The first in an ongoing series about purported haunted locations in the Star's territory.

Amid Roxborough's Ridge Avenue business corridor lies the final resting place for many notable Philadelphians, including Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers, nurses, and a respected author and journalist who covered the Spanish-American War, World War I and the devastating Johnstown Flood.

And while Leverington Cemetery is viewed as a historic treasure, it has also become synonymous with the supernatural, with stories of ghost sightings and eerie feelings creating fodder for local lore.

"I do believe in the supernatural, I really do," said Sylvia Myers.

The Roxborough resident, who serves as the archivist for the Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society, said she has never had any experiences with the "other side" while visiting the cemetery, but she has heard her share of tales, which include feelings of people being watched while walking on or near the grounds of the cemetery at Ridge and Lyceum avenues.

"They couldn't see, but they just knew that somebody was there," she said of the general sentiment felt by those who have relayed accounts of strange happenings at Leverington.

While Myers never experienced anything off-putting at Leverington, she believes she has been exposed to the supernatural, although she declined to go on the record with specifics.

"Your hair goes up on the back of your neck, but you can't put your finger on it," she said. "Different people have different experiences."

Leverington Cemetery originally served as the burial ground for the Levering (Loewering) family as far back as 1745. That same year, Wigard Levering, Roxborough's founder, was interred at Leverington.

Eventually, the cemetery became known as the Roxborough Burial Ground, and it soon became aligned with the adjacent Roxborough Baptist Church. In 1857, church ties were severed, and a board of trustees, incorporated as the Leverington Cemetery Co., was created to oversee the sacred grounds.

In 1966, a fire destroyed the office housing cemetery company records. Records that survived the flames were moved to a private residence of a trustee. Eventually, they were indexed on microfilm at the Philadelphia City Archives, and the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.

Given the cemetery's storied past, and the fact that it holds its share of prominent figures, the historical society's Myers is in the process of attempting to get a historical marker placed outside the cemetery. She plans to take the issue up with John Laberteaux, treasurer of the Leverington Cemetery Co.

Attempts to reach Laberteaux were unsuccessful.

But while Myers is awaiting word on the possible historic marker, others are focusing on things less tangible.

"Leverington Cemetery is supposedly the biggest, most haunted cemetery in Pennsylvania," said Frank D'Angelo. "It is (also) noted to be the most haunted in Philadelphia."

D'Angelo is the manager of psychic counselor and medium Valerie Morrison, whose office and home are in Roxborough.

While D'Angelo has spent many nights parked outside the cemetery, he, like Myers, has yet to have a supernatural experience at the location. But he has heard stories of people witnessing orbs - or balls of light - floating above the cemetery at night.

One person who has had a strange occurrence in the area of the cemetery is Jim Evans. The cemetery serves as the backdrop of Bob's Diner, Evans' business.

Evans recalled a night during his first week at the diner when he was alone in his business, checking out the basement. He heard footsteps coming from above. Since nobody was supposed to be there except him, Evans went upstairs to investigate. He found nothing.

When he returned downstairs, he heard the stomping, this time louder.

"My eyes got as big as saucers, and I could feel the hair on the back of my neck standing up," Evans said, describing his fright.

Evans chose to leave for the night. While he experienced other "weird stuff" since that night - he didn't elaborate - nothing was as scary as that first encounter with what could have been something other-worldly.

Someone who doesn't shy away from the supernatural is D'Angelo, due to his work with Morrison, which has included paranormal investigations, house cleansings, and even exorcisms. He noted that, while he and Myers might never have seen anything questionable at Leverington, that doesn't mean it isn't a supernatural hotspot.

"This stuff doesn't happen like clockwork," he said.

D'Angelo hasn't had much success in interviewing those who claim to have had experiences at Leverington, "because some fear ridicule, really," he said. "As far as Leverington, I don't have any evidence other than what I've seen on the Web. Every one of them (witnesses) has held it to the chest."

The idea that cemeteries are often the most haunted places is not always true, D'Angelo said.

"Typically, a spirit, a ghost, is someone who simply doesn't believe they're dead, or they fear going to the other side because they know they've done wrong in this life," D'Angelo said. "They wander."

It only makes sense that Leverington Cemetery has had claims of paranormal occurrences given the number - 793 in total - and eclectic nature of those buried there. D'Angelo, however, is careful not to classify every single reported paranormal experience as a "haunting."

A traditional haunting, he explained, is somewhat rare, and involves an intelligent spirit interacting with the natural world.

"There aren't as many hauntings as you think," he said.

What most people witness, he said, are what are called residual hauntings, or energies that have been left behind, and play themselves out like a recording, whether a person is there to witness it or not.

"Repetitious sightings of a ghost are not hauntings," he said. "It's no more of a haunting than if you would pop in an old tape of Marilyn Monroe. A haunting is truly when you can interact with the ghost."

Although he has spent his share of time trying to capture evidence of the supernatural at Leverington, D'Angelo has had no such luck thus far. It's not that there's nothing paranormal going on at the cemetery, he said, but rather that spirits don't always show themselves at opportune times.

"You can't go one night, for four hours or six hours, and expect to really investigate the situation," he said.

Reporter Jon Campisi can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jcampisi@phillynews.com