Bushwick High School History [OLD CEMETERY GHOST]
The former site of Bushwick High School where a ghostly old cemetery once stood is our history story today.
The school was built in 1912 and opened in 1914, but prior to the school and playground being built, these grounds were the home of the old Union Cemetery from 1851 to 1898. This was the second home of the old cemetery, relocating here from Union Avenue in Williamsburg where its name derived from.
Jackie Gleason and Amanda Serrano were two of the famous alumni to have attended Bushwick High School.
The cemetery and the old lots surrounding it were also the home to tales of ghostly sightings. Indeed the cemetery itself also had some strange events taking place there.
Perhaps most notoriously was the Knickerbocker Avenue ghost of 1894. An apparition was known to haunt the area and then one night it appeared in front of five women. For the next 10 days or so the story took on a life of its own, with upwards of 300 armed men arriving in the area to confront the ghost as well as a policeman and a newspaper reporter.
The policeman attributed the ghost to the consumption of the bad whiskey that was sold in the area. The police commissioner of the city of Brooklyn offered a stark warning though, stating that if the city of Brooklyn consolidated with the city of New York and became one, then surely the ghosts would be present both day and night.
The authorities took a rather tongue in cheek view of the ghostly spirit in the area, but it was clear that the locals however believed that one was there, as 300 armed men set out one night to confront it.