Highland Lawn Cemetery has a couple ghostly legends. One is about Stiffy Green, a phantom bulldog. Stiffy Green belonged to John Heinl, a likable elderly man. The friendly dog was named for his stiff gait and bright-green eyes. When Heinl passed away in 1920, Stiffy Green refused to leave the mausoleum and was eventually found there dead, although folks brought him food and water. The townspeople raised funds to have Stiffy Green stuffed and placed inside the tomb. After this, the cemetery caretaker began hearing barks from the mausoleum. Both the dog and Heinl’s apparitions have been seen, along with the phantom smell of John’s pipe.
Another cemetery legend is about Martin Sheets, a businessman in the early 1900s who had a deep fear of being buried alive. He had a custom-designed casket with latches on the inside to thwart such a terror from happening to him, and he planned to be buried in a mausoleum instead of underground. Furthermore, the mausoleum was rigged with a telephone. When he passed away and was entombed in his mausoleum, nothing eventful happened, but Sheets had paid for the phone to remain in service for years. Several years later, Sheets’ wife was found dead of a stroke, clutching the phone, presumably trying to call an ambulance. But when Mrs. Sheets was entombed, they noticed that Martin’s telephone was off the hook inside the locked mausoleum.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 4520 Wabash Avenue
Terre Haute, IN
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 39.475379, -87.35060190000002
- County:
- Vigo County, Indiana
- Nearest Towns:
- Terre Haute, IN (3.4 mi.)
North Terre Haute, IN (3.7 mi.)
Seelyville, IN (4.6 mi.)
West Terre Haute, IN (5.4 mi.)
Toad Hop, IN (6.1 mi.)
Riley, IN (6.5 mi.)
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, IN (6.7 mi.)
Tecumseh, IN (7.1 mi.)
Staunton, IN (8.7 mi.)
Fontanet, IN (9.0 mi.)
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
1 the map at top is not highland. its the one down the road. i know i worked at highland for 5 years stiffy green is gone. was put down town in the historical society building 2 the phone was taken out of the mausoleum 3 there is no ghost hunting whats so ever after dark there. its owned by the city and will not allow you to go in after dark .4 yes the place is haunted way more then people think or know but being arrested is not worth try to find out
Haunting do not just occur at night its just that the night time makes people more scared want to go ghost hunting go during daytime open hours be respectable ^j^
“Stiffy Green” is an oft repeated and totally bogus story. The dog was never alive. He’s a concrete casting that sat on florist John Heinl’s porch for years. In fact, “Stiffy” is now in the county museum.The only truths of the story are that the bulldog likeness belonged to Mr. Heinl and that the man was fond of it and asked that it be placed in his mausoleum when he died. The family had it removed after vandalism.