Maxdale Cemetery and Bridge (Maxdale, TX)
Posted by: 
Raven
N 30° 59.252 W 097° 49.822
14R E 611678 N 3428806
The 1960's rural cemetery (one of the oldest in Bell County, TX) and its nearby truss bridge have the dubious honor of being recognized as a common haunting ground in Central Texas: local stories abound here!
Waymark Code: WMY216
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/04/2018
Views: 0
Many rural areas in Texas have their share of haunted folklore, urban legends and ghost stories. In Bell County and just 10 miles South of Killeen, Texas, those stories focus on an old 1863 cemetery called "Maxdale Cemetery" and its nearby haunted truss bridge where a school bus supposedly once fell to the river below. Hauntings include limping ghost caretaker figure, a witch’s grave, glowing tombstones, and a man hanging from a noose by the old steel bridge.
* Limping Ghost Caretaker: this ghost roams around the cemetery at night, with a lamp in hand and walking with a limp... it is believed to be a former caretaker of this cemetery.
* Witch's grave: several legends state that the cemetery is where some late-19th century witches were buried. One of them even has iron bars put throughout her grave and over the casket to keep her in the ground, yet she still appears and haunts late night visitors every year.
* Glowing tombstones: folks who visited the cemetery at night have reported that some of the tombstones would literally "glow" an hour after the sun went under... however, nay-sayers retort that some of these headstones are covered with some type of luminous moss, i.e. “an acrocarpous moss occurring in caves and dark holes in the woods and glowing by reflected light.”
* Hanging man by the bridge: it's been said if you park on the old steel bridge and turn off your headlights, count to ten and turn them back on, you will see a man hanging from the steel beams of the bridge. As the story goes, the man hanged himself when he could not save his girlfriend from drowning in the river below the bridge.
All these hauntings -- and more -- are riddled in controversies: there are as many believers as doubters, and the internet is covered with stories and counter-arguments. Unfortunately, the cemetery has suffered from ghost seekers and satanists over the years: these include numerous broken and knocked-over headstones, as well as a pentagram burned into its concrete floor of a nearby covered pavilion. More on the damage can be found in this local newspaper
article.