such boundless change. Imagine walking among those very buildings that contained the technology that would build our world. Imagine watching the people who were tasting the foods that would become the staples of our modern diet, or seeing the technology that would one day govern our lives. As you can tell, history fascinates me. And I can’t imagine a more fascinating moment in history than Chicago in 1893.
This book presents a similar portal into the past. Upon reading this book, you will have the opportunity to delve into, and even experience, the past in a manner similar to traveling back in time. No one is sure what a ghost is, not even those who have seen and experienced them firsthand. Some argue that a ghost is just a form of energy that is left behind when a traumatic or important event occurs. Others say that a ghost is a person in a different form, living on after his or her mortal body has passed.
Whatever ghosts actually are, people tend to agree on one point about them: Ghosts tell stories about the past. This book collects the ghost stories of 100 different locations in the Chicagoland area. Events that have built not only the city of Chicago, but America as a whole, have happened numerous times throughout this city’s history. Great disasters, such as the wreck of the SS Eastland and the crash of American Airlines Flight 191, have occurred here. The ghosts that were left behind tell rich and captivating stories. Sometimes, when you are present at one of these sites, it can feel as though you are actually experiencing that very moment in history.
Is our fascination with ghosts a fascination with what happens to us after death, or is it simply a fascination with the past? Are ghosts nature’s way of preserving history? Are ghosts telling firsthand accounts of events that the public is beginning to forget? Are ghosts the present’s reminder of the past? These same questions, and many more, may spring to your mind as you are reading this book.
Often, when ghosts are telling the story, the event that occurred at the location they haunt is a sad one. Ghosts may be trying to remind us of past tragedies. They may be hoping to ensure that those who perished will not be forgotten. And just maybe, they are trying to prevent the mistakes of the past from being repeated.
When I first started working on this book, I drove up to Chicago to visit many of the haunted locations that Vince and I planned to write about. During this first trip, I did not have time to visit each and every location, but I made sure that we stopped at Jackson Park. I wanted to stand on the very ground where the 1893 World’s Fair took place.
It was after dark when we arrived. The park does not close until 11 p.m., so I had the opportunity to walk the grounds late at night. The site was completely empty and our car was the only one in the lot. Vince took some pictures and made some audio recordings on the Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge while I walked on alone into the park.
I stood there in the black of night. Dim light poles lit the narrow walkways that crisscrossed the park. I faced the Museum of Science and Industry, the only surviving building from the fair, and imagined that I was at the fair itself. I imagined the people walking past me. I imagined the electricity building and the bright lights of the White City shining all around me.
I was a visitor from another time. Perhaps, in a way, I was invading their space. I entered their fairgrounds knowing what the world was becoming and not allowing them the adventure of discovering this new world for themselves.
I jumped as I clearly heard a voice behind me say, “Get out.”
I turned.
There was no one there.
Happy ghosting!
—Jeff Morris
INTRODUCTION
CHICAGO: It’s one of the brightest, most inviting places in the world. At the same time, it’s one of the darkest, coldest places you’ll ever find yourself. And yet, it’s one of the warmest places on Earth—filled with hard-working people that would give you the shirts off their backs, even if you didn’t ask.
Having lived in this city my whole life, I realize it has issues, but still there is a kind of inexplicable magnetism that keeps pulling me back. It’s almost as if the city’s deepest secrets—held within its cemeteries, deep within its willow and oak trees, and atop the towering John Hancock Center—are calling me to explore them. Sometimes, it almost feels like the very veins of this city are not necessarily its roads, people, or buildings, but the stories that live on and are begging to be heard and retold.
Although the formula of this handbook may seem simple, let me assure you, gathering the contents for the book was no easy task. Chances are, if you’re currently reading this, you have probably picked up another haunted Chicago type of publication. To be honest, I have read them all. And the truth is, they are all pretty informative and do a decent job of telling stories about some of Chicago’s most haunted locations.
Knowing this, we’ve tried to do something different with our Chicago Haunted Handbook. This time, we’ve only included locations that, one, we actually thought were haunted and, two, you can physically visit and investigate. This is the reason for omitting a place like Harpo Studios, which is impossible to visit unless you are Oprah herself or at least a worthy doppelganger. That said, we’ve still included favorites, such as Bachelor’s Grove and Willowbrook Ballroom, but we’ve also added new places that you have probably never heard of, such as the Grease Factory, located in the small town of Huntley, or the California Clipper in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. There is no other book that includes information such as visiting hours, exact directions, history, and the ghost story for each of these locations.
I’ve learned so much about Chicago and Chicagoland in the past few years while collecting the information for this book, yet there is so much more out there for you to find for yourself. Hopefully, this handbook can guide you in the right direction.
Chicago is much more than a place to live; every nook and cranny has its own dark story to tell.
—Vince Sheilds
SECTION I
cemeteries
Archer Woods Cemetery (Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens West)
County Farm Cemetery (Joliet Potter’s Field)
