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Illinois. Seemingly endless acres of cornfields begin to stutter with subdivisions as you travel northeast. It is a place where countless Indian tribes once roamed great plains of prairie grass and wild onion bogs. There now lies a fertile and productive state, dotted with communities large and small, littered with factories, grain elevators, skyscrapers, and the occasional Dairy Queen. Callused hands worked the soil, worked the iron, worked the coal mines. They lived here in little pockets of Italy, Africa, Germany, China, Wales, Greece, Ireland and Poland. They filled the cemeteries.
Each group holding on tightly to their rich heritage, the folklore is colorful. In the warm months festivals spring up in dozens of communities every weekend. People like to talk about their heritage, their long struggle to make it from wherever their oldest remembered relative lived and through into the present. They like to talk about their family and how they have been hard working farmers, factory workers, or policemen. They like to tell stories about a time long ago, just past the reach of most of us. A more romantic time, in their eyes, when granny met grandpa at a Chiv-a-ree in Decatur, or when uncle Frank lost his hand in a metal press on the south side of Chicago and lived to tell...And then there are the strange stories. The stories told late at night at Boy Scout camp, and the stories your black-sheep aunt told you when the other adults weren't listening...
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HAUNTED ILLINOIS HOTELS AND INNS
Chicago - The
Congress Hotel. 
Once owned by Al Capone, who lived in suite 800, the Congress is like an old showgirl, sort of wrinkly and stale, but occasionally revealing an illustrious past. With hallways that have been described as "like in 'The Shining' ", and secret escape routes that still exist decades after Capone's death, the Congress seems a sure bet for hauntings. Once housing statesmen and celebrities, the Congress has outlived it's celebrity. Couple these facts with a mysterious murder that took place in the 20's, and the fact that room "666" is sealed shut without explanation...
Update 8/11: Melissa sent me a note about her recent stay at the Congress: "We stayed at the Congress in June. Two things that happened around midnight during a giant storm (bonus). A loud bang that came from inside our room (nothing fell) and then a half ring from the hotel telephone, no one knew we were there. When we checked out the next morning I asked the desk if they knew the place was haunted, she said that a guest had come down the desk that night complaining about something knocking in his room. He had gone out and looked down the hall,no one there. She then asked him if he wanted to change rooms, he said no"
520 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605 (312)427-3800
Chicago - The
House of Blues Hotel
The
House of Blues Hotel in the landmark Marina City complex was formerly a office
building prior to Loews hotels gutting it in 1998 and making it into the swank
boutique hotel it is today. Adorned with an odd combo of folk art from the deep
south, Byzantine inspired stained glass, and north African style embellishments,
(not to mention the signature House of Blues garbage bag embellishments such as
old shoes and beer bottle caps that are nailed to the walls...) the building
does not even hint at it's past as a stuffy office building. As the story goes,
a little girl died in the building (it is unknown when or why) and is said to
haunt the rooms. One visitor claimed their little boy heard a girl saying "want
to play with me?" and saw her apparition playing with his toys. Imprints of a
small body are said to appear in the formerly unruffled sheets.
I have stayed at the House of Blues Hotel a number of times, and actually did
experience something rather odd - odder yet was that I'd never heard any ghost
story or paranormal anything in relation to the place when it happened, so I
wasn't in the least anticipating anything. (which is a contrast to the bizarre
nights I spent in Savannah, GA). Anyway, it was
around 1999 or 2000, and my husband (then boyfriend) and I were staying there so
we wouldn't have to make the 1 1/2 hour drive home after a show at the HOB club
located across the parking lot. We had stayed there before a handful of times
for the same reason. Anyway, we had been shopping, and my boyfriend had bought
some new shoes that day. He had tried them on, laced them and walked around the
room a little in them after we got back to the hotel (like most people do when
they're breaking in new shoes). We hadn't started drinking yet (this is key, I
realize... haha). We caught a brief nap before the show. I got up and showered,
and when I went to leave the bathroom, the bathroom door was locked. I was
fairly confident that I hadn't locked it when I went in - in fact, if I recall
correctly, I think I had the door cracked open because the bathroom tended to
steam up. The door stuck as I went to leave (after I realized it was locked) ,
like it was jammed from the other side - and that was the only reason I even
paid any notice to the fact it was locked. I walked out where my boyfriend
was sleeping and asked him if he had locked the bathroom door for some reason,
and of course he hadn't - it wouldn't make sense for him to lock himself out of
the bathroom. He hadn't even awoken from his nap, he said.
I blew that off and chalked it up to premature Alzheimer's, and then something
even weirder happened. My boyfriend went for his new shoes about an hour later,
just before we were leaving to go out for the night. When he pulled them out of
the box, one of the shoes was laced in a way that the "bow" was sitting side
saddle on the shoe (the ends of the laces were both poking out of one side of
the shoe instead of at the opposite holes near the ankle like they would
normally be laced). He asked me if I was fucking with him, which I was not...
Anyway, that was an odd experience indeed. Coincidentally, Dan Akroyd (who
I think owns the chain of HOB clubs, or at the very least is heavily affiliated
with them) has a brother who is a paranormal investigator, and has been since
long before there were TV shows and the like about the subject. I wonder
why there hasn't been an investigation yet? Hmmm.
Nashville
- The Han-Dee Mart/Nashville Motel
The Han-Dee Mart building is now an office for an Edward Jones
(financial firm), and is located smack next to the super cool old Route 66
remnant, The Nashville Motel (see photo). When it was a market, local
folklore says that an old woman who shopped there regularly (named Marie)
began haunting the store after her death. Employees of the store complained
about feeling watched in the back storage room, and that the "remote conrol
Christmas lights" (these are the details I live for...) malfunctioned in an
odd manner after the passing of old Marie. Once there was a witnessed
account of a stack of papers lifting off a table, hovering momentarily, then
falling to the floor. A blood curdling scream came from the empty back room,
as witnessed by two employees and a customer. Nashville is an awesome little
town that has several cool Route 66 related items there, including a
Giant Hot Dog Man. 376 E St Louis St
North Aurora -
Baymont Inn and Suites
The lobby is said to have a white spook light that darted around some customers on St Patrick's Day in 2001. Room 208 reportedly has an apparition who has made a guest feel as if he is being "strangled". Staff reports phantom voices coming from empty rooms. 308 S. Lincoln Way
Okawville
- Original Springs Hotel
Nestled in the somewhat nondescript farmland of Illinois outside of St Louis, Okawville is home to a hot spring. In their heyday, hot springs were sought out by people of all walks of life, thanks to their "healthful benefits". After the fad had faded, and people moved on to other miracle cures for their arthritis and hacking coughs, many of the hot springs spas closed their doors: Wedron, IL and Alton, IL are two that I know of that are both reportedly haunted.
However, the hotel at Okawville stayed alive. Though I've never been to the exact town, I've certainly been to the area a number of times, and I'd guess it was due in part to the fact it was probably the only hotel left in town. Nonetheless, The Original Springs Hotel plowed through with Illinois Baptist diligence - through recession, depression and good times, as well.
At the turn of the century, the hotel was booming, along with other competitors it had at the time. At some point during this boom, the owner, a rather young man at 28, blew his head off with a shotgun in a hallway in the hotel. He was apparently distraught over the loss of his estranged wife.
Almost 100 years later, the old building is still reportedly
haunted by ghostly footsteps in empty corridors, strange noises of old - timey
music that come from nowhere, doors that open and shut themselves and of course,
ghostly apparitions that flit through the darkened hotel. 41
Miles East of St. Louis, MO Exit 41 on I-64 506 Hanover
Okawville, IL 62271 (618) 243-5458
Springfield
- The Inn at 835
Like many entrepreneurs before them,
the current owners of the The Inn at 835 set
out to restore the faded grandeur of a once grand home. The inn, once an
upscale boarding house to the state capitol's elite, boasts a few entities
nowadays. Beautiful Victorian surroundings bear witness to peeling
wallpaper that fixes itself later in the day, books that are moved by unseen
hands, an elevator that chronically goes to the wrong floor (unexplainable by
the people who have repeatedly 'fixed' it), and soft voices uttered by long dead
mouths. 835 South Second St - Springfield, IL (212)
523-4466
St. Charles
-
Hotel Baker -
Just an hour from downtown Chicago is picturesque St Charles, IL. A throwback to a simpler time, when urban sprawl had not yet reached it's grasp out this far, the streets are lined with brick storefronts that whisper of the past. One of the most stately of the old buildings is the Hotel Baker, which lies on the banks of the Fox river. Built on the remains of the town mill in 1926 by the town's greatest forefather, Colonel Edward J Baker, The Hotel Baker was and is a sight to behold.
As the story goes, a chambermaid was thrown over by her lover,
also an employee of the hotel. When he left her cold after a bad
night of poker, she cried for days and days, finally drowning herself in the
shallow Fox river behind the hotel. Her cries are reportedly still heard
by guests to the upscale establishment, and she likes to mess up the sheets once
in awhile. 100 W. Main St. St Charles, IL 60174
(800)284 0110
Utica - Starved
Rock Lodge/ Starved Rock State Park
The lodge is reported by staff to be haunted . Doors slam shut,
cold spots, orbs in the park. History of mass Indian starvation
as one tribe of Indians were cornered up on a bluff by another tribe. Those who
didn't starve were forced to jump to their deaths in the river below. A double
murder took place in the park in the 1960's as well, and there was and still is
some local controversy that the man who was imprisoned for the crimes was
framed, and the killer went free.
Rosemont -
Sheraton Gateway Suites Hotel
Several deaths from suicides and overdoses seem to have left some residual
activity here. Guests report seeing figures in their rooms, having their
belongings strewn around the locked room while they were in the bathroom, and
employees have heard odd typing sounds, The apparition of a man who jumped to
his death in 2001 is said to appear at the top balcony.
HAUNTED ILLINOIS TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
Morbid
Travel Tip: Visit the Pearson Museum at Southern Illinois University School
of Medicine for a wonderful array of medical
oddities, including a mummified human hand and
a set of wooden dentures that an Illinois farmer carved himself and wore until
his death. A plethora of information on
the practice of bloodletting is also on
exhibit. 801 N. Rutlidge. Open to the public on Tuesdays, but call ahead
as the room is also used for lectures. (217) 785-2128
(you might want to call just to get exact directions. I trekked to this
museum 2 years ago and never did find the location of it. I finally gave
up - I was so bummed ~ed.)
In 1970, a man who was on Route 3 fixing his
stalled vehicle claims to have been tackled by a "large black cat", who injured
him to the point of needing medical care before being scared off by the
headlights of an oncoming car. (At this time there were no longer Eastern Cougars
and no panthers in Illinois, though
"a black panther was supposedly shot in Indiana in 1946"...)
(From Weird America
A regular hoot-a-nanny of otherworldly fun
just south of historic Galena. Proprietor Jim Warfield touts a one of a
kind experience in his restored haunted speakeasy. There is a chute that
shuttles the tourist from the top floor down to the basement into the wine
cellar. It is the wine cellar that is said to be haunted by a "lady in
white" . She is described as: " She has long, straight black hair and a
dark complexion, as if she might be part American Indian, she has been said by
almost everyone that has seen her to be an attractive woman."
On August 15th, 1985, a group of five golfers
claimed to have seen a 5-6' tall, hair covered, naked sasquatch who had a "face like a pug"
(Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century
Apparently located in a cemetery, the monument to abolitionist
and martyr to his cause Elijah Lovejoy, is haunted by Lovejoy's apparition as
well as the ghost of a little girl who is buried nearby. Visitors report cold
spots.
The Oprah Winfrey Show studio, the former Chicago Armory, is
said to be haunted by victims of the 1915 Eastland disaster (hundreds of people
en route to a company picnic died when a ship capsized in the Chicago river).
The building, like so many others in the area, was used as a makeshift morgue.
Employees report phantom sobbing, laughing and footsteps; unexplained ragtime
music has been heard; a security camera is said to have caught a woman in a gray
gown and hat consistent with the 1915 era floating through a hallway. The
footsteps of what sounds like a large crowd of people moving en masse has also
been reported.
110 N Carpenter
In 1955 the bodies of three nude, bound boys were found in a
ditch in this area. Visitors report phantom voices, drums that are reminiscent
of Indian drumming, moans, and the smell of lilacs in the dead of winter.
Phenomena seems to revolve around the left side of the Robinson family monument.
River Road, just north of Lawrence Avenue
This 3000 year old bust from Egypt
recruited a fan club after the June, 2009 death of Michael Jackson. The
female likeness (with most of the nose lost to antiquity) bears an eerie
resemblance to a post-op Jackson in his latter years. (Jackson, incidentally,
hails from nearby Gary, Indiana.) However, the best attraction that was at the
museum, the Jivarro Shrunken Head collection, was removed from public display in
2006.
Formerly a boy scout camp, hunters who visited the area reported
odd disembodied voices, drumming noises, screams, spook lights, and even
apparitions including that of an old woman in the parking lot.
The apparitions of Indians and phantom spook lights have been
reported around these burial mounds.
The Happy Hollow Trail is said to be haunted by Civil War
soldiers and cowboys, and locals say it is eerily devoid of any animals or
wildlife at night. Hwy. 37, one mile S. of Goreville. For more
information, phone (618) 995-2411.
One of the most shameful
historical slave sites in Illinois is in a tiny village named "Equality".
One-legged and sour, Kidnapper John Hart
Crenshaw sits with his super-hot old lady and his crutch
A number of John Hart Crenshaw's descendents deny any wrongdoing on the part
of their long-dead relative, accusing historians and folklorists
alike of a "cruel conspiracy" to "besmirch" their
"good" name, citing a paucity of hard proof pointing to Crenshaw's illicit
activity. On one internet post regarding the house, former owner George Sisk was
accused by an anonymous ranter of "making the whole thing up" and adding the
whipping posts and shackles as props to try and add a horror element to
attract tourists. This is an unlikely scenario.
Built by renowned architect and Egyptologist Frank Shaver Allen,
this notable local piece of architecture has been investigated for spirits as
far back as the 1970's. The architect, as well as an old woman who died in the
home, a nanny, and a little boy are said to haunt; they have reportedly been
seen by various people over the years. Odd, fire-like lights have been seen,
slamming doors, screams and voices have also been reported. The home,
incidentally, was used as a funeral home for many years.
There is a pioneer cemetery here, and reportedly this area was a
local swimming hole. Visitors say that they can hear voices when no one is
around, some of them sounds like a language spoken in "tongues" or
unintelligible. Legend says it is a witch calling out to her coven.
Market & Table Street
A Native American burial site was unearthed on it's
construction; locals in the area say they can hear phantom screams and noises.
Marley Road, one mile north of Route 30
Phelps, who earned his living from trading furs with the local
natives and a lucrative smelting business, kept runaway slaves in this house.
Alexis Phelps and the apparitions of slaves have been seen here.
(footnote: you can also visit the
gravesite of a circus elephant that was hit by lightning in this town)
Abe's ghost is said to walk around this tourist attraction,
which sits where Lincoln's home was when he was a young man.
A ghostly funeral procession is said to appear on midnight of
every July 4th that falls on a Friday. (next is due 2008)
A boy who was killed at a tractor pull is blamed for doors and
that slam themselves shut, and is said to wander about at night. An actor named
"Joe" who was mugged and murdered in a back alley after a performance is also
said to haunt.
If one of you tour owners want to
give me, say, a FREE TOUR or something, for advertising your tour FOR FREE
for like, TEN FREAKIN YEARS now... well - that would be just swell! ~Peg
*Here is a
Time Out Chicago review of four popular Chicago Paranormal tours*
Cairo/Olive
Branch - Shawnee National Forest
Decatur - The
Millikin Homestead Screams can still be heard from the
basement, where dying people were locked in the basement during a flu epidemic.Justice
- Willowbrook Ballroom *see "Resurrection Mary"LaSalle - The
Hegeler-Carus Mansion
This behemoth of a Victorian home, built by the wealthy owner of a chemical
company, is the very picture of a Walt Disney style "haunted mansion". Locals
claim the original owner's apparition appears in the windows, and in some
versions he hangs himself. Reports of apparitions in the adjoining family
graveyard, and of ghostly whispers, children's laughter, and footsteps in the
house are also reported.
Mount Carroll -
Raven's Grin Inn :
Also, "orbs" have been seen floating about. This is besides the many
contraptions that dot the one hour tour. 411 North Carroll St.
1-815-244-GRIN ;
located "behind the True Value and Charlie's Tavern"Medinah - Medinah
Country Club
Utica - Starved
Rock State Park *see aboveWoodstock - The
Bull Valley Police Station (Stickney Mansion)Recently
saved from the wrecking ball by local government, this oddity of a home was
built in the mid 1800's by a couple who were in to "spiritualism" and frequently
held séances in their isolated palace in the great plains. Because of a belief
they held, they had the house built with no 90 degree corners , "so the spirits
wouldn't get stuck in them" or have "a place to hide". The legend says that the
builder left one upstairs corner in the house with a 90 degree angle, and later
Mr. Stickney was found dead in that corner. Most of the haunting stories came
from a resident who bought the then dilapidated home in the 1970's, who claimed
it was "tainted" by "Devil worshippers" and that he had heard unexplained
noises. 1904 Cherry Valley RdMonticello -
Allerton Park / Mansion
This was the country home of Samuel Allerton, one of the founders of the Chicago
Stockyards and the First National Bank of Chicago. The mansion is reportedly
haunted by a "lady in white" who has been identified as a frequent guest to the
estate in life. She has made appearances in one of the guest bedrooms, walking
along the pond behind the home, and pacing in the hallway in front of the room
she has also been seen in.
Alton - Elijah
Lovejoy MonumentChicago - Harpo
Studios Inc.
Chicago -
Robinson Woods (Robinson Reserve)
Morbid
Travel Tip:
Chicago - The
Field MuseumGeorgetown -
Harry "Babe" Woodyard State Natural AreaCollinsville -
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
Near Goreville -
Ferne Clyffe State Park
Equality
- The Crenshaw House/Hickory Hills Mansion ("The Old Slave House")
The house in the 1960's,
courtesy of
this
site
Part of the reason for the massive wealth
was due to the fact the "Salt King of Southern Illinois" was allowed to use
slave labor. Prior to emancipation, there was a law in place allowing businessmen to "import" slaves from slave states into free states like Illinois and use them for
especially miserable tasks (like working in salt mines). Soon, this Illinois entrepreneur found that he could increase his profits by kidnapping free black men and women and selling them back into slavery in the south.
The house is the last standing vestige of a once thriving "reverse
underground railroad" system.
By many accounts Crenshaw also had a side hobby of siring the most virile and strong men with fertile women slaves to produce more slaves to sell.
A man named "Uncle" Bob Wilson, who was known to have been one of the
primary "breeders", was quoted by staff at Elgin State Hospital in 1941
(after he had been picked up in Chicago wandering 'ill and confused' ) as
saying he had been forced to father over 200 children as a stud slave in the
Hickory Hill house as well as others in the south.
2 He died at the Elgin facility in
1948 at age 112, and was Illinois' oldest living veteran at the time of
his death.5,
6
Crenshaw kept his slaves in the third floor attic, shackled in tiny
blood stained stalls ("The attic of this house has twelve small rooms,
ranging in size from nine feet square to six feet by two and one-half feet.
Some of the rooms contain shelves, which may have been used as bunks"
1). The open stalls were used for "breeding" as well as living
quarters. The room itself was likely stifling, with only two windows and
dozens of people crammed together. I don't know if you've ever been in
an attic room in the summer in Illinois, but I can tell you from my parent's
farmhouse and their third story attic, it gets miserably hot and chokingly
muggy. The room was rumored to have secret passages that lead to the main house and the river, to expedite his illicit dealings at night. He took to beating the slaves, sometimes to death.
Brought to trial in 1842, he wasn't convicted on the first count of illegally trading slaves. However, within a short
amount of time he was on trial again, and in a tiny nugget of instant karma, a slave
whacked his leg off with an axe. The slaves rioted and burned down his mill. He died years later and was buried alongside his wife.
After the slave house was opened up for tours in 1926, it soon became the infamous home to sightings of apparitions and the sounds of moaning and chains rattling. One turn of the century
paranormalist named Hickman
Whittington
spent the night there
The Old Slave House is located near the junction of Highway 45 and Highway 13 in Southern Illinois.
It is 14 miles east of Harrisburg. If you're heading east on 13, when you
get to the junction of Route 1, you turn right onto Route 1 and head south
for a little over a mile and it will be on your right, up on a small hill.
Update: The State of Illinois has
purchased the mansion with plans to open it as a state historic site,
and appropriated $150,000 for it's renovation in 2006
4. However as of Feb 2010, spending cuts
and ongoing state financial woes have kept it from opening as of yet. I will
keep you posted ~ed.
Join Facebook group to re-open the Old Slave
HouseJoliet - Patrick
Haley MansionLockport - Runyon
PreserveNew Lenox -
Sanctuary Golf CourseOquawka - Alexis
Phelps House Morbid
Travel Tip: Visit Ahlgrim & Sons Ltd.
Funeral Parlor and Mini-Golf
in Palestine, IL for a few rounds of mini golf
in the basement and an afternoon of impromptu embalming upstairs. 201 N.
Northwest Hwy./Hwy. 14. Call ahead to schedule golf : (847) 358-7411Petersburg - New
Salem Village
Prairie du Rocher
- Fort de ChartresSpringfield -
Prairie Capital Convention Center
Paranormal Tours
Updated for fall 2011
Alton
- Antoinette's Haunted History Tours
Alton
-
Ghosts of the
Prairie Haunted Tours (Troy Taylor used to do a yearly Haunted
Decatur tour as well as Alton - contact the aforementioned website for more
info)Chicago
- Archer Avenue
FREE
Self Guided walking tour app of Haunted Archer Avenue!
For your smart phone 
Chicago
- East
of Midnight with the Undertaker Spectral Shadow
Tours: an Illinois licensed embalmer is your host on this tour!
(Looks like Carl's tour went tits up just like his old customers did. Sorry to
hear it Carl! Send me a new link to run if you get another tour going ~ed.)Chicago
- Chicago Supernatural Ghost Tours by Richard
T Crowe (year round! Offers haunted boat rides as well)Chicagoland:
Haunted Historic Walking Tours
Burr Ridge, Chicago
Ridge, Midlothian, Oak Lawn,
Orland Pk, Joliet, Justice, Willow Springs, Worth, Rockford
and potentially out of state. Book very early
Chicago
- Graceland Cemetery Walking Tour
(October - call {312}642-4600)
"Chicago Haunts" author Ursula Bielski presides over a two hour bus tour
of notorious hauntings (October) (773) 404-2909Chicago
- Ursula
Bielski's Chicago Hauntings ToursChicago
- Excursions
into the Unknown Haunted Chicagoland Tours
with author Dale KaczmarekChicago
-
Supernatural
ChinatownChicago-
Sea Dog
Haunted Chicago River Tour (offers haunted
tours around Halloween, contact for more info)Chicago
-
The Hypocrites Theater
Not technically a ghost tour, but...
(offers "Haunted L Train Ride" in October)
Oh my GOD how freaky and bad ass is this =D !
Decatur
-
Haunted Decatur Tours Elgin
-
Elgin State Hospital Paranormal Tours - a
former state psychiatric facility a'la "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"...Galena
-Annie
Wiggins Bed and BreakfastMacomb
- Haunted History Tours
of Macomb appears to be no more... but thanks to the miracle of
YouTube, you can take a virtual haunted tour of Macomb:Naperville
- (really? uh... Naperville?) Haunted
Naperville Tours, touted as "best haunted
tour in the midwest". This I have to see for myself... wait for a review
soon ~ed.
HAUNTED ILLINOIS THEATERS
Decatur - Lincoln
Theater
Haunted by a stagehand named "Red", who fell to his death here, and in the process ripped his arm off on a railing. People say they feel "cold hands" on them, hear footsteps when no one is there. A woman is said to haunt the balcony, and a ghost named "Alan" is said to cast a strange form over the lights in the seating area. 141 North Main Street tel: 217.855.0555
Decatur - Avon
Theater
The specter of former owner Gus
Constanopoulos has
been seen in the hallways by the administrative offices.
Palestine- The
Fife Opera House.
This once grand opera house has housed many things other than thespians. The odd tenants of this four story building that is currently being renovated have included a tavern, a hardware store, and even a mortuary complete with a morgue! A paranormal investigation team that did research there recorded a woman's voice singing opera for a few seconds, as well as low, mumbly voices over their walkie talkies. Some members captured an apparition on the stairway and some orbs as well. The ground floor is the only one accessible to the public, by appointment apparently. 123--125 S. Main St., Palestine
Chicago - The
Biograph Theater.
Yet another mob related haunting, the alley in which John Dillinger was gunned down by police is said to still be haunted by his specter. 2433-43 N. Lincoln Ave. (across the street from the Red Lion Pub)
Woodstock - The
Woodstock Opera House
One of a legion of celebrated theater ghosts,
"Elvira" is the one who chose to haunt this particular theater. As the
story goes, a young actress of that name threw herself six stories to her doom
from the belfry of the structure. Nowadays, her ghost, with long blond
hair and wearing "a filmy dancing gown", hangs out in seat DD
113 and "comments" on the actors' performances. Also, people claim to hear
her dropping like a stone to the sidewalk outside. 121 Van
Buren Street
Belleville -
Lincoln Theatre
This grand old movie house is said to have ghosts who haunt the
projection booth, main theater stage, and the basement.
Peoria - Bradley
University Theatre
The apparition of a man in a brown suit has been seen, and
people report the smell of men's cologne and cigar smoke.
Antioch - Antioch
Movie Theatre
Staff reports "flood lights" that have turned themselves on then off again, strange noises like banging, and footsteps on the stairs in this grand old movie theater. 378 Lake St
Collinsville -
Miner's Institute Theater
The spirits of two brothers and a young woman haunt the theater.
The brothers killed each other in a fight over ownership of the building, local
legend says. Actors complain that objects will disappear then reappear
elsewhere, and objects have been moved for no apparent reason.
Main st.
Havana - Lawford
Theater
Luckily, someone has reopened this old theater! Visitors have reported cold spots behind the curtains (the theater now shows movies) 225 W. Main Street
Joliet - Rialto
Theater
Said to be haunted by a female spirit. 15 E. Van Buren St
Peoria - Peoria
Players Theatre
A former actor named "Norm" died during a performance, and is
said to be a benevolent spirit here. People have seen his apparition back stage,
and he has lingered in the women's dressing room. He is blamed for toilets that
flush themselves , and coincidentally there is a painting of him in the bathroom.
Rockford -The
Clark Arts Center at Rockford College
Students say that lights flicker, there is haunting piano music,
and footsteps are heard -especially in the dressing rooms, and Cheek and Maddox
Theaters.
Actor
Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum was born January 5, 1910 in
Sandwich, Illinois.
He portrayed Mr. Green Jeans on the hugely popular children's show "Captain
Kangaroo" from (the staggeringly long timeline of ) 1955 to 1984. Remember
Mr
Moose? Remember
Picture Pages?
Lumpy was the focus of an
urban legend that falsely perpetuated the myth that he was the
father of Frank Zappa.
St. Charles -
Arcada Theatre
Odd voices, smells and cold spots are reported by visitors.
Sycamore -
Sycamore State Street Theater
Customers report the sounds of crying and moans coming from the downstairs. 420 W State St
Belleville - The
Pasta House Co.
This former hotel is said to be haunted by the screams of a woman and child who were killed here. 318 E. Washington
Chicago - The Red
Lion Pub
One of the city's old stand by's, as far as haunted places go, the Red Lion serves up a few phantoms along with your Guinness and Shepherd's Pie. Perhaps the only attraction on this site which has had a séance conducted in it on MTV's The Real World, The pub has been home to many, many other things over the years. Including ghosts.
The upstairs ladies room seems to get a lot of attention in things I've read about this pub. Barring that the gal in question hasn't had too many Jager-Bombs, entities are said to appear here. The strong smell of lavender seems to waft from nowhere, as well. The current proprietor says the most strange reactions from visitors happen around a plaque he hung in front of a stained glass window, to honor his dead father who died in England and had no proper tombstone. People are apparently overwhelmed with emotion in this spot. Reader Stan added: "According to the barkeeper, a fight broke out during a card game and a man was stabbed; sometimes you hear the sound of furniture being moved around like a scuffle is taking place. The steak & kidney pie is superb!"
2446 N Lincoln Avenue, Chicago (Lincoln
Avenue just north of Fullerton) 312-348-2695(across
the street from the Biograph Theater)
Chicago
- Hooter's (660 N. Wells)
The jukebox and phones frequently malfunction, and waitresses claim to hear footsteps and voices in the basement storage area.
Highland -
House of Plenty Restaurant
Odd noises and a spook light in the basement are reported at this eatery. 802 9th St
Chicago - Adobo
Grill
Although this popular Nuevo Latino restaurant reports no unusual occurrences today, it was once a paranormal hotspot. Originating as a bread factory in the late 1800's, the building had a series of businesses within it over the years. In the late 1960's, a restaurateur opened "That Steak Joynt", which he filled with priceless antiques that he had collected from all over the city. There were already lovely pieces there left from the bread factory, including a bust of a woman taken from a ship. During this period, the building experienced it's greatest notoriety. Several well publicized séances produced unusual occurrences, including one newspaper reporter getting very ill. Barring the séances, workers who cleaned at night would refuse to come back, unseen hands would shove bartenders and servers, and the bust's facial expression would "change". One barmaid was grabbed by an unseen force and drug to a stairwell - the experience leaving red finger shaped welts on her wrist. There was an oil painting of the dead wife of a wealthy Chicago milk salesman that would make everyone who sat near it feel cold.
Remaining until the early 90's and then sitting empty
for a few years, these days the highly rated and popular yuppie eatery
denies any unusual paranormal activity. Perhaps they're just not
talking... 1610 North Wells
Clarendon Hills -
The Country House Restaurant
This restaurant, which was voted "best hamburger", also has the
distinction of having a ghost. Several years ago, a woman brought her child into
the bar, and seemed flustered. She tried to get the bartender to watch the child
while she took care of something. Fearing she was going to abandon her child, he
refused, and she angrily left. Just up the road she crashed her car and both she
and the child were killed. Employees now complain of seeing a woman's ghost,
especially in an upstairs storage room. Glasses and dishes seem to fly from
shelves and break, and lights turn themselves on and off.
Elgin - Beef
Villa
This local chain restaurant has an Elgin location in which
employees and customers say they experience cold spots, equipment turning itself
on and off, and whispers that are heard with no one around. Local legend says it
is haunted by a young man who was shot and killed in the parking lot in the
1980's.
Elmhurst -
Pizzeria (possibly Edwardo's Natural Pizza?)
This building is said by former employees to be haunted by a woman who hung herself here. A malevolent spirit, the gas was turned on and made the employees sick on one occasion. Other times "she" turned on a basement light, and moved objects in the bar area. This pizzeria is in a "lovely stone manor", and was formerly called "Spaso Speakeasy". Edwardo's is the only pizzeria that I can find in the area that was listed in the account I read ("near the corner of North Avenue and Route 83"), so it might not be the correct business.
ILuvChat49
wrote: "On the note of the Spaso Speakeasy, the
pizzeria was Cottage Stone Inn. Used to go there many times growing up. The last
business that was in there was called Crossroads Bar and Grill, but like the
previous businesses it failed.
What used to be the Ovalatine factory in Villa Park was haunted. I found that
story off Shadowlands. It is now converted to apartments and townhomes."
Thanks!!
Wheaton
- Ivy (formerly '120 Ocean Place')
Stan wrote to me and
said "I spoke with a nearby (same block) Restaurant owner about this. It used to
be a funeral parlor. Rumor has it, lights would be turn off by themselves. It
really freaked the owner out. This is cool because it is the only authentic
haunted house in my town and is still open to the public as a restaurant..."
from old entry : A chapel (see Stan's correction above) that was renovated into an upscale restaurant,
employees say that a presence is felt on the back staircase. The ladies room
also has an apparition that has been seen, and people have heard voices that
call out their name when no one is there. 120 N Hale St
HAUNTED ILLINOIS TAVERNS, CLUBS AND BARS
Berwyn
- Cigars and Stripes
Touted as "a nice place for strange people". Various customers and staff at this bar and comedy club report poltergeist like activity such as barware randomly falling from shelves and flipping themselves into the air, and the phone lifting itself. Noises like a party in the basement have been heard by the proprietor Ronn Vrhel's wife, who found nothing unusual upon investigating the noise. A lost set of keys mysteriously fell "out of nowhere" in front of a group of patrons at the bar. Vrhel said, "The keys slammed off one of the corners and just flew down the bar. I grabbed them and people were saying, 'What was that all about? Where did those keys come from?'" A foggy apparition has been seen by several in a back hallway. The club has been investigated by various clairvoyants and paranormal groups, who have perpetuated such fanciful storytelling as an Al Capone association and a colorful but now dead former owner of the (transplanted from another defunct establishment) antique bar who haunts her old spot. Also of interest is an in-house pro wrestling museum! 6715 W. Ogden
Carpentersville
- Instant Replay Sports Bar
Locals claim that this establishment changes hands oven and over due to the hauntings that occur here. It is said that it is haunted by a former cook who was murdered by her husband. 72 N Kennedy Dr
Chicago -
Webster's Wine Bar
The second floor bar, which was once a brothel, has a male apparition and
sounds of footsteps.
1480 W. Webster.
Chicago/Chinatown
- Tito's (Formerly Ethyl's Party, formerly Tito's On The Edge)
This nightclub was once Coletta's funeral parlor,
cateriung to a mainly Italian neighborhood since the early 1900's. The current
kitchen was once the embalming area and the DJ's area/stage was where the coffin
display was. Patrons, owners and staff say it's haunted, some saying between
karaoke sets they would experince cold spots and other strange phenomena
including electrical anomalies. A bartender and owners the Tito brothers both
claim to have seen apparitions ranging from a smoky cloudlike blob to a full
spectral appearance of a man in a trenchcoat. . .
2600 S. Wentworth Ave
Chicago
- Excalibur Nightclub
The Excalibur Club is a well known Chicago nightclub, and almost everyone who grew up within 100 miles of it and has at any point enjoyed the bar scene has been there once or twice. Just as stately as any of the other old Chicago architecture, its 22 foot ceilings and endless rooms of dance floors and bars have housed many a slicked up, cologned, gelled and primped twenty-something, in search of love or lust or maybe only a stiff drink, a vicodin, and a person to make them feel pretty. Some of the employees of the club say that after the legions of horny dancers have drug themselves out the door, there are a few who stay. That, in fact, may always stay behind. In a perpetual nightclub hell, complete with disco ball and a nightly barrage of lip-glossed hussies fixing their hair in the bathroom mirror.
The building itself apparently sits on the site of the former Chicago Historical Society. When Mrs. O’Leary’s cow tipped over the lantern that fateful night of the Chicago fire in 1871, the building went up along with most of the city, taking with it a few ill fated women who fled inside seeking shelter from the fiery hell outside. Later, a rebuilt Historical Society served as a morgue, as did many other buildings in Chicago, to the 900 dead after the Eastland disaster. The Eastland, packed with most of the employees of the Western Electric Company, capsized in the Chicago River when it became lopsidedly heavy with passengers who were mostly perched on the observation deck of the ship. Their screams are said to still be heard from under the Clark Street Bridge, but that is another story entirely.
Another theory of this haunting is about an original European settler to the area, who lived in the spot on the river where the building now lies. Another land owner wanted this spot, and had him murdered to get it.
Various employees at the club over the years have encountered much odder patrons that the usual dancers and drunks. One bar manager recounted in Haunted Highway, The Spirits of Route 66 (Robson et al) that a former employee left a room which had cases of beer stacked reasonably, awaiting to be stocked in coolers. When he returned a few minutes later, the cases were perfectly lined up, and stacked up to the vaulted ceiling, with no one else or any ladders in sight. The manager disbelieved the employee until he walked in one day to find a 500 pound statue perched atop a stack of chairs. Other bizarre occurrences, including a teddy bear balancing perfectly on a steep ledge 25 feet up, candles re-lighting themselves after closing time and cries and screams from the empty downstairs bathrooms have been reported.
The “Dome Room” seems to be a particular hotspot, frequently setting off burglar alarms when no one is there. On a recent episode of The Scariest Places on Earth (Fox Family television series), a psychic tried for three hours on a Ouija board to contact the three suspected spirits of Excalibur, to no avail. The Eastland disaster, says psychics and paranormal investigators, produced a tuxedoed elderly gentleman and a little girl. The Great fire, they say, gave the Excalibur the eternal soul of a woman in red. She was once captured in a Polaroid flitting past a window.
So
next time you’re trying to impress the opposite sex at 3 AM in the Excalibur,
think about this while you nurse your margarita: The
bar stool next to you might not be empty at all. 632 N Dearborn Chicago, IL
Chicago
- The Red Lion Pub see
above
Des Plaines -
Galaxy Club
At the juice bar, it is said that you can hear people calling your name when
no one is there. The puck of the air hockey game moves itself, and after close
loud crashing sounds are heard inside the empty club. Spooklights are also
reported. 9225 Golf Rd.
A
reader wrote : "The Galaxy club in Des Plaines, has been torn down for at
least a year now. Quite probably longer." After a glance at Google Maps there
appears to be a Citgo station or a strip mall in the spot, probably both new
structures.
LaSalle - The
Ninth Street Pub
The Ninth Street Pub in LaSalle has been a popular
tavern and restaurant since the late 60's or early 70's. In it's early days the
small pub was closely situated to a residential home of an elderly Mrs.Sonnenburg. According to the pub's proprietor, John Ebner, the lady absolutely
hated the fact that the oft noisy tavern was next door, and she made it very
clear up until she passed away in the mid 70's. He said he helped her with odd
jobs and was a friendly neighbor, but the widow abhorred the noise from the
tavern that frequently hosted area musicians.
One day she went into a bedroom closet and had some sudden illness, perhaps a stroke, who knows. She fell ill, and was wedged inside the closet, her body pressed against the closet door that, by the way, was built to swing into the closet for some reason. She was found an indeterminate amount of time after she died, still in the closet -- it seems that if she could've cried out that no one could've heard her from the street.
It seems she is still unhappy, even in the next life. The old
woman's home was purchased by Ebner, and it was made into an addition with
restrooms and pool tables. Recently a young bartender walked into the then empty
area of the bar that once housed the disgruntled neighbor. He heard an old woman
say "What in the hell are you doing here?"; when he turned there was
no one to be seen. Later, the shaken bartender, who was far to young to remember
the old neighbor woman, asked the owner "Did somebody used to live in this
bar?" It sounds like somebody or something still does. And she's reeaally
pissed that no one helped her out of that closet, I bet.
The walls of the pub are scarred by decades of band's fliers stapled to the
paneling, and the "vintage" 70's stuff has actually been there since the 70's,
not purchased on Ebay. I've been there dozens of times, and have seen some
freaky stuff, but never a ghost. But don't ask me, because I'm sure I was
well acquainted with Mr Jagermeister and Mr. Miller Lite each and every time.
253 9th St. LaSallemaybe you'll see a ghost between sets
(Thanks to proprietor John Ebner for the info) Update 2008: They got rid of the
macramé 1970's vintage stuff. Bummer.
Macomb - Top of
the Town Tavern
The basement is said to have strange activity that terrifies staff. 8 W Side Sq
Thornton
- Widow McCleary's Pub &
Grill -
One of countless establishments to link their 15 minutes of fame to the late Alphonse Capone, Widow McCleary's Pub & Grill is not unlike a lot of old brew houses in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, in that bootleggers supplied booze to the eagerly awaiting masses back in the prohibition days here. Although scoffed at by the local historical society, the pub's employees blame the dead men who crossed Scarface for the strange things that happen there. People report a haze that sets in the old brewery's basement, as well as strange noises. 400 E Margaret St. (2 miles West of Wampum Lake) (708) 877-7011
Willow Springs -
The Irish Legend (Formerly O Henry's Roadhouse, O Henry's II,
Cavallone's West Pizzaria, Rico D's, Frankie's Pizza Roadhouse, Stag's Head
Irish Country Pub )
This establishment is located across from the notorious Willow- Brook Ballroom, of the Resurrection Mary legend., and is on the edge of the Cook County Forest Preserve, which no doubt has concealed countless atrocities and generally bad things. Rumored to be one of Al Capone's speakeasies, "there were several tunnels built out from the basement. One led to a mausoleum, one to the woods behind the building, and one which was built under the road to the ballroom dance hall across the street, which had a full casino in its basement." The roadhouses along this stretch of road were numerous during prohibition, and readily stocked with liquor. The building was also a brothel. At one point in the more recent past it was a biker bar. The ghosts of whores who worked there and mafia hit men are said to haunt. Apparitions have been seen, and customers experience cold spots, and felt as if someone was touching them when no one was near. A colorful, racy past has given way to a tamer, more gentle (gentrified, if you will) Chicago pub: the sort of establishment that serves "Moon Mountain Gluten-Free Vodka". Well Lah-Dee-Dah..
Paranormal history tours are
given on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 8pm and 9pm, with the in-house
"Paranormal Host and Entertaining Psychic Reader" for a mere $10.
Call (708)330-5264
for more info.
8933 S Archer Ave. .Special
thanks to
this site
HAUNTED ILLINOIS ROADS, PARKS, AND BRIDGES (If any of the content from
the following links seems oddly familiar to anyone... much is from my old "Sancho's Illinois Valley Ghosts" page.
Since 1998 it has been pillaged and ransacked by various plagiarising jackasses
who gave me no credit for doing the initial legwork for many of the Central
Illinois stories. Cest La Vie. Such is the life of an internet hobby folklorist. ~Peg)
Deep in Mennonite country, locals report a ghostly woman with a
lantern along the tracks here.
Jackie wrote, "...a place north of
Arlington, Illinois. There is supposed to be family graves in the front yards of
old abandoned houses in the middle of nowhere. The last haunted place I have
heard of is called Ghost Tracks. If you go out there at a certain time you will
hear a train feel wind going by like a train is passing through but there is no
train in sight. I also heard that sometimes the ghost train will stop and ghosts
will come out to haunt you. A friend of mine said he went out there and he
didn't believe it would happen so he put pennies and nickels on the tracks. Sure
enough they heard a train coming and felt the breeze of a oncoming train but
there was no train. But on the tracks all of the coins were flattened. We tried
finding it once but my friend couldn't remember how to get there."
Arlington is a tiny village in north central IL that is between Cherry and
LaMoille, just north of I 80 This building, who has the distinction of holding a rare
recording session for such Blues legends as "Sonny Boy" Williamson, Tampa Red,
and Bill Broonzy in it's "Sky Room" ballroom in the 1930's, also has the
distinction of being the leaping off point for every suicidal asshole for a
hundred miles, it seems. Those who took a 21 story swan dive into the Fox river
below are said to still haunt the place, with such complaints from live guests
as rotten smells and moaning noises in the elevators. The
Leland is not, as far as I know, open right now - but is on the National
Register of Historic Buildings for it's association with the Chicago Blues. (I
don't have an address, but the building remains the tallest in the town.)
Oddly enough, a 1958 Lincoln Continental is said to appear,
flanked by women wearing clothing from the 1950's - then the whole scene
vanishes into thin air.
The ghosts of two boys and a girl are spotted along this road
late at night
Local legend says a crazy man killed a bunch of children in this
park, and today visitors can hear their terrified screams echoing through the
woods.
The crumbling walls of the Peoria State Hospital for the
Incurable Insane in Bartonville, IL has seen it's share of scary shit. This
infamous local rat infested Gothic delight served the insane of the fine state
of Illinois from 1902 until 1972. One of the many crumbling homages to the dark
ages of mental health treatment, Bartonville has no doubt housed everything from
the unfortunate housewife suffering from depression (with a less than
understanding spouse), to the stark raving mad and untreatable schizophrenic who
met his match in the form of a lobotomy pick.
Formerly the "Mennonite Hospital", the 3rd floor is said to have
a room at the end of the hallway that has the lingering smell of death that
won't go away, and a call light that constantly malfunctions and beeps when no
one is in the room. Reportedly add noises come from the room, and it can no
longer be used because of all the odd occurrences.
59 year old bank janitor
Aura Troyer is cited in
Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century
In tiny Funk's Grove, along historic rte 66,
a sasquatch lurks - according to several eye-witnesses. In a 2006 article by
The Chicago Reader, the tiny burg, known for its delicious maple
syrup (apparently invented right here in Central Illinois by a lucky Indian
squaw, according to
this site) and the
Funk Prairie Home and Gem Museum, was rattled by the
fleeting appearances of a 7 plus foot tall hairy biped that smelled of
rotting meat. Local mall cop Chris Vielhak and his father Tom claim to have
had a close up encounter as well as several other brief glimpses of the
mystery ape. Chris even claimed that something large attacked his car when
he was coming home from work one night - scraping up his paint job and
rattling it down to the axles.
As local legend tells it, a distraught farmer's wife
methodically killed her five children by decapitation in her front yard in 1907.
Stark raving mad since the untimely death of her husband from a respiratory
ailment, she then set her house aflame and blew her own head off. The house was
supposedly on a curve outside of this tiny farm town, and at 10:27 PM the widow
can be seen standing next to a post on the curve where her house was.
Cambridge is in northwestern Il, southeast of Moline
I don't know if someone assigned an essay on ghosts in a
school near Canton, Illinois, recently, but I received these stories from
two separate readers on the same day: Danielle
wrote: "This is a true occurrence that happens every night at
midnight, in Canton IL. Crybaby's bridge is east on Soon thereafter, Jennifer wrote:
"There is a road here in Canton called blackjack which, I know from firsthand, is haunted. There are several stories that I have heard of but I know
for sure that one is true. Ok, this is the one legend that I know is true:
On Halloween night at exactly twelve midnight you follow the winding
gravel road to the first bridge you get to but don't get out of your
vehicle. If you turn your lights off and your car lock your doors and role
windows up and listen really close and you can hear a baby crying. The
legend is that a young woman threw her newly born baby into the creek and
watched it drown. This story takes place back in the early 1900's. There
are a few other stories about this road that I don't know very well but I
have heard the baby cry. I bout shit my pants when I actually heard that
too. You get there by going to canton and following 11th Ave. to the north
thru the country a lil bit until you get to cypress and you turn right on
that road (turn away from the town lights) and follow it as far as it goes
till it turns into a gravel road. There you are on Blackjack. Ask any teen
in canton they will tell you the stories. Oh and one more pointer don't get
out of your car if it breaks down. Bad things happen to those who do. If
you ever break down: lock doors, role windows up and DON'T get out, and
DON'T go alone..." Thanks Jennifer and Danielle!
This nifty park has a merry go round, in front of which one
family reported apparitions appearing in photographs.
The YMCA on Church street has had reports of cold spots, lights turning off
and on by themselves, strange noises, and the doors on third floor opening and
closing by themselves. Balls have rolled themselves down the steps.
Chesterville, Illinois is a very small village that
does not appear on any map. It is located just west of Arcola, in the heart of
Illinois Amish country. Most of the inhabitants of the small town are of the
Mennonite faith, living without benefit of electricity or modern conveniences.
Alton - Church 
My friend
Jen took this picture in a church on a "ghost tour" in
Oct, 99 in Alton, IL. The story behind the church was that aminister who was to be wed a month later hung himself from a rafter many years
ago (they had actual newspaper clippings so
that part
wasn't bull). The lady who spoke to us had been a member of that church for
years, and she
vehemently testified that she had, among other things, heard
"parties" going on in the empty basement when she was alone there, that doors
had locked themselves (the old fashioned kind that you have to maneuver and turn
a key to lock) and that a evil presence from several pews behind the "smoke" in
the picture had terrified her enough to get the hell out -- twice. Other members
of the congregation reported similar stories; one couple, while picking out
their wedding invitations, experienced double doors to the outside fly open on a
perfectly calm day. I was convinced that they were sincere. This is the only
picture out of a roll taken on the 5 hour tour that produced the odd "smoke" you
see. I never had any other pictures turn out this way from this camera, that I'd
had 3-4 years before taking the photo; no one was smoking in the room. It's the
only one Jen took-- maybe I just don't interest spirits...
There are two reasons I didn't give the location of the church... #1 I
don't like to steer people into places to gawk and take pictures that really
don't ask for that kind of attention, and #2 I honestly can't fucking
remember the name of the church after 6 years... sorry! But it IS a pretty
good ghost story, don't ya think?Arcola - Railroad
DepotArlington - Ghost
Tracks
Aurora - Leland
Tower Hotel
Aurora - Mount
Olivet Cemetery
Algonquin -
Square Barn Road
Bartlett -
Sunrise Park
Bartonville -
Peoria State Hospital for the Incurable Insane
The most famous story to come from Bartonville has become a little bit
legendary, and you may have heard it before. This place is where it originated.
A male patient who was called "Bookbinder", (whether it was a nickname or his
surname, no one now knows) would stand against an elm tree in the hospital
cemetery during each and every burial, and sob loudly for the deceased - if he
knew them or not. He spent his life at the hospital, and eventually died there
also. He was popular with the staff, and hundreds of them showed up to pay their
respects at his burial. As the story goes, when they lowered Bookbinder into his
grave, a moan was heard from the nearby elm. When people looked up, including
the celebrated head of medical staff Dr. George Zeller, they saw Bookbinder,
clear as day, leaning against the elm and sobbing. Zeller ordered the casket
opened, as he didn't believe his eyes. Of course, there lay Bookbinder - stiff
as a board. As they opened the casket, some reported that the apparition at the
tree faded away. Soon after the funeral the elm died, and when they took an axe
to it to cut the dead tree down, it "moaned", so they stopped. They decided then
to burn it, and the moans were so pitiful during the burning, that they
extinguished it. It is said to still stand among the graves.
The ghost of Bookbinder is said to have "appeared in front of 100 nurses and 300
spectators, according to the medical journal of Dr. George Zeller". * (Zeller
made reforms at the facility, and the newer mental health facility built in
nearby Peoria was named after him). Local ghost hunter Rob Conover went through
the crusty old hospital with a Peoria Journal Star reporter on two separate
nights in 1998, and the article claimed such phenomena as cold spots, "howling"
noises, the sounds of footsteps chasing them, unusual equipment failure, a faint
white glowing "thing" on a stairwell, and a greenish to white glowing spook
light. Take rte 24 to Pfeiffer Road. Although some of the
outbuildings of the facility have been renovated into warehouses and the like,
the main building and cemetery are heavily patrolled and trespassers into the
building are frequently arrested. To reach the
cemetery, you come up the hill approaching with the hospital on your right ,you
will take a left at a street that cuts through what used to be I think the
nurses quarters, it runs to a dead end; at the dead end is a new business with
huge trucks, look to you left, you'll see a little dirt/gravel path that's the
entrance to the cemetery. Do not visit the cemetery after dusk.Laura added: "There's
an abandoned asylum in Bartonville Peoria Illinois. I'm sure you've heard of it.
The hospital itself is practically impossible to enter, so me & my friends
decided to find the cemeteries instead, (we figured it s public, for the course
its a public cemetery. We explored all around the hospital just looking at it is
scary in itself, maybe entering isnt the best thing we thought. There are some
huge hills along side of the building , we decided to go down one, we went not
even 5 ft in front of us down on t he hill, and it started to rain, no you can
only imagine how difficult it is to climb up a dirt hill, especially since it s
raining, it was hard but we all finally made it up, upon my last friend climbing
up, he had found what appeared to be a femur bone of some sort? We are not sure
if it was a human leg bone or that of an animal, all i can say in my opinion, it
certainly didnt look the size of a animal bone. So needless to say we never made
it to the cemeteries down the hill. Since we weren't goin in the hospital we
went to the outside brickyard, it is enormous, all the bricks are very bright
red still, me & my friend found ourselves crouching in the corner after hearing
running footsteps in the brick yard, then it stopped. So we ran out of there of
course lol. We decided on one last trip up to the porch in front of the
hospital, big mistake. As we took our first step onto the porch its was very
creeky & old , we went to see if the front door would open......it did indeed,
only but half way my friend was budging it, when the door slammed shut! Iv e
never ran soo fast in my life. So anyone wanting to explore this hospital, be
very careful, i know you may want to enter it, but please dont, cops are always
watching it, we got lucky. Most of the windows & doors are sealed shut w/ metal
sheets. Just being around the hospital is enough to scare you trust me, go for
the cemeteries & the crying tree , if you d like to know more about the crying
tree there, look up Bartonville sanitarium, there will be a story of old
bookbinder the patient and grave digger for that hospital, and remember be safe!
An watch them hills. Enjoy!" Thanks, Laura!Barrington - Cuba
Road and White Cemetery
Legendarily eerie to locals, they say that phenomena such as white spook lights,
a phantom house, a ghostly hitch hiker, a black car that disappears, and the
apparition of an old woman with a lantern are some of the oddities on Cuba road
in this wealthy north western suburb of Chicago.Bloomington -
BroMenn HospitalBloomington
and Bolingbrook - Spontaneous Human CombustionBloomington
(Funk's Grove/McClean) - Bigfoot Sightings Cambridge
- the "Death Curve"Canton - Cry Baby Bridge
cypress street, past the gravel.
A long time ago, around the 1900s, there was a small
family of 3 living in the woods near what is Canton IL
today. There was a father, a mother, and a smallgirl. One day the girl was out picking flowers, and
she drowned in a nearby river. The family grievedterribly over her death, and they abandoned their
house in the woods and burnt it to the ground. About
20 years after her death, strange occurrences started
happening. Around midnight, every night, people would
report seeing a white transparent figure walking
through the river that the small girl drowned in. And
every Halloween night, somehow a replica of the house
the small family lived in is rebuilt, and burnt to theground."Centralia -
Foundation ParkCentralia
- Anomalous Large Feline
In 1971, Howard Baldrige claimed to have seen a large cat east of
town on Route 161. He described in as yellow with short legs, about
twice the size of a large tomcat: "a shrunken lion... with a face like
something on television"
(From
Weird America
Champaign - YMCA
Chesterville -
"Witch's Grave"
She died at a very young age and her father surrounded the grave with an iron
fence and planted a small sapling next to the grave. Over the years, the top of
her grave marker has vanished and the tree has grown quite large, swallowing the
iron fence completely on one side. Legends say that the spirit of the young girl
has been seen near her grave on certain nights of the year.
Chesterville is located just west of Arcola, Illinois. The cemetery can be found
by turning north at Chesterville and then taking the fork in the road to the
right. Follow that road across the bridge to the cemetery. FYI: People used to plant trees over the graves of their loved
ones
to prevent desecration of the grave by grave robbers (who would sell the remains
to doctors and scientists)
Chicago - Clark
Street Bridge
Victims of the 1915 Eastland disaster are occasionally reported to police as "luminous and floating" in the river below the bridge. Screams are heard.
Chicago/Plano/Lansing/Dalton
City/Rock
Island/Enfield - Kangaroos Amuck
Recently discovered UPDATE: (from Wikipedia) "In the winter of 2005, a kangaroo mysteriously appeared hopping around in the snow on farmland just west of Dodgeville (Wisconsin). The story was carried in news outlets throughout the country, including the Chicago Tribune and MSNBC. No one knew where the kangaroo had come from. A few days after the kangaroo first appeared, it was captured in a barn west of town and taken to the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin. Attempts to find the owner of the kangaroo were unsuccessful, and to this day no one has any idea who owned the kangaroo and how it turned up in the snows of southwestern Wisconsin. The kangaroo still resides at the Henry Vilas Zoo."
update 8/18/11
In April 1973 in Enfield, IL a man named Henry McDaniel shot at an animal
that was scratching at his door and frightening his young children. He shot
"several times" at the animal, which was described as being about five feet
tall with "a short trunk, three (?) legs, two short little arms and large
pink eyes". Apparently Henry was a terrible shot, because after hissing at
the man, the creature "bounded away in leaps". Illinois state police who
investigated found tracks “like those of a dog, except they had six toe
pads.” The odd occurrence spurred several more sightings in the area, and
McDaniel himself claims to have seen the creature again along the same
railroad tracks it had fled days before, after he shot at it. Other
eyewitnesses in the area said it had a leap that would cover 20 to 40 feet
in one bound, and even claimed it killed a dog.
Chicago
- Clark Street.
Between the horrific capsizing of the mighty Eastland on the Chicago river in the 1911 that killed hundreds and hundreds of people, and the legacy of the mafia, Clark street can't hide from it's infamous past.
When the steamer The Eastland capsized it became one of the worst mass transit disasters in history. Carrying an overload of Western Electric employees and their families to a company picnic on July 24th, 1915, the exact cause of its' capsizing is still being debated. The local homes and businesses along Clark and LaSalle street were turned into makeshift morgues for the literal piles of corpses from the disaster (including The Excalibur Club and Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios, formerly the Chicago Armory). Cleanup and burials of the 835 victims took weeks. The dead stunk up the muggy summer air with their decay before anything could be done with the carnage.
Skip forward to Valentine's Day, 1929 at a garage on 2122 N. Clark. Six men and a German Shepard lay dead. One man lay dying. He mutters to the police "nobody shot me" before being hauled in the meat wagon to the nearest hospital to die. This was the way Al Capone did business, and the papers did their best to show it, publishing the pictures of bullet ridden men missing half of their head from Cairo to Rockford.
The aftermath of these two famous Chicago tragedies have left some ghost stories. People claim to still hear screams from the Clark Street Bridge, where the Eastland sank. Various reports of haunted houses along the street, from the temporary morgues, have been whispered at neighborhood bars on Halloween. As for the garage, it was torn down. The bricks were hauled away. One man who stockpiled some of the brain splattered and bullet riddled bricks to sell to morbid souvenir seekers claims that they have ruined his life, that he is a cursed man. Now the grassy lawn of a nursing home, the area is said to be haunted. Not by any of the slaughtered Bugs Moran gang, but by a phantom German Shepard.
Chicago - Chicago
Water Tower.
This historic landmark, built to resemble a Medieval castle to symbolize the city's strength, the tower was one of the few survivors of the great Chicago fire. An apparition of a man is said to be spotted peeking from the windows. Michigan and Chicago Avenues
Chicago
- O'Hare International Airport-
Chicago Tribune reported : "A flying saucerlike object hovered low over O'Hare International Airport for several minutes before bolting through thick clouds with such intense energy that it left an eerie hole in overcast skies, said some United Airlines employees (as many as 12) who observed the phenomenon." The incident happened on November 7th, 2006. It was quickly dismissed as bullshit by an official United Airlines spokesperson , but "the Federal Aviation Administration said its air traffic control tower at O'Hare did receive a call from a United supervisor asking if controllers had spotted a mysterious elliptical-shaped craft sitting motionless over Concourse C of the United terminal." No controllers reported seeing anything anomalous.
Chicago - Board
Options Exchange (CBOE) In 1979 two traders got into such a violent fight over a trade that one ended
up dying next to the fountain outside the exchange. Cleaning crews at night
report the sounds of arguing men when there is no one around.
400 S. LaSalle Street
Chicago
- Pennies From Heaven
In December 1975, one dollar bills rained
from the sky over LaSalle Street, $588 of which was returned to police.
(Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century
Collinsville -
Keebler Road
A mansion that was on this road used to hold slave auctions in the basement.
(The home has since burned down.) Locals say that the apparitions of women
carrying baskets on top of their heads like slave women used to would walk
between this house and a nearby cemetery.
Crete - Roads and
Woods
In a story very similar to the "Ax Man" folklore from Spring Valley, the Crete story says the man murdered his whole family, hanging them on meat hooks in his butchering shed in the 1970's. Police ended up gunning him down in the nearby woods. The bridge and woods are said to be haunted by the spirits of the family. On Monee Road, a girl is said to haunt, and people have heard blood curdling screams. On Sangamon Road, the apparitions of a woman and child have been reported, usually on rainy nights.
Crystal Lake -
Barnes & Noble
This corporate chain bookstore occupies a piece of land that local folklore says was willed to a church by an old woman, specifically to be used for a school. Employees say that carts roll themselves around, and even report seeing an old woman in the storage room. 5380 Northwest Hwy
Crystal Lake -
McHenry County YMCA
This area was in the recent past farm land that has been engulfed by the
suburbs in the last 20 years. Folklore says that a farmer killed his family in
a house near here, and people report the sounds of screams from the YMCA
parking lot.
Crystal Lake -
Covered Bridge Trails
A stream that runs through the area has reports of spook lights. Walkup Rd. N. 0.6 miles from jct with IL176 in Crystal Lake to the bridge at 5000 Walkup Av
Danville - Hungry
Hollow Road
The road got it's name by children that starved to death here during the great depression when a snowstorm cut them off from their parents one winter. Locals say that you can hear voices saying "food, please" and "food".
Des Plaines -
Trailer Court
I was listening to WGN last night - Halloween night, and they had Richard Crowe as a guest. Crowe, a Chicago ghost hunter whose tours have been around for years and years, was talking about local haunts.
On May 25, 1979, a DC-10 left Chicago O'Hare International Airport bound for Los Angeles. A publisher's convention was about to commence there, and a lot of the 271 passengers were writers, publishers, etc. Two of Playboy Magazine's editors were on board. None of them were to reach LA.
(left
- the remains of the DC -10)
The jet fuel bloated plane hurdled toward the end of the runway, and just after takeoff, an engine plummeted off of one wing and skidded to a halt in some dirt at the end of the runway. The DC-10,
fatally disabled by the loss of it's engines, and now impossible to steer by Capt. Walter Lux, crashed into a field adjacent to a trailer court in Des Plaines, IL. A mushroom cloud of flames shot above the city like a canopy, and was said to have been higher that the peak altitude the plane had achieved. The sheer blistering heat kept firefighters and paramedics at bay, unable to combat the inferno that engulfed all 271 on board and 2 on the ground. Until Sept 11, 2001, it was the worst airline disaster in the United States.
My ears perked up while driving home; Mr. Crowe had to be going somewhere with this one. None of his other stories had ever let me down.
There is a training facility for police dogs where the field was. Did I mention the trailer court across the street? Well, apparently it's still there after all these years. And some of the residents say that so are the passengers of American
Airlines fight 191 to Los Angeles International Airport.
A woman called the show and asked Crowe if he remembered talking to her a few years before on the phone. She had called in to tell him about going to the trailer court to pick up a friend's child for school and the heat inexplicably would drop to a chill in her car, regardless of how warm it was before entering the gates. She had gotten him interested in the place, which he later investigated further and said is now writing a book about.
On his investigations, he said he found accounts of flickering lights, not unlike the light of a flashlight but with no apparent source. One person accounted that there was a indentation, a butt-print, if you will, on their sofa that had visited one particularly uncomfortable evening.
Crowe's best account was of people who said that they would hear a knock at the door and find no one there - not so strange until he talked to those who had greeted people who knocked at their door, carrying luggage and babbling about a connecting flight that they needed to catch... then would turn and run away.
All I can think is how sorry I feel for these poor people. If you buy a big old musty house to restore, then dealing with ghosts may be part of the bargain. If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself in life living in a trailer at the end of the
O'Hare runway, you shouldn't have to deal with ghosts, too.
Douglas County -
Country Road
Between Tuscola and Oakland is an area where local say a ghostly
girl runs in front of cars; an impact is felt, but there is no one there upon
inspection. The area is called "the lost 40" because an area of it won't show up
on any GPS systems due to a geological anomaly.
Decatur -
Greenwood Cemetery
During the civil war, a trainload of confederate soldiers en route to a Chicago prison camp caught the yellow fever and died. They flopped them all (and some that weren't even quite dead, allegedly) in a mass grave along the tracks in Decatur - now a hill in the Greenwood cemetery. Orbs are frequently caught on film here, and ghostly soldiers have been seen walking the grounds. A weeping woman is seen sitting on some steps, then fades into nothingness - always at dusk. Oh, and by the way - Decatur was built on one huge sacred Indian burial ground. Greenwood cemetery is located in south Decatur, just west of rte 51
Decatur - The
Third Floor Above Bell's Jewelry Store
Supposedly the "most haunted place in Decatur", this abandoned upstairs living
space once occupied a whorehouse and speakeasy during prohibition. The current
jewelry store owner has had his alarm set off, and found all the cases opened
during the night-- with nothing missing. The sounds of loud footsteps and
talking come from the 3rd floor, and an electrical worker working on the lines
allegedly heard the same sounds and the whirling of a "roulette wheel". The
space has been unused since that time, the walls still plastered with the pinups
of "flappers" from magazine ads. 112 E. Prairie Street
East Peoria -
Cole Hollow Road
In
1972 a "monster" Nicknamed "cohomo" (not kidding lol) or the Cole Hollow
Road Monster was spotted in this area, and reportedly some "tracks" were found
of this "Bigfoot" like biped. The story sparked such a nerve with locals,
that Tazewell County Sheriff's deputies had to deal with dozens of local
ya-hoo's, all packing shotguns and the like, as they formed a Bigfoot lynch mob
and flooded the woods on July 27, 1972. Other phenomena on this road
includes spook lights and rocks that fly from the woods.
Elmhurst - Train
Tracks
The locals say a phantom man with a lantern haunts a train track in this 'burb.
Fillmore/Bingham
- Abandoned Church
East of Fillmore is an abandoned church and cemetery that are said to have phantom piano music, loud unexplained noises, and drum beats from a nearby ancient Indian burial ground
Freeport/
Caledonia/Overland/Alton - modern day Pterodactyl
On April 9th, 1948 a "monster bird" larger "than
an airplane" put on an aerial show above the farms and highways in the Freeport
and Caledonia area, with several passersby reporting sightings of a creature that
"kept circling and banking in a way that (I'd) never seen a plane perform".
Similar sightings were reported in Longview, Washington on the same date. Later
that month on the 24th, retired US Army Colonel Walter F Siegmund reported an
enormous bird "the size of a small pursuit plane" near Alton, IL, so large as to
cast shadow over two houses at once, as it was "aviating at about 500 feet
(above)". Several other residents reported the same, including two local
policemen. One stated he mistook it for a glider until it flapped its wings.
Interestingly enough, Alton is the site of the Piasa bird painting/petroglyph -
a relic of the local Illini tribe painted on the side of an enormous cliff that
was first reported by explorers Marquette and Joliet. Local folklore claimed a
man-eating "demon" "thunderbird" entity would appear to them here to signal
oncoming rain and in answer to their prayers. Today, the Piasa bird is the local
high school's
mascot. Various sightings of
Pterosaurs and Kongamatos have been documented in modern times all over the
globe.
(From Weird America
The Piasa bird petroglyph in Alton, IL was "restored" in 1934 and greatly embellished (plus painted on backwards) by non-native settlers after the original (see Marquette's sketch) was blown into oblivion by some greedy bastards who were quarrying the rocks there.
Havana - Park
District Gymnasium
In the recent past a young man was reportedly accidentally locked in the bathroom and died there. His apparition has been seen playing basketball late at night, and people have heard screams for "help".
Hinsdale
- Katherine Legge Memorial Park
The lodge, which can be rented as banquet
space, is supposedly fraught with the sounds of footsteps and dragging
noises from the upper floor at night.5901
S. County Line Road
Hoffman Estates -
Shoe Factory Road
The ghosts of little children are said to be spotted near the
lake along this road. An old grain silo where a man jealously murdered his wife
is said to be bitter cold even in the scorching summer heat, as well.
From Hoffman Estates, take Hwy. 72 (Higgins Road West to Shoe
Factory Road (just west of Barrington Road)
Joliet
- Joliet Correctional
(not to be confused with Stateville in nearby Crest
Hill)
Now the
judge he pleaded, clerk, he wrote it down
Mmmm mmmm
Judge he pleaded, clerk, he wrote it down
That if I miss jail sentence now, must be Joliet bound
~"Joliet Bound", performed by
Memphis Minnie
Joliet Correctional is located smack in
the middle of Joliet. It was constructed by prisoners in the 1850's and soon
found use as a prison for Confederate POW's and common criminals alike. The
annex area was constructed later as use for a woman's facility, and served
in that purpose until the 1930's when Dwight Correctional (the state women's
prison) in Dwight was completed. After the women's annex was cleared, that
building was used to house the wordt sex offenders in the state.The prison
had no plumbing until the 1940's. Until then, prisoners in the 4' wide cells
utilized a slop bucket.
The architecture of the facility in both
Joliet and Dwight are in a stunning medieval castle style, built of cream
colored limestone.
After the 1960's the primary use of Joliet
Correctional was to process maximum security criminals who had been
sentenced until there was a spot in various other state facilities. For a
month, every hardened criminal was thrown together in this building until
they could be transferred elsewhere. Two of my brothers have worked a
cumulative 40 plus years in the Illinois prison system, and I have heard
their stories. You do not want to end up in some potpourri mix of Illinois
prisoners for one hour let alone one month.
The prison closed in
2002. The city of Joliet is currently trying to find investors to use the
unusual structure, which lies on old route 66, for tourism. Ideas have
ranged from a park to a paintball arena. In October, one can attend a
haunted house attraction in the area (Lockport) that is called "Stateville
Haunted Prison". It is not located at either of the actual prisons.
Visitors report a basic feeling of dread or uneasiness. There are scattered
reports of cell doors clanging shut (or at least the sound of that...). When
the prison was still operating, the prison cemetery was "haunted" by a
whistling ghost. Later, the story was debunked as a bored guard who had a
particularly lonely post, who decided to screw with some people.
Justice/Willow
Springs -
Archer Avenue along the Cook County Forest Preseve
Willow
Springs is built on an area geologists refer to as Mt. Forest Island, and was a
burial ground for native tribes before Europeans settled here.
Archer
Ave. skirts along the edge of the Cook County Forest Preserve.
No Illinois ghost page would be complete without the infamous story of the phantom lady hitchhiker. Resurrection Mary is a story as old as it gets, as far as ghost stories go. At the Resurrection Cemetery in Justice, Illinois, there is a piece of fence that bears the impression that two hands left a permanent mark, like the sear marks on a steak, right in the wrought iron bars. No one can deny the assumption that Mary left them there.
Marie Bregovy was a lively young young woman in 1934. She liked to take a ride down Archer Avenue every chance she could to go dancing at the O'Henry Ballroom (now the Willow-Brook Ballroom) One cold Chicago evening, however, a horrible car accident took Mary away from her dancing, and from this life. At least for a while. Five years after Mary was laid to rest in Resurrection cemetery, an unsuspecting young man was driving along Archer Avenue when he spotted a young, blonde hitchhiker along the road. He picked her up, more than willing to give her a ride to the dance hall. As they passed the iron gates of the cemetery, she vanished completely from the passenger seat. He was the first of many to tell a similar tale.
Mary has made appearances often over the years. Some even claimed to have danced with her at the ballroom, now called Willowbrook. Her dress never changes, and some of her rides have described her as wearing "old fashioned" clothes, or at the very least not wearing enough to combat the frigid Chicago winter winds. Her face has become nondescript over the years, with each new sighting of her describing her face as a black empty spot.
This excellent account of activity at Resurrection Cemetery is from "Find A Grave":
"In the summer of 1976, the Justice police received a phone call from a man who said that he saw a girl locked in the cemetery after hours. It was 10:30 PM when Sergeant Pat Homa responded to the call. Homa shined his flashlight through the cemetery bars into the darkened burial grounds. He didn't find any girl. He did find two of the bars on the gate were bent apart at a weird angle. They appeared have been bent apart by human hands. After a closer examination, imbedded in the metal were the impressions of small handprints. On the surface of the green patina of the bronze were scorch marks that looked very much like skin texture. Metallurgist experts could not explain how the bars were bent. Officials had the bars cut off and sent them away to be straightened. The bars were gone for over two and a half years. They were finally reinstalled in the gates in the early 1980's. The same bars were put back, but are refitted upside down."
(*Also see Haunted Pubs: O Henry's Roadhouse) Resurrection Mary's ghost appears along Archer Avenue in south Chicago. Take I-294 to 95th Street. Follow 95th Street west to Roberts Road. Take Roberts Road north to Archer Avenue. Resurrection Cemetery, 7600 South Archer Avenue, Justice, IL 60458.
Lacon - Old Salem
Cemetery
"There is a haunted cemetery called "Old Salem Cemetery" near Lacon. There is also a hanging tree right in front of the gates to the cemetery.
this place is one of the freakiest places I have seen. If you are going east of
Lacon turn right on the last road next to the church. Go straight for 5 or 6
miles and turn right at a T-intersection with a barn on that side. Go a mile an
half and turn right before the hill onto a dirt road. That should get you
there." ~thanks to Jackie
Old Salem Cemetery has had stories circulating around it for years. My own
sister was in high school during the late 70's and went there to drink beer one
night with friends. When they arrived there were "robed" people who were
standing around a bonfire with a calf or a goat (she couldn't tell which).
Obviously, they got the hell out of there before they disrupted the cult's
religious ceremony... Other locals say that you can hear a child crying
(possibly related to the story of a little girl who died in a fire), hear
screaming and see spook lights. As the story goes, you can't get a match
to light near the little girl's grave.
Update 2011:
Iris
was kind enough to relate this to me and my readers: " I don't want to
discourage respectful visitors, and maybe someone will find something there,
but even visits with sensitive friends has turned up nothing. I'm also sorry
to report the truth behind some of the "true" stories well known from local
gossip to be false. First, I was about 8 - 10 years old when the "Satanists
in hoods" story popped up, the same summer a local farmer burned an old
vehicle at the gate to increase the rumors of bad things to try to
discourage the rash of teens visiting. This was a misguided attempt to scare
off kids after someone pulled down the sign over the gate with a truck... (read
entire story after jump)
Lake Forest - The
Schweppe Mansion
The far north Chicago suburb of Lake Forest has many
attractive old homes. The Schweppe mansion is not excluded in these ranks. Built
in 1913, the 20 bedroom English Tudor style home once housed a wealthy suburban
couple. During the days of wine and roses, the 1920's, the Scweppes had grand
parties evocative of "The Great Gatsby". At one point, the crown prince of
Sweden spent time here with his wife, strolling the grounds with its lush
gardens and fountains.
Mrs Schweppe was the wealthier of the two; her father had given the couple
the home as a wedding gift. When she died at 58, she left the bulk of her estate
to her children. Left with little money of his own after the great depression,
the $200,000 Charles Schweppe was left was a paucity compared to the wealth he
one enjoyed. In poor health as well, Charles ended his life with a bullet
through his head four years after his wife Laura. A servant found him in his
office with a suicide note scrawled on a piece of paper next to him.
The stately home stood empty for 46 years, with family members keeping up the
grounds and structure. Over this period of time, there was a window overlooking
the front driveway which never accumulated dust or grime. All of the other
windows would be cloudy with dirt, but the one window, in the master bedroom
remained clear.
In 1987 a family of seven bought the mansion for 5.5 million dollars, a drop in
the bucket for what lakeside property goes for in a wealthy suburb, especially a
beautiful old stone mansion. The family who lives there report, among other
things, a bizarre twisted footprint in the floor of an upstairs room, and the
sounds of servants making themselves busy in the middle of the night-- long
after anyone working for them had gone. As of the phantom window, the owners say
that it now gets dirty the same as the rest, however the image of a stately
older gentleman is sometimes seen from the drive, peering down at incoming
guests; or wandering through the bedrooms at night. This is a
private residence in a heavily patrolled area. Do
NOT Trespass or you'll run the risk of being arrested.
LaSalle/Peru/Utica
-
click here for locations
LaSalle -
St.Vincent's Cemetery
Said to be haunted by a man who sits on a grave with his hands by his face
LaSalle -
Educators of Beauty
The "Educators of Beauty" cosmetology school in LaSalle was once a flop-house hotel; As the story goes, a degenerate living there fell asleep with a cigarette and burned to death in his room. When a couple of my friends were attending the school several years ago, the teachers would talk about all of the odd things that have happened there, especially in the upstairs part of the building. "George" (I think that's what they nicknamed the ghost) would flip hairdryers on and off, as well as the lights. Once in awhile, one could smell stale cigarette smoke when no one else was around. The older teachers were afraid to be there alone at night, according to my friends...122 Wright St
Lockport - Bruce
Road
A disembodied male torso is said to float toward your car and then disappear.
Loves Park - Rest
Stop
Eerie noises like children laughing are heard here. 173 & Mitchell Rd
Magnolia
- see "Cumberland Cemetery"
Mascoutah -
Renschler Road
A Gravity Hill: it appears as if your car is running uphill if you put it in neutral. People report disembodied voices as well. Area used to have a train track where a man and his son were killed.
McClure -
Grapevine Trail
This dangerous road has phantom sounds like screeching tires and women screaming.
Mendota -
Snyder's Grove Nature Area
Locals claim this area is haunted. Phenomena includes spook lights, a
phantom man hanging from a tree, and the sensation of feeling someone pulling
you under when you swim in the pond there. Stories say that some teenagers
drowned there years ago, and they are trying to pull swimmers down to drown
them. Also, in 1985 a little girl from another nearby town was found dead 4
miles east of Mendota in a drainage ditch, weighted down with stones - which is
right about where this park is, by the way. I can't find any
information on if this is a wildlife preserve or a private piece of land that is
rented out for special occasions, so please use caution in going to this area.
Coming north from Peru on hwy 251, take a right on rte 52 just south of Mendota
(Troy Grove Blacktop). Turn left (north) on E 4th Rd and travel until you see a
brown sign for Snyder's Grove Nature Area, at which point you turn right and
follow N 3873rd road until you come to the park.
(Update 2011: "Came across your website & was shocked to find Snyder's Grove listed there for Mendota Illinois. Looks like you needed additional information on the site. I used to go horseback riding there all the time. It is a nature preserve park that is open to the public from dawn until dusk. There are trails for walking/riding & a picnic table/playground area & facilities in the middle of the park (there's only 1 road in/out, so easy to find). Can't say I ever saw anything weird, but was only ever there during the day. Good luck & interesting site! ~Sara )
Mendota/Troy
Grove - click here for locations
Millstadt - Zingg
Road
People report the apparition of a hung man from the bridge, and a phantom truck that will "chase" your car. between Millstadt and Belleville off State Route 163
Middletown -
400th Avenue Bridge
Locals say that the area has odd phenomena, including whispers, screams, and even apparitions.
Midlothian -
Bachelor's Grove Cemetery (or, "The Most Hyped-Up Cemetery This Side of the
Rockies")
UPDATE
October 2011 visit to Bachelor's
Grove Cemetery
This cemetery, reportedly one of the most active (in the US) as far as paranormal events go, was
officially established in 1864, although there are plots there from as far back
as 30 years before. It was so named because of the great number of bachelors who
were buried there, many of which were German immigrants who helped build the
Illinois-Michigan Canal. The last burial there was in 1965, at which time the
place was already desecrated and vandalized. During prohibition, the lagoon that
borders the cemetery was a "popular dumping ground" for those who crossed the
Chicago mafia. The other odd occurrence that happened here was that of a farmer
in the 1870's whose horse slid into the lagoon along with the plow, thus killing
itself and the farmer who was strapped to it.
Specters and sightings in this cemetery include:
The White Lady (aka Mrs. Rogers, aka The Madonna of Bachelor's Grove):
only during a full moon will this "lady in white " appear. Said to be a woman
who was buried there next to her son. She is carrying a baby, in some
accounts.
The Phantom Farmhouse: Reported many times especially in the 1950's, an
idyllic white farm house, complete with porch swing and picket fence, has been
said to appear then disappear off of the gravel path that leads to the cemetery.
The Ill Fated Farmer and his Horse and Plow: as described above... near
the lagoon, of course.
A Two-Headed Ghost: near the lagoon
Various ghosts, including a yellow glowing apparition, people in monk's robes,
and a ghost that a woman claimed to have passed her hand through on the path.
Spook lights: Including most commonly blue lights that dart about in a
manner that seems planned, in other accounts red darting lights that leave a
comet-like trail.
Phantom Vintage Cars and Trucks: said to appear along the turnpike
outside of the cemetery. People have had what they thought was an accident after
colliding with cars on this curve; when they get out to investigate, there is no
damage-- even though the drivers have distinctly heard the noises associated
with twisting metal and broken glass. The car that caused the crash is nowhere
to be seen.
Bachelor's Grove Cemetery is located on the edge of the Rubio
Woods Forest Preserve, near the suburb of Midlothian, Illinois. Follow I-294
south to Cicero Ave and take the Midlothian Turnpike. Go west to the Rubio Woods
Forest Preserve. Park in the Rubio Woods parkingf lot and you will see the
entrance across the highway and sightly to the right. It is off of the main road and down a
narrow path. The area is
heavily patrolled and can be very dangerous
at night. It is heavily wooded. Please don't go there without a
friend. The area is known to be frequented by muggers at night as well, so use
your discretion and visit legally and during daylight hours.
Minooka/Morris - Aux Sable Cemetery
Aux Sable is located in the countryside between Morris and Minooka.
Monmouth
- Dead Man's Curve
A haunted tree is said to be on a curve on highway 34, causing car accidents in this dangerous spot. (east of town)
Moweaqua
- Old Firehouse
Restaurant and Auction Center
A light haired woman "with a red choker" was said to appear in the dining area of the auction house in the middle of the night (source) 130 S Main St
New Athens -
Tunnel Hill
A phantom dog has been reported here - it "growls" and makes the occasional midnight appearance.
New Lenox -
Corner of Gougar Road and Route 6
A headless apparition is said to haunt this stretch of road, a victim of suicide by hanging nearby.
New Lenox -
Messenger Woods Nature Preserve
When driving past, people have reported hearing screams and seeing strange shadows flit across the road in front of their car. 3.5 miles north of New Lenox
Olmstead
- Ohio River Shark
On May 14, 2010 WLWT news in Cincinnati reported that a fisherman in Olmstead, IL found a recently dead 2 foot long bull shark on a boat ramp near receding flood waters. Bull sharks have been known to live in fresh water, however they are not known to swim this far up a river system from the Gulf of Mexico. A local biology professor at Shawnee Community College said he physically observed the shark and said it is a spiny dogfish shark, which is not able to live in fresh water. Theories that a fisherman dumped the shark there, after catching in in salt waters, are prevalent among those familiar with the case.
Olney - Green
Lantern Road
Olney, the Home of the White Squirrel, is also home to a legend of a ghostly man in a trench coat who carries a green lantern down this road and into the woods.
Olney - Salvation
Army
A little boy who died after falling out of a shopping cart here is said to move objects around the back room. 302 E Main St
Olney
- Burrow's Cave
In 1982 retired Army Ranger and prison guard Russell Burrows claimed to have, while hunting along the Little Wabash River, stumbled upon a cave that held priceless artifacts from ancient man, including large amounts of gold and burial chambers akin to the Egyptian Pharaohs. Any artifacts that were shown to the scientific community were initially dismissed as "obvious fakes", and the text on the inscribed tablets were said by experts to be a gibberish combination of various dead languages. Burrows' story itself is fishy on many levels. He claims after being humiliated and badgered by critics he grew weary of the hubbub and simply dynamited the entrance to the cave in 1989. Ten years later Ancient American Magazine founder Wayne May says that he convinced Burrows to show him his cave, and claims that Burrows in fact led him to a cave entrance that had been dynamited. In attempts to circumvent the damage and go inside, May said the cave had since flooded and filled with debris to the point of uselessness while afoot. Soooooo, May raised money and collected various experts to open the cave. This took 3 1/2 years, and when he returned to do so, he was told by Burrows: 1. that this was not the original cave, that the REAL cave was 40 miles away (take that, dirty scientist!!) 2. Burrows didn't even own the land on which this (equally nifty American Indian artifact filled) cave is 3. This new cave was to be referred to as "Tombs of the Embarras" (insert laugh track here), not "Burrows' Cave" 4. that Burrows' Cave (not the Tomb of the Embarrassed, er Embarras) is in the process of being excavated by a super-smart, super-secret team of archaeologists who wish to remain anonymous. Mmmm - K.
Amazingly, May found evidence to support the original descriptions/maps of Burrows' Cave with ground penetrating radar. Read about it here. There is little to be found online on what the findings were on subsequent expeditions by May. Whatever was found since was apparently not Earth-shattering.
Theories surrounding possible explanations of a real burial chamber as described by Burrow are mind-bending and too numerous to list without devoting weeks of research. That's what google is for, my friend. Go for it. Lets just say there are folks who are really, REEAALLY into this story (either backing up Burrow or lustfully discrediting him), including the Mormons. Don't even get me started on the Illinois Nazi that comes into the picture...
Burrows' cave is still causing controversy: in 2009 a History Channel program entitled "The Holy Grail In America" featured the story and artifacts. Burrows has been described as having a penchant for wearing military uniforms of various eras as his everyday clothing. He sounds like a total fucking hoot, regardless of what the science scholars think. I want to have him come into my bar so I can pour him a drink and listen to his bullshit for hours. You can buy his autographed book for $23 here: Russ Burrows, 117 Chestnut Street, Windsor, Colorado 80550.
Morbid
Travel Tip: visit the site where a Circus
Elephant Was Killed By Lightning
in Oquawka, IL. Thanks to
Roadside America
for directions: Signs pointing toward "Elephant Killed By Lightning" direct
you to Norma Jean's grave from all points in Oquawka
Orland
Hills and Macomb - Anomalous Rampant Blue Flames
As reported by The Chicago Tribune, a private home in Orland Hills was the location of dozens of strange anomalous phenomena in Apri1 1988. Fire investigators ruled out ruled out arson, natural gas, methane leaks, sewer gas, and electrical malfunctions in the pursuit of knowing what caused blue flames to shoot from outlets, causing house fires (but not disabling the home's electrical systems in any way). On one occasion, a white fog - so thick an investigator "couldn't see (his) hand in front of (his) face" - permeated the house along with a stifling sulfur smell. Samples of the fumes sent to a laboratory showed nothing unusual. Twenty-six incidents were witnessed and documented by investigators and policemen. Owner Karen Gallo lamented "All of this talk about a haunted house is ridiculous." Her family of four moved out on the advice of police and local fire officials. The house was deemed unlivable by the family's insurance company and was bulldozed by October of that year.
The World's Strangest Stories
Oswego - Cherry
Rd.
The word "help" is said to be scrawled in blood on the road some nights. It re-appears in an area where a terrible car accident took place. An apparition of a teenage girl is also reported.
Ottawa
area - click here for locations
Palatine - Smith
and Route14
The location of a Brown's Chicken where, in 1993, two men brutally murdered seven customers and employees for a little bit of money, then stuffed them in a walk in freezer. The building has since been torn down, but prior to the apprehension of the killers in 2002, the sight had reports of cold spots, sounds of screaming and gunshots.
Pekin -
California Road
Reports of a spook light and a strange mist. connects Sheridan Road with Broadway Road
Peru - McKinley
Park
The spirit of a little boy is said to haunt this playground. Locals say that
there was a school at the location, and a little boy was killed in the basement.
The boy's cries are heard and the park lights flicker.
McKinley park is near the LP high school football stadium
Peoria - OSF St.
Frances Medical Center
The Catholic hospital is said to be haunted by two nuns who
served there many years ago.
Peoria
- Illinois Central College North Campus
Until the late 90's, this was George Zeller Mental Health
Facility; these cavernous buildings are rumored to be home to disembodied
voices, apparitions and strange noises, including phantom ambulance sirens that
sound as if they are coming up the entrance road. 5407 N.
University (this was still a mental hospital when I
worked here for a couple of weeks in my nurses' training back in 1994... so the
screams were definitely from the live ones...~ed.)
Pontiac
- Humiston Woods Nature Preserve
Local folklore says that little children running through the grass here feel tiny hands pulling their feet down toward the dirt. The story, as it goes, is that the park is sitting on an ancient Indian burial ground that had many children buried there. 2100 East 2100 North Road (815) 844-5831
Princeton
- Trailer Ghost
From my new favorite ghost site comes this horrifying tale of double-wide spectral phenomena:
"Old Single Ghost Can't
Stop Twisting His Knob
I am quite sure our mobile was
haunted when we first moved into it 8 years ago. An old, single gentleman
had lived here for years. Died in the hospital, technically, but spiratually
(sic), I feel he hung on here for awhile. The knobs on the kitchen
cupboards would somehow come loose and just drop off on the floor. Many
times over! I would go out and screw them tightly back onto the doors and
then a couple days later, they would fall off again. I could never find any
possible physical reason for this to happen. Plus, sometimes the newspaper
would lay on the coffee table and the pages would flutter in the breeze, but
their were no windows open and the ceiling fan was not on. Eventually, the
knobs stopped falling and the paper stopped fluttering. I guess the former
owner finally realized that he didn't need to be here anymore and moved on
to heaven or wherever.
Submitted by Barb in Princeton, IL "
Ramsey/ Effingham - Ramsey
Cemetery
Old cemetery in Fayette County that has haunted caves; local folklore says that a ghost of a man in a black cloak with red glowing eyes and a "werewolf" have been seen here. The caves are reportedly haunted. Many, many of my family are buried in this tiny cemetery. This is the first I've heard these stories. ~ed. 2011 - Kitterman gave me some details on Ramsey Cemetery : Ramsey Cemetery is in Effingham, Illinois, not Ramsey Illinois. The sightings that you said happen there are the exact same sightings that have supposedly happened in Ramsey Cemetery in Effingham. The cemetery is commonly referred to as "Casbar" and there are reports of seeing a man in black with red eyes. Also, there are caves where a werewolf has been seen. Just thought I'd let you know!
Morbid
Travel Tip: 
The
suicide site of gangster Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti is located in
Riverside, IL. Nitti, a contemporary of Al Capone, was born in the
village of "Angri" (no kidding) very near the Capone family home in Italy.
Nitti used to hang out with Al Capone's older brothers in the old country
before imigrating to the US at age 7. They were tight, Frank and Al. Nitti
was instrumental as a lieutenant in the Capone organization, one of his most
trusted associates. They were both convicted of tax evasion at the same
time, but while Capone was given 11 years, Nitti wass given a light
sentence. He developed a case of claustophobia while incarcerated and swore
after his release he would never be imprisoned again. In the years
following, he had a string of marriages, widowed twice and divorced once. He
was shot three times by police and managed to live. He wasn't respected as a
leader among the other members of the Chicago syndicate, and his involvement
was more of an honorary position than a real moving or directing force. When
he helped to orchestrate a plan to extort the film industry in Hollywood,
Nitti was indicted. Depressed and distraught, he took a walk five blocks
from his modest brick home in Riverside to a nearby train yard and shot
himself in the head 3 times. He was found propped up against a railyard
fence. Historians postulate that he refused to be imprisoned again, and
others have said he found out that he had terminal cancer.
Veterans Drive, between Cermak Rd and W 26th Street,
near the JC Penney parking lot in the southeast corner of the North
Riverside Mall complex. Photo of train tracks courtesy Google Maps
Rockford - Bell
School Rd
Spook lights and an apparition of an old man are seen in the cornfields here.
Rockford - Cherry
Vale Mall
Employees complain of being locked inside bathroom stalls, that tidy stores at closing time are in the morning disheveled, and that objects move on their own. 7200 Harrison Ave
Rushville - Train
Bridge
A phantom train is said to run across this bridge outside of town
Seneca -
Spontaneous Human Combustion
I recently discovered a story
from the year 1885: The Rooneys were enjoying their Christmas Eve by partaking
of some whiskey with their hired hand at their home in Seneca, Illinois. Mrs.
Rooney, a portly woman, sat up late that night drinking with her husband,
celebrating the Christmas holiday. They probably planned to visit their grown
son, who lived nearby, the following day.
The hired man had retired early that night. Early on Christmas morning he descended the staircase, hung over and searching for some water to quench his raging cotton-mouth. Much to his chagrin, his turning stomach couldn't ignore the fetid odor that permeated the small rural home. Indeed, anyone who has been around burnt human flesh knows that it is maybe the worst smell that one can encounter. To the farm workers' horror, Mr. Rooney lay on the floor, dead from what would later be noted as smoke inhalation. Just feet away was a hole burnt clean through the floorboards.
Frantic, the hired man rode to the Rooney's son's home, fetched him, and the two men returned to further investigate this very un-Christmas-y sight. After entering the house, the poor orphaned son barely had time to absorb the sight of his dead father on the floor before he stuck his lantern down the charred hole in the floor, grasping for some explanation, and found a withered sooty skull, a few neck bones, and a pile of fine black ash. Mom.
Cases of spontaneous human combustion have fascinated people for years, almost as long as they have perplexed scientists. They are characterized by the unexplained cremation of a person, usually an obese woman. The odd part, the part that sets it apart from other accidental deaths in a fire, is that the person burns at a very, very high temperature--enough to reduce the body to a finer carbonaceous substance than even a crematorium can achieve, and that objects just mere inches away from the victim remain unscathed. A case in Bolingbrook, Illinois in 1979 involved a woman who burned in this manner, and her entire lower leg, as well as a newspaper 3 feet away, remained unburned.
Spring
Valley - click here for locations
St
Charles - Delnor Woods Park
Read Chris's account of a fortean
Toad-Man who stole his USB drive
here.
(adjacent
to Rt. 25 and across from Fulton Avenue)
St. Charles -
Munger Road
The vicinity of the railroad tracks have had reports of spook lights.
St. Charles -
Prairie St
A ghostly car is said to pick up a bright white apparition from the curb, then vanish.
Sterling - Rock
River/7th Avenue
A ghostly woman is said to walk along the tracks, calling for her children
Streator Area -
click here for more
Streator stories
Streator - Moon
Point (Creek) Cemetery
This has been the focus of local ghost folklore for decades. Stories of a "hatchet lady" abound, as well as reporting of spook lights, an apparition of a man in 19th century clothing, strange car trouble within the cemetery, and the sounds of giggling children. There is a legend of a woman who spent a lot of time in the cemetery caring for her only son's grave (who had died young in a war); her ghost was reported after she passed away in the 1980's. One reader who wrote me did an EVP (electronic voice phenomena) test there and said he had heard "get out" repeated oven and again. When I visited there in the early 90's (at midnight on Halloween no less - and no, I'm not kidding), not a damn thing happened. Well, I got drunk on "Boone's Farm" strawberry wine - but that's for another day... Moon Creek is just south of Streator on a country road off of rte 23. This cemetery has been vandalized by numerous assholes over the years, and county police patrol it very often. Do not visit after dusk. UPDATE July 2011 Independent film producer Mark Pierce contacted me a few years ago to discuss this area, and later sent me this note: "I am the guy from Streator who you so graciously posted my 2002 account in Moon (Point) Creek Cemetery. In my writing I mentioned that I was going to pitch an idea for a movie about it. Well, I went ahead and produced it myself, and it is practically finished but has about 25% of the scenes to shoot. I am talking to producers in LA at the end of July to either get them to finance the completion or buy out the whole idea. Anyway, I wanted to give you a picture of the poster for the film... The actress portraying the Hatchet Lady is Maria Olsen. She played Mrs. Dodd/The Fury in 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief'. " Mark, a Streator native who also wrote, directed and stars in the film, posted on his company website recently that the movie is tentatively scheduled for independent release in October of 2011. There is a trailer posted on YouTube that features scenes filmed in Moon Point Cemetery. Thanks Mark! By the way, I didn't break out my Lizzy Borden costume again for the movie poster, (please note the similarities in the 'Editorial Review' photo above) but I would have! Read Mark's experiences at Moon's Point Cemetery, as well as some more photos, here.
Tolono - railroad
tracks
Locals say there is a ghost train that appears around 2AM; phantom screaming and spook lights also reported.
Tonica - country
road near Tonica
A phantom hearse has been reported near this tiny farming village
Vermont - West
Quarter Road
Apparitions and colored spook lights are reported by locals.
Vernon hills -
Big Bear Lake
A pregnant woman who drowned in the lake is said to haunt. Lakeview Parkway
Villa Park - 7
Eleven
Folklore says that the convenience store was built atop a cemetery. Employees report phantom voices and rattling sounds on the graveyard shift. 340 W Saint Charles Rd
Wayne - Powis
Road railroad tracks
Folklore from the area says a family died in their car here when it was hit by a train; cars are said to be "pushed" from the tracks by invisible hands.
Watseka -
Lantern's Lane
An amber colored spook light is reported near Watseka. Starting from Watseka, turn left (South) on S. Second street. Follow this road out of town to Woodland. Turn right (West) at the Body Cemetery, then immediately take a left turn (South) on 1980E for about 2 miles. Turn right onto 1200N Road (Lantern's Lane)
Wauconda -
Larkdale
A little boy who drowned is said to be seen standing by the no swimming sign at the pond here.
Wenona - Cumberland Cemetery
??
This
beautiful old cemetery is thick with local ghost folklore. Stories range from a
hatchet man and a headless wife appearing, to a "Horcow", some kind of bizarro,
Island of Dr. Moreau, cow - horse combo that one reader claims to have
spotted. Spook lights, a phantom little girl, and another reader claimed that
her sister-in-law's car caught aflame when she was poking around there one
night. A woman on
this site claims that her car got stuck in the cemetery at
night, "buried up to the axles", when the ground was dry and there was no
apparent reason for her car to get stuck. When she came back the next day to get
her car, it had been towed, and police told her, she said, that there were
headstones propped against the wheels of her car. ( I have to add that I have,
in my youth, personally been to parties - plural - at Cumberland Cemetery. It is
a local spot for underage drinking, and I could easily see some kid propping a
dislodged gravestone on someone's car... I have friends buried there, I have
been there in light and in day and at funerals, in all weather, from the time I
was 10 years old on Halloween hayrack rides up until the recent past - and I
have yet to see anything odd there ~Peg). Cumberland Cemetery is located within a mass of wooded
country roads between Wenona and Magnolia. If you stop at a gas station in
Wenona (Magnolia has no businesses as far as I know) I'm sure who ever is
working can probably direct you to it. It is patrolled by county police at
night.
Wenona
- Green Acres -
This farm house was located just south east of the village, on the outskirts of town and down a very long driveway up until the 80's or 90's. The folklore says that a railroad worker/transient came through Wenona and a local girl who lived here fell in love with/got pregnant by him. Her father was enraged and the railroad worker murdered him in the house. Cam (who reminded me about this story, which I had heard as a kid but long forgotten) told me when he was in high school in the late 1980's, he was there with a friend at night (it was a popular place for underage drinking before it was torn down) and he and his friend saw "three colored lights come around the corn crib", they hovered, then disappeared.
Western
Springs - Historic Route 66 (Joliet Road)/Wolf Road near Indian Head Park
a woman sent a story into a website stating she saw a faceless, transparent form in a white wool coat running at an inhuman speed, dodging thickly wooded areas, one night near this intersection that is in a relatively affluent area of the city.
Illinois
River Valley - Lions and Tigers and Bears. Oh my!
Large preditors like
bears and wolves have been presumed entirely driven from this area for well
over 100 years.
This
area, and especially
Bureau County, that
ensconces the Illinois River between Lasalle-Peru and Peoria, seems to have
an overabundance of very large critters. In 2008-9, there were multiple
sightings of a black bear(s) in Bureau County, IL. Black bear sightings in
Illinois had been "nearly non-existant" in Illinois since the 1850's. A man
and his cousin snapped a photo of a black bear near
Neponset, IL summer of
2008. The bear "lumbered off", unharmed. That February, the (likely) same
bear was found near the same area in a drainiage ditch, hibernating. It was
tranquilized and moved to "Woody's Menagerie" in Bond County. In May, 2010,
a black bear and her cub were spotted in
Tilskilwa.
In nearby
LaSalle county, one person on a hunter's message board claims his relatives
who live along the river there have seen "wild monkeys" living in the trees.
And then there are the wolves. Near the Bureau County town of
Walnut (see photo below) a
wolf was killed. In September, 2009, a
Utica, IL woman snapped
some photos of what she thought to be a large, black wolf in her front yard.
Another questionable canine was snapped by a trail camera near
Hannah City (west of
Peoria) in Februaury 2010. In March that yea, an
Oregon, IL hunter caught
what was potentially a wolf on a trail cam. There were also a "rash of
sitings" near
Tilskilwa (WTF is the deal
with Tiskilwa?) and
Toulon that spring. Further
north, a man in the affluent Lake County city of
Grayslake snapped a photo
of what appears to be a wolf in October 2010. Experts feel that wolves
spotted near the Chicago area forest preserves migrate south from Wisconsin.
This site helps the layman to differentiate a wolf from a dog
Wildcat
(Mountain Lion/ Cougar) Sightings In Illinois
The Eastern Cougar -"The Ghost Cat" was
proclaimed "officially extinct" in May, 2011. Many experts feel the
sub-species
has been extinct since the 1930's. Cougars are
not known to live in Illinois, and naturalists feel they are being pushed
east from states like Idaho due to a "fully saturated population" there.
In July, 1990 a cougar was killed by a train in
Randolph County, IL.
It was later found to be "wild" upon post mortem exam. In October of that
year, six witnessed claimed to have seen a "very muscular, very large" brown
cat, resembling a cougar in Peoria's Springdale
Cemetery, on a nearby street, and at the "back
gate" of the Peoria Journal Star newspaper
building. One witness claimed to see the cat
pounce on a deer.
In New Boston,
IL, December, 2004, a dead cougar was found after being struck with an arrow
by a bow hunter. (SW of the Quad Cities)
April, 2008: In in the Roscoe
Village neighborhood of the north Chicago suburb of
Wilmette, a cougar - again
later proven to be a wild cougar - was killed by police.
Summer of 2009:
Henry, IL chief of
police Jay Young gave a statement to press that "very credible" locals had
been reporting "a large animal that appeared to be a cat". That spring, a
man was in some woods near Washington in Tazewell County and flushed what he
was "confident" was a mountain lion from brush pile. The man said "I don't
want to take my son out there mushroom hunting again, I'll tell you that."
Nearby in Peoria Proving Grounds
a woman had reported a cougar lounging in her back yard in February. She
photographed it, but only captured the top 1/3 of it's image as it
disappeared over a snowy burm.
Willow Springs - German Church Road,
"Devil's Creek" Bridge
Two sisters who were brutally raped and murdered near here are said to haunt the woods on the corner of German Church Rd and County Line Rd.
On Jan 23rd 1957 a man from nearby Hinsdale was on his way to the grocery
store when he found the nude, frozen corpses of two missing sisters, Barbara
(age 13) and Patricia (age 15) Grimes in a creek along the road. Initially
he thought the girls were two mannequins, but a slight warm snap had allowed
a minor thaw, thus exposing the two missing girls, who were carelessly
flopped in a heap just on the other side of the guardrail (see photo). About
a month earlier, they had left home to see "Love Me Tender" at a theater a
long bus ride from their home on the south side, never to return. The
missing girls were the focus of a massive manhunt, and Chicago was riveted
and horrified at the grisly nature of the crime. The killer or killers have
never been identified.
People on the bridge claim to hear an audible reinactment of a car stopping,
bodies being tossed into the ravine, the slamming of car doors and
screeching tires.
Nearby:
(Joliet Road)/Wolf
Road near Indian Head Park -
a woman sent a story into a website stating
she saw a faceless, transparent form in a white wool coat running at an
inhuman speed, dodging thickly wooded areas, one night near this
intersection.
Just east of the intersection of 83rd St/ German Church Road and County Line Road in a high end residential area (in nearby Burr Ridge you'd better have a couple of mil just to get a standard house...) Just past the white wooden fence with the "no trespassing" sign, about 1/4 mile. The girls were deposited on the same side of the road as the white fence. /i>
&
(Check out this movie. I love how the guy sounds just like Dan Conner from "Roseanne" and has a cig in his hand for the POV ghost hunt...)i>
&n&&n
Willow
Springs - Maple Lake Light
A red or yellow spook light is frequently reported above this man-made lake between Archer Avenue and 104th Avenue in the preserve bordered by the Chicago Ship Canal and the Calumet Sag Channel.
Woodstock -
Ryders Woods
Spook lights are reported in this area, as well as a hazy black apparition.
Wood
River/ Alton
In May 1971 a large gray blob that resembled bubbling rising
yeast dough appeared here. Exactly two years later to the day, a similar mass
was discovered in Dallas, TX.(From Weird America
Yorkville - the
dam
An infamous area where canoers often drown. A phantom family
(parents and a small daughter) have been reported by locals, carrying paddles
and life jackets from the dam. They vanish as they near the river front park.
Hydraulic Street
Zion - Loyal
Order of Moose Club #667
The ghost of a little blonde headed girl who died in the 1940's giggles and flips lights on and off. Sheridan Rd
have a look-see at my first website, which is somehow still functioning without my help 13 years later...
Did something happen to you you can't explain? A giant lizard in Minnesota? A goat-man in Florida? A time-space wormhole in the Black Rock Desert? Send me your story at:
back to all ghost stories:
Bibliography:
*Peoria, IL Journal Star October 1998
(Bartonville Asylum)
The Shadowlands : an invaluable resource on the net for
ghost hunters !!
Weird Travels, Most Haunted Journeys: The Travel Channel
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/2007/index2.html
http://www.kcchronicle.com/MainSection/other/357578445901083.php
http://www.eastlanddisaster.org/
http://www.crimelibrary.com/capone/caponesaint.htm
http://hotels.about.com/cs/hauntedhotels/p/hau_hotellbaker.htm
www.prairieghosts.com
http://www.allstays.com/Special/haunted.htm
http://theshadowlands.net/famous/bartonville.htm
http://www.eco-absence.org/il/bartonville/
http://www.arborwood.com/awforums/print-topic-1.php?fid=1994&taid=58&topid=1922
http://www.mendotareporter.com/main.php?story_id=3809&page=34
http://www.island.net/~blues/fox.htm
http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PressReleases1998/Loews_Blues_Feb1998.html
http://cityguide.aol.com/chicago/halloween/?page=ghoststories2004
http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_article.asp?id=286
http://www.aghostpage.com/illinois.htm
http://www.arborwood.com/awforums/print-topic-1.php?fid=1994&taid=58&topid=1922
http://www.mendotareporter.com/main.php?story_id=3809&page=34
http://www.island.net/~blues/fox.htm
http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PressReleases1998/Loews_Blues_Feb1998.html
http://cityguide.aol.com/chicago/halloween/?page=ghoststories2004
http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_article.asp?id=286
http://www.aghostpage.com/illinois.htm
http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf061/sf061g17.htm
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24838908.html?dids=24838908:24838908&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+16%2C+1988&author=David+Elsner&pub=Chicago+Tribune+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=3&desc=BULLDOZERS+LAY+HOUSE+TO+REST+MYSTERIOUS+FIRES%2C+STRANGE+FUMES+DEFEAT+INVESTIGATORS
http://www.westerncourier.com/main.cfm?include=subApplication&subApplicationName=quickRegister&fuse=registrationOrLoginRequired&thereferer=http%3A//www.westerncourier.com/media/paper650/news/2002/10/25/TheEdge/haunted.Dead.Walk.Not.Your.Normal.Paranormal-441989.shtml
http://www.alcade.net/ghost/lantern.htm
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/index.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/02/eastern-cougar-extinct-mo_n_830181.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Cougar#Chicago_incident
http://mcleansborotimesleader.com/opinion/x91294939/Are-there-cougars-in-Southern-Illinois
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/ll-panthers/
http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index.php?/pso/article/man_says_he_saw_wolf_in_grayslake/
http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index.php?/pso/article/black_bear_and_cub_in_bureau_county/
http://www.examiner.com/paranormal-in-quincy/kangaroo-creature-of-enfield-illinois
http://www.chibarproject.com/Features/Haunted/Haunted.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-ufo-united-airlines,0,4694653.story
hthttp://www.hauntedhouses.com/states/il/roadhouse_willow_springs.cfm
http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id41.htm
http://www.forgottenchicago.com/forum/1/1150/ghost_stories
http://www.prairieghosts.com/maplelk.html
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-22/news/ct-met-joliet-prison-future-20110722_1_prison-employees-infamous-prison-joliet-correctional-center
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-07-19/news/0907170500_1_joliet-correctional-center-inmates-tourist-attraction
http://www.ipaawards.org/profiles/blogs/the-old-joliet-prison
Although I generally avoid listing private property on this website, occasionally a noteable location that is not visitor friendly is included because of it's folkore value. The Illinois section has by far more listings of private properties than any of the other states I cover, as this was the playground of my youth and I have the most stories to tell about this state. Cemeteries are generally considered private property after dusk, and some cemeteries are actually unaccessable without trespassing on private land. The owner of ghosttraveller.com does not promote the use of private property for paranormal reserch or sightseeing. If you have an interest in visiting a private property, please contact the property owner to get permission to enter. People have been shot and killed while trespassing. DO NOT TRESPASS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY! font>
(Disclaimer: it is upon the reader of this site to use good judgment in frequenting the places listed herein; it is not the responsibility of the proprietor of ghosttraveller.com if a reader commits an illegal act, such as trespassing, based upon what he or she reads here. It is the reader's responsibility to research the given areas discussed in this forum prior to visiting, and to ensure that it is not illegal to visit said place prior to visiting, or to obtain permission from the owner prior to visiting)