The Black Diamond area was a thriving coal mining community. Memories of the people who once lived and worked there are still around, as some were buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery. Multiple ghost stories surrounding some parts are now open to the public as part of Antioch’s 6,000-acre Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. Two of the most talked about stories in this area are about two witches and the Gates of Hell.

Starting with the witches of Black Diamond Minds, Sarah Norton and May, They have been spotted lurking around the area and will haunt those who encounter them. Sarah was a midwife to the townsfolk. She was a widow who married Noah Norton. Sadly, Sarah suffered from a tragic death. While answering a call for service in the neighboring town, she was thrown from a buggy and died. Sarah was not religious and told her kids that she did not want a funeral, but when she died, the townspeople tried to give her one. On the day of the funeral, a storm struck up and caused them to delay it until the next day. The following day, another storm appeared, and the livestock started charging the town. The townspeople stopped trying and buried her in the Rosehill Cemetery. From that day on, her spirit has been seen around Somerville.

Mary was a nanny in the 1870s when there was still coal mining. All the children Mary had cared for passed away from illnesses, and she was accused of witchcraft. The townspeople found evidence of her practice of magic. She was soon hanged for her crimes; she has been guarding the mines since then. She was seen hovering effortlessly and mysteriously in all white.

Have you ever encountered a ghost?

-Dezi