With the season of Halloween and ghosts upon us, it seemed an ideal time to tour Traverse City’s historic Oakwood Cemetery – and tonight (Thursday) and next week, you can too.

Cemetery Sexton Branden Morgan says Halloween doesn’t really bring much change other than cleaning up falling leaves. But that’s not to say there aren’t some inauspicious things that happen on the grounds at this or any time of year. Morgan admits he’s come across the occasional golf ball while mowing, and he’s had to evict a person using cemetery grounds for target practice with a bow.

“I get it. It’s inside the city, it’s an open area with no houses. But this isn’t the place,” he says. That’s led to the prohibition of “certain recreational activities disruptive or disrespectful in nature to the intended purpose of the cemetery,” including roller-blading, skateboarding, skiing, kite-flying, and -- yes, golfing.

Throughout the year, the occasional visitor may stop in with a radio to share the sound of a baseball game with a friend or family member, share a drink or smoke with a deceased loved one, or just spend time together. “There’s nothing creepy. Even my kids don’t feel creeped out. It’s a place of peace and serenity, not a scary place," Morgan says.

The 90-acre parcel is situated between Eighth Street on the north and Parsons Road on the south. It was established in 1853, making it Traverse City’s first cemetery – though at the time, it was located on Sixth Street at the current site of Crooked Tree Arts Center. In 1861, Oakwood was deeded 40 acres at its present location.

Many people of local renown are buried here, including Perry Hannah, the Father of Traverse City; Dr. Joe Maddy, founder of Interlochen Center for the Arts; Dan Whipple, who fought in the Civil War at age 61 and after that walked ten miles every day to and from his home in Leelanau County to Traverse City, even up to and past his 100th birthday; and George Alderton, the man who gave Michigan State University the nickname of Spartans.

The cemetery is also home to war memorials and the gravesites of numerous veterans of conflicts, such as Oscar Carver, a Civil War veteran who became the first schoolteacher in Kingsley and later the mayor of Traverse City.

“There’s a ton of history in here,” Morgan says.

But anything spooky? Morgan says several years ago, he met Robert Clayton, a self-described clairvoyant who liked to walk the grounds. Clayton claimed there were Native Americans who were “watching” Morgan; Morgan responded that he was part of the Grand Traverse Band and that his grandparents were supposedly buried at Oakwood. He later was able to identify their unmarked graves near the road where Clayton said they were watching Morgan from.

Even today, Morgan says he’ll occasionally catch sight of someone in his peripheral vision who isn’t there when he turns to look directly at them. “He (Clayton) told me, ‘They want you to see them sometimes,’” says Morgan.

“Just this summer I was doing a burial. There was an unmarked grave on the lot and I dug into it.” Morgan was careful to put it all back, and when walking past his truck saw a man sitting in the front seat with a deep tan and blue eyes, smiling at him. When he turned to look, there was no one there. “There’s no doubt in my mind it was the guy I hit, just messing with me. It’s spooky in a sense, but I’m not afraid.”

The Traverse Area Historical Society is sponsoring the Oakwood Cemetery Tour with a Halloween Twist tonight (Thursday) and Monday from 5:30 to 7pm. Meet at 5:15 at the Oakwood entrance closest to Eighth and Steele. Cost is $10 per person, with all proceeds benefiting the society. Call 231-883-2238 to register.