“one of most haunted places in Chicagoland”
Bachelors Grove Cemetery is well known as one of the most haunted places in all of Chicagoland. This small desecrated graveyard has more unexplained paranormal activities than any other cemetery worldwide. The first claims of hauntings peaked in the 1970s and 1980s. The reported phenomenon ranges from orbs to phantom vehicles. There is even said to be a ghostly farmhouse which is purported to float and then vanish. Witnesses have reported the house shrinking as they approach it before disappearing altogether. As late as 1984 witnesses were also reporting seeing multiple figures emerging throughout the cemetery dressed in monk's robes. In the 1990s witnesses reported seeing a black dog at the cemetery's entrance which also disappeared when they attempted to approach it. The Ghost Research Society has conducted numerous investigations into the reported phenomenon and their results have included images which contain light resembling ectoplasm as well as orbs. One photograph, taken by Judy A. Huff Felz in 1991, includes a "supposed" full image of a ghostly figure. Researchers have also reported electronic voice phenomenon in the area.
Reviews
Bachelors Grove is a little off the beaten path and if you don't know where you're looking you can completely miss it. Don't turn back on the path though because just when you think you've gone too far it'll appear on your right hand side. The best time of year to visit the grove is in either the spring or fall when the bugs and underbrush wont be too overwhelming. It's an awesome place, and if you're into the paranormal or even Chicago's mobster history you have to visit!
I live 15 minutes away from this cemetery. There is a trail that leads to the cemetery. It is about a 5-10 minute walk down the trail. The trail is a bit hard to find at first. If you are heading east on 143rd street, a parking lot will be on your left and the trail is on your right behind some trees. In other words, the trail is across the street from the forest preserve parking lot. The trail leading to the cemetery is closed off and the police patrol the area. You can walk around the sign that says the trail is closed. Just be watchful to make sure there are no police around. All they do is tell you to leave. Another piece of advice is not to park in the parking lot directly across from the trail. Cops will notice this. Drive further and park on the side streets of the nearby suburb.
If you're into ghost stories, Bachelor's Grove Cemetery is an absolute must-visit, particularly with all of its stories about its use as a mobster dumping ground for dead bodies, a house that only appears in the moonlight, and being able to sit on the same spot as the infamous "White Lady" photograph? Now that's awesome.
If you go, be sure to keep in mind that while it's open during the day, if you visit after dark you'll get fined and possibly arrested. Thanks to some rowdy "ghost hunters" they take the curfew seriously here and patrol the area heavily.
Make sure you check out the big pond at the edge of the cemetery. There's a big push to get divers in there so they can retrieve a lot of sunken headstones... and possibly even mob hits.
Day time is never really an issue it's the night time that you have the issues
Thanks for the comment I might not have found it without your help! I went during the day I'm not sure if there is a heavier police patrol at night but I ran into no issues and there were several other people at the cemetery as well.
I was born in Crestwood and lived in Midlothian since 1948 when I was one year old. I went to Orchard Hill Kindergarten for two years (1953 & 54). Each Fall we took a daytime field trip to Bachelor's Grove. I was just a little kid but I remember those trips like it was yesterday. Back then, you could drive all the way up the road (yes, it was an abandoned, but still usable, gravel road then) and the school bus drove right up to the cemetery.
There wasn't much in the way of signs of vandalism then and most of the old headstones and monuments were still intact. Most of the grassy areas of the cemetery, and many of the graves were still tended. I remember the pond between the cemetery and the Midlothian Turnpike (it was a paved 2-lane country road then). The teachers told us to stay away from the pond because it was "bottomless." Even in the daylight, it was a rather spooky place, especially in the late afternoon as shadows lengthened while we waited to re-board the bus to take us back to Orchard Hill.
In my early-mid teen years a couple buddies and I would go out to the cemetery sometime in the weeks before Halloween. By that time (early 1960s) the road had been chained off at the entrance from the Midlothian Turnpike and was partially overgrown with bushes and branches from the nearby trees. We parked in the Rubio Woods (if memory serves me) Forest Preserve, cross the 2-lane Midlo Turnpike, and walk about a quarter mile down to the cemetery. As darkness began to fall we would sit among the tombstones and tell ghost stories. Sadly, by then there were several signs of vandalism. One time, a Cook County Sheriff vehicle drove up, asked what we were doing, and he told us. He said they were looking for a murderer and we'd better get out of there. I'm sure he made that up just to get us to leave...but we didn't question it; we grabbed our jackets and ran the quarter mile back to the Midlo Turnpike, across the road, and were gone!
Good for the graveyard, but bummer for the ghost hunters- the cemetery is now being cared for, most of the headstones have been removed because of graffiti and vandalism, and the white woman's tree is now just a stump. The saddest part is that the history is lost....
Could see it through the woods but there was no access anywhere that I could find. If someone who has been there could post better directions I'm sure many people will be that thankful. It was snowing and cold when I went so I didn't want to park and walkway a quarter mile through slush, snow, and woods. Maybe if there's better directions I'll visit during a nicer time of year.
Where do you park? I've been there but it's been a real long time ago.
I am a member of the Find A Grave website. Would someone be able to get individual pictures of each grave for me so I may record them on the site? If you prefer, you may choose to do it yourself, but I so want this recorded! It would be a shame for the history here to be lost! If you are interested in helping me with this, my e-mail is beachcomergal@yahoo.com. Thanks!
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Bachelor's Grove Cemetery
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