-Huff, N. (December 2015). “Washington Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival, Second Edition,” Globe Pequot

Atwood, E. (June 13, 2019). “In Hidden Memory – Ravensdale’s Secret Graveyard,” Tahoma News, retrieved from: https://tahomanews.com/3139/news/__trashed-18/

Boalt, F. (Nov. 17, 1915). “Boalt Sees Town of Sorrow; Women Hover About Mouth of Mine to Claim Blackened Corpses of Their Husbands,” Seattle Star, retrieved from Newspapers.com

Nunes, R. (April 19, 2010). “Desecration of headstones in Black Diamond,” Covington (WA) Reporter, retrieved from: https://www.covingtonreporter.com/news/desecration-of-headstones-in-black-diamond/

Martinell, T.J. (Oct. 18, 2012). “City at a Crossroads Part II: Ravensdale’s mine explosion a nightmare,” Covington (WA) Reporter, retrieved from: https://www.covingtonreporter.com/news/city-at-a-crossroads-part-ii-ravensdales-mine-explosion-a-nightmare/

“Find A Grave Index,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W3DM-TP6Z : 7 August 2020), Charles B. Davis, ; Burial, , Unknown Burials Washington State; citing record ID 197195355, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

“Find A Grave Index,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV2K-8VJT : 10 September 2021), Thomas J Kane, ; Burial, Ravensdale, King, Washington, United States of America, Ravensdale Cemetery; citing record ID 68785137, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

Last Updated on December 18, 2024 by Jacob Rice