The Carnation Cemetery has a haunting reputation: visitors claim to have seen a woman dressed in white, heard sounds of babies crying or footsteps when no one is around, and felt pangs of unexplained pelvic pain.

Whether the cemetery is truly haunted remains a mystery — but it’s not the only mystery.

It’s also a mystery who is buried in 49 of the cemetery’s plots, and a total of 174 graves are unmarked. Ashlyn Farnworth, public information officer for the City of Carnation, is hoping the city’s new online cemetery database will help.

“The reason why a lot of these are unmarked is because it was very expensive to do so,” Farnworth said. “It’s not like these people are less loved.”

Earlier this year, the city outsourced to All Funeral Services, which digitized all of the cemetery’s records and created carnationcemetery-aftercare.allfuneral.com. The graves are now searchable by first name, last name and dates of life. If the interred has a headstone, there will be a photo of it with their name on the website. If not, loved ones can contact the city and purchase a headstone to be added.

There is also a map at the cemetery that shows the location and name of the deceased in all of the identified graves — even the ones without markers.

Farnworth manages the cemetery as one of her many duties on the 10-person city staff. While there is no way for her to solve the mystery of who lies in the unknown graves, she said there has recently been an uptick in people purchasing markers for unmarked but identified graves.

The cemetery has a rich history spanning 120 years and 1,293 plots. It was created in 1905 when Frederick Bagwell donated the land. He was also the cemetery’s first burial.

While open to all citizens, the cemetery was made for Masons. The following year, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows formed a cemetery just south of Bagwell’s. Then, in 1957, the Odd Fellows took over management of the northern half as well, running the entirety as Tolt Oddfellows Cemetery.

In the ‘90s, the City of Carnation accepted the cemetery as a donation, and it has been a municipal cemetery since. Loved ones of the deceased go through a funeral home to make arrangements, but the city handles the administrative tasks like paperwork and updating the website.

All of the plots are spoken for, Farnworth said, though they have not all been used yet.

A lot of the lore surrounding the cemetery is a result of it simply being old, Farnworth said. There are even graves pre-dating 1905, which were relocated to Carnation from Pleasant Hill Cemetery. The oldest known grave is that of James Entwistle, the first settler in Carnation (then Tolt), arriving in 1858. He died in 1902.

In August, the Spokane Paranormal Investigation Group posted on Facebook that Idaho medium Jennifer Von Behren visited the Carnation Cemetery and said it felt peaceful.

“She feels that this cemetery is a ‘playground” for the ghosts,” the post said.

Visitors are welcome to come see Carnation Cemetery for themselves, but Farnworth reminds them to be considerate to those buried there and their families.

“We urge people to be respectful during their visits,” she said. “The cemetery is still active, and ultimately serves as a space for people to remember their loved ones.”

The front gate of the Carnation Cemetery on Oct. 21, 2024. (Grace Gorenflo/Valley Record)