I have lived in Chicago for almost 20 years now, and I am a history teacher; however, I know very little about Chicago’s macabre past. Thanks to a tour with U.S. Ghost Adventures, I learned about some of Chicago’s spiritual past. This included hearing about so many dead bodies in the Lincoln Park area that they were contaminating the drinking water of Lake Michigan. I did not know that Lincoln Park used to be a cemetery.
U.S. Ghost Adventures begins at the Tin Man statue.
U.S. Ghost adventures began at Oz Park
It seemed strange to begin a frightful tour of the dark past of Chicago at such a wholesome family place as Oz Park, but this is where it began. We convened at the Tin Man statue at the corner of Webster and Lincoln in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Our guide Elliott met us there promptly at 7:45 p.m. on a Thursday night. “Us” included about 12 ghoul chasers from Chicago, the suburbs, and beyond.
Related: Ten best unique outdoor adventures near Chicago
Our tour guide Elliot checking us in underneath the Tin Man at Oz Park
Lincoln Park has the possibility of being one giant Poltergeist
Elliott introduced the tour by explaining that many dead people were buried in the area underneath us including 4,000 Confederate soldiers from a nearby POW camp. As I mentioned earlier, I am a history major, and I did not even know there was a Civil War POW camp in Chicago. The camp was called Camp Douglas in honor of Senator Stephen A. Douglas from Illinois. Possibly between 4,000 and 6,000 southern soldiers died here due to overcrowding, insufficient food and medical treatment, and of course terrible weather.
A website dedicated to remembering Camp Douglas, states there are 6,000 Confederate soldiers buried at Oak Woods Cemetery at 1035 E. 67th Street, but according to our tour guide, the corpses of these soldiers were dumped in Lincoln Park first. In fact, Lincoln Park used to be the sight of the Chicago City Cemetery, but the city relocated the cemetery due to health risks of having too many dead bodies near the lake. The relocation of these dead bodies was haphazardly done with a working crew of only ten, so many dead bodies were left behind. Our tour guide said that some experts believe there could have been up to 12,000 bodies left behind. This means that Lincoln Park is ripe for many souls still wandering the Earth with unfinished business to take care of.
Bad Apple in Lincoln Park was where a bearded bootlegger sometimes made an unwanted appearance.
The U.S. Ghost adventures begins with a walk up Lincoln Avenue
Our first stop was the Bad Apple on Lincoln Avenue. This restaurant was the former sight of the John Barleycorn bar for many years. According to local legend, this bar was inhabited by a ghost of a bearded bootlegger. This ghost was mostly a good natured ghost, but a woman touring the building to possibly buy the place and open up a frame shop was so spooked upon her visit that she refused to go through with the sale and never talked about it again. The bootlegger these days is rarely seen as perhaps he enjoys all the beers that the Bad Apple offers up. I am sure craft beer is way more delicious than any swill he was drinking in his days.
Anyone see a ghost in the 2nd floor window?
Red Lion Pub ghost
Another stop was the Red Lion Pub. A woman from the flapper era notoriously haunts the upstairs as well as a woman who smells of lavender. There is a window on the second floor, and our tour guide mentioned he has never seen anyone in that window on any of the tours he has led with one notable exception. That one time, a light was on in that window and it appeared that someone was trying to straighten up the room. Could have been a worker from the bar putting something away or it could have been someone from the 1920s.
The scene of John Dillinger’s demise
The scene of John Dillinger’s death
Another stop was the alley where John Dillinger was killed. This interested me because I had just recently returned from a fishing trip in Manitowish Waters. Apparently, Dillinger enjoyed the serenity of the Wisconsin Northwoods as well. He and Baby Face Nelson took part in a gun battle between FBI agents at the Little Bohemia Lodge in Wisconsin. Dillinger escaped only to be killed by Federal agents at the Biograph Theatre on July 22, 1934. We visited the scene of the theater and the alley where Dillinger was shot. People have reported seeing a shadowy figure in the alleyway running and falling perhaps recreating the famous outlaw’s last movements.
Hunter’s on Halsted – The scene of the golden dagger.
Hunter’s on Halsted formerly the Golden Dagger
Hunter’s on Halsted has a lively past. It used to be a brothel, a meeting place for a secret society called the Order of the Golden Dawn, and a golden dagger was once found inside its walls. When the dagger was removed, spirits went haywire. It got so bad that they decided to return the dagger to the spot it was found. A ghostly woman haunts this place. Perhaps it was a prostitute that was murdered here or just returning to her old haunts or it could have been someone sacrificed by the secret order.
U.S. Ghost Adventures ends at the Dorothy statue
We returned to Oz Park and the Dorothy statue. Our tour guide left us with not a wholesome story about Dorothy, but about a local woman who was strangled in the park in the 1990s. She sometimes has been seen running the park at night asking whomever she encounters how to get out of the park. She then follows their directions and disappears just before leaving the park. There are no happy endings to a U.S. Ghost adventures tour, only mysteries.
U.S. Ghost Adventures runs tours just like this in over 130 cities. My tour was complementary, but this fact does not impact this post as I am not writing a review, merely a reflection on what we saw on the tour. The tour cost $26.00 and goes for one hour and fifteen minutes. We walked about a total of one mile. I did enjoy the tour and appreciated learning about local history. Even if you are not interested in ghosts, the tour covers local history and legend, which I found fascinating. Check out their website if you are interested.
Adventure on!
