The legend of Chowchilla's Minturn Cemetery

On the banks of the Chowchilla River in northern Madera County lies a small cemetery dating back to the late 1800's. Both the cemetery and the area itself were named after wheat farmers by the name of Minturn who had a railroad siding built in the area in 1872. Buried at the cemetery are Rowland (1845-1894), Jonas (1819-1884) and Jonas's wife Abby West (1820-1899). It should be noted that Jonas and Abby had several children, but none are buried there.

Rumors of paranormal activity have gone back for many years. High school students would go out there in the hopes of witnessing something strange. There have been reports of hearing a woman screaming and children either crying or laughing. Others have claimed to have seen the ghost of a man picking up trash around the graves. There's even a report of a group of teens going out there one night and their car died when the drove up to the cemetery. One group even claims to actually hear a disembodied voice asking why they came back and they they were going to die.

One has to ask the question is this cemetery actually haunted and if so why? Could the ghost of the man that has been seen be either Rowland or Jonas, making sure the grounds on which they are buried are kept clean and tidy? And what of the reports of the woman screaming? Could this be Abby? Perhaps the sound of ghostly children can be linked to this. It's known that Abby and Jonas had several children, but the cemetery only has the three I mentioned buried there. There's no mention of any children at all. Maybe Abby is screaming because her children aren't buried in the same location she is and the children are crying for the same reason. All I do know is that the legends of the Minturn Cemetery have persisted for a long time and will continue to do so.

Please note that I did not say where this cemetery is located. I was told it is on private property and that the owner's permission is required first. Even with that information I don't know the exact location, just the intersection of two roads and then you travel down a dirt path for about a mile. With that being said if anyone does decide to find this cemetery, please, please get the owners permission first. If not you will be trepessaing and will deserve any punishment you will get. Don't fuck this up for paranormal researchers just because you want to get a cheap thrill.

Was the old Save Mart in Chowchilla haunted?

There are rumors that the old Save Mart in Chowchilla was haunted. An employee stated that when she used to work there late at night she would feel some sort of presence watching her as she cleaned up the aisles. Sometimes she would also feel the same presence following her when she went into the break room. And another employee who worked the day shift also felt something watching him, but only when he was in the break room.

When the store was finally closed and no one in the building, people outside would report seeing someone walking around the store after midnight. Also, shadowy figures would be seen late at night, once again when the store was closed.

Some customers would also report that they would hear whispering voices around them, even when no one was near enough to make any sound.

The building was closed sometime before 2008 when a new Save Mart was built on Robertson Blvd. As far as I know the new building has no paranormal activity. As for the old building, it is still closed and is not in use. One has to wonder if the ghosts still wander the building, unaware that there is no one else there?

Is the Chowchilla library haunted?

Is this library haunted by a man who died in a fire here years ago?

Several years ago, in a rural town in northern Madera County called Chowchilla, the local bowling alley caught fire and the entire structure was gutted. After investigating the cause of the fire, it was determined that the start of the fire was in the kitchen and soon spread to the rest of the building. Unfortunately the cook was caught in the fire and was unable to make it out and perished in the flames.

Soon after that, the building was remodeled and became the new home of the Chowchilla branch of the Madera County Library system. Where the kitchen was is now the check out center and there have been reports of people feeling the heat of a fire. A few witnesses have even reported seeing a man standing in the area wearing an apron and carrying a spatula. One wonders if this is some sort of replay of what happened here, the event so traumatic that it left some sort of "psychic" imprint on the location that people see from time to time. Or perhaps the cook is still here, ready to work even though the kitchen that took his life is now long gone.