Dead Man’s Hill

Rooker Cemetery, known locally as Dead Man’s Hill, is a small pioneer-era burial ground overlooking Honey Creek on Spring Prairie Road in Burlington, Wisconsin. The one-acre cemetery sits atop a steep hill on land associated with the Rooker family and dates to 1847, when 8-year-old Josephine Lewis is believed to have become its first burial. Joseph Rooker and his wife, Sabrina, along with members of the Rooker and Lewis families, were later buried here. The last known burial was Olive Rooker Lewis in 1899. After decades of neglect, the Burlington Historical Society acquired the cemetery from the Paul L. Kramer Trust in 2012 and began efforts to preserve the historic site.

The cemetery’s darker reputation comes from a distinctly stranger layer of Burlington folklore. Paranormal researcher and author Mary Sutherland has identified Dead Man’s Hill as a vortex, pointing to the twisted, gnarled trees growing around the cemetery as evidence of unusual energy. Sutherland has also described experiencing a portal or dimensional anomaly at the site, including an account of approximately 15 minutes of lost time. Local legend connects the area to sightings of a Bigfoot-like creature and a dogman, while the nearby Spring Prairie Road area has also been associated with a reported encounter with the Beast of Bray Road carrying sheep. Sutherland has further claimed that a large rock near the cemetery was once used by Native Americans for sacrifices. These paranormal and historical claims are part of the area’s folklore and have not been independently verified.

Reported Paranormal Activity

• A powerful vortex said to surround Dead Man’s Hill
• Twisted and gnarled trees attributed to the alleged vortex
• Reports of a portal or dimensional opening at the cemetery
• Bigfoot-like creature sightings in the surrounding area
• Dogman sightings near the cemetery
• A reported encounter with the Bray Road Beast carrying sheep
• A nearby rock said to have been used for human sacrifices