12 October - The Ghost of Edgewater
It was when this building was under construction that the Ghost came out of hiding. Photo by author today.
Edgewater is a sleepy northern neighborhood in the city of Chicago. It’s a place that used to be the remote countryside in the 1800’s, & the place where the victims of sensationalized murders were hidden away. In 1895, it was also home to a ghost.
The Ghost was seen on several occasions, by several people. It always behaved the same way. The specter hung close to the ground, leaving no footprints or visible trace of its being. It was shrouded in an all black, long, flowing, gown. Its face was never seen, as whenever someone came across it its back was to the viewer. The viewer might try to approach, but the phantom would keep fifty paces ahead of it, then eventually disappear. Or, it might disappear as soon as you took a step.
When it moved, it didn’t walk. It floated.
The Ghost seemed to favor hanging around the corner of Broadway, Bryn Mawr, & Ridge. Before the congestion that we are used to seeing today at that corner, there used to be an old two story brick farmhouse on the northwest side. The owner was a man named Arthur Johnston, & in 1895, he decided to move the building & instead build a few commercial structures on the site. The house was moved, & construction started in the old basement, now open to the elements.
This was the house that Arthur Johnston moved. Photo by author, today.
It was in this empty basement that the Ghost liked to stay. Once the construction began & the basement was exposed, knockings, noises, & voices began to disturb the area. A barn in back of the old homestead had been partially converted to a sleeping area for the men hired to come and build the new foundation. As soon as they moved in, strange noises started. They - and the horses still in the barn - could hear something steadily but slowly creeping around the place, stepping, lurking. The horses lurched in fear, destroying their stalls, while the men sat petrified in bed.
Many people saw the Ghost of Edgewater. Policemen, coal workers, & men with their girlfriends chased the thing, but none could get a hold of it. The Ghost never made a sound, & always disappeared in clumps of bushes or by the construction itself. The thing in the barn never showed itself, but always made sounds to terrifying whoever was inside.
What happened to the Ghost?
Dead In Chicago will host a LIVE! walking tour of the horror stories of downtown Chicago on October 23 & 30th. Check out the link here for more information & to sign up for the tour!
From the Chicago Tribune, 11 September 1895. Source.
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