Devens is a tiny spot in central Massachusetts that is home to just 1,840 people. However, its small size and sleepy atmosphere belies some major creepiness. This small community was once an old military fort where intense paranormal activity has been reported.

Fort Devens was a military base established in 1939. It’s home to the bodies of soldiers and civilians from six American wars.
Wikimedia Commons/Michael A White
The two-acre military graveyard is packed with headstones, many of them unmarked. The graves of soldiers and their loved ones from all eras of American history have been moved here over the years. Additionally, the remains of children who died in the influenza epidemic of 1917 to 1919 also lie beneath the earth here. More than 14,000 were struck down by the illness.
The oldest grave is that of 1st Lieutenant Robert F. Massie. He was killed in a duel on Christmas Day, 1817.
Flickr/Fort Devens Museum
People have reported hearing the cries of pain near the old grave and seeing a shadowy figure walking amongst the headstones in the winter. The cemetery is also home to about 20 German and Italian prisoners of war who died at the fort during WWII.

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The fort was decommissioned in 1996 and became the Devens Reserve Forces Training area.
Flickr/Fort Devens Museum
Devens doesn’t actually have official township status. Some residents think that the decommissioning of the fort and the subsequent redevelopment of the area to include housing developments, a hotel, restaurants and a disc golf course has angered the spirits of soldiers and their families.
Today, people report terrifying sights and sounds coming from the fort’s old, unused buildings.
Flickr/Fort Devens Museum
Strange lights, eerie noises and the sound of female wailing have all been reported. Some believe that the spirits of family members of those who died in the influenza epidemic are drawn to their graves and still mourn. Others think that the spirits are those of fallen soldiers who are irritated by transformation of Fort Devens into a public space.

You can find the Fort Devens cemetery at 35 Patton Road, Devens, Mass. For more creepy Massachusetts history, check out our list of the most terrifying places in the state.

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