Springtown, Texas
Four miles south on Highway 51 from Springtown,
turn west and continue for one mile on Veal Station Road in Parker County
This cemetery is haunted by a glowing gravestone—or at least that is what many people who swear they have seen it claim. In fact, the glowing gravestone was featured on the evening news one night, and the rumors and stories continue to spread to this day.
Veal Station Cemetery is also said to be haunted by a woman who simply likes to walk around her grave. But first you have to get there to verify it, and that requires navigating plenty of turns along old roads on the outskirts of Fort Worth. Four miles from Springtown, behind a chain-link fence that deters trespassers at night, lies the supposedly glowing gravestone of Veal Station Cemetery, green and eerie. One note: because the cemetery is so remote, the greenish light cannot come from streetlights or a nearby town.
It is located about fifty yards inside the cemetery, but you do not actually have to go in because you can see the green light from the gate (note: the cemetery is closed at night and trespassers are not allowed; too many people have gone there looking for the ghost). Even better, the stories about the woman who walks around her grave persist as well, apparently patrolling for trespassers—according to legend, she drives away anyone who dares enter after dark.
When we were there, we met a man named Jeremy Cannon, who serves on the Veal Station Cemetery board. He said that he had seen the glowing gravestone too, but explained that the stone is made of limestone and glows in the moonlight. Cannon admitted that he had seen it glow and that it still gives him goosebumps, even though he knows what it is.
Do not go there on Halloween. Ever since the newspaper published an article about the haunted cemetery, it seems to be haunted more by onlookers, and on that holiday the Veal Station Cemetery board has to hire security to keep the “evil spirits” away (meaning people looking for trouble). Honestly, if you were a ghost, would you haunt a place teeming with so many people on Halloween?
This area has been settled for a long time, so some of the old settlers simply did not want to leave. Veal Station was settled in the mid-19th century and was originally called Creamland. The name was later changed to Veal Station after its first resident, William Veal. Keep in mind that this was back when Native Americans still roamed the surrounding area, so the settlers were haunted by plenty of threats.
The town of Veal disappeared in the early 20th century, when a historical marker was erected to remind people that it had once been there. Of course, the cemetery is a quick reminder as well.
Even if you cannot get there at night, take a drive out there anyway, and do not rule out seeing something during the day or at sunset.
While you are in Springtown, I also recommend visiting Carter, which is now nothing more than a ghost town, like many others that have come and gone since Fort Worth was founded. Carter Ghost Town, as many call it, is about five miles south of Springtown on Highway 51; turn west onto Carter Road, drive about a mile, and you are there—or rather, where it used to be.
Many people claim that it is haunted, and it was founded in 1866. Of course, one of the founders was named Carter. In its heyday, it was a place where cowboys stopped to water their cattle and horses at a nearby creek, and there was also a flour mill. Later, there was a school, a church, a general store, and even a post office serving the small town of more than seventy residents.
The story goes that although Carter was a pleasant little town, various scoundrels looking for a fight also passed through it. Of course, at the time there were plenty of Native American raids that frightened the residents just as much as the shootouts. Like Veal Station, it was another town that simply dried up because the railroad bypassed it; a few old buildings remain, along with the creek, of course, and interesting historical markers that offer a glimpse into the town’s history.
People claim to have seen orbs of light and heard voices at night that cannot be explained. Professional ghost hunters often come here with their equipment and are even said to have recorded the voice of a young girl in the old church.
