Although I moved away years ago, I used to live in Midlothian, pretty close to BG. When I lived there, I was in High School, and it was the 70s (yes, I am old). Just thought someone might want to know what it was like back then verses today. I also have some insights into the Police, which I will list in a separate post.
If memory serves, the county took over the cemetery in the mid 70s. This was the peak of vandalism there. Every single kid in the south suburbs knew the stories of Bachelor's Grove, and it was very common to go there either on a bet, or to party. It could actually get a little crowded on a Friday night. We never saw ghosthunters then, it was just kids. The cemetery was very trashed at this time. There were more headstones then, and most of them had graffiti written all over them. There was also a ton of beer cans and trash, and various stuff left over from either pranksters or people practicing Satanism. You didn't have the level of police activity that you have today, and there were some terrible crimes associated with the surrounding woods. A couple of girls were raped, and there were a lot of drug deals going on, and also a couple of bodies found in the woods.
The quarry pond (as we called it) was not quite as dirty as it is today, but it was still pretty bad. There was a lot of trash in there, although I am pretty sure that there is nowhere near the amount of headstones in there that people think there is. I remember reading newspaper accounts that some of the families had moved some of the headstones and actually moved some of their relatives to other cemeteries due to the vandalism. I am sad to say, that some of the smaller headstones actually ended up in kids bedrooms. People literally took them and put them in the trunk of their cars. It was almost a badge of honor back then, and proof that you had been in there. You could go there one week to the next and see that someone had taken one.
As to paranormal activity, I believe there were actually more reports back then. Every single person I knew who had been in there had a story. No one was really aware of orbs, and I never saw a photo of one back then, but people didn't go in there to take photos of paranormal activity. They took photos of themselves sitting on headstones. There were a lot more stories about the vanishing car back then. That was probably the number one thing people reported. I personally knew 6 people that reported the car, and a couple who had seen an old man in the distance. There were also a lot of stories about strange sounds, lights and a ton of stories of bad things happening to you after going in there.
My story is in Part II
