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Bachelor's Grove Cemetery

Bachelor's Grove Cemetery

There's only 82 plots at Bachelors Grove Cemetery, but that certainly hasn't stopped it from becoming one of the most notorious graveyards in the country.

Established in 1840, the small area surrounding the cemetery was soon abandoned by the English homesteaders who relocated from Chicago to New England, leaving the graves behind. Originally named the Everdon Cemetery, the property title belonged to Samuel Everdon, and though there are 82 plots many of them were left unused.

During the 20s and 30s Bachelor's Grove was rumored to have been the infamous dumping ground for Chicago's organized crime families. It was the isolated lagoon near the back of the abandoned cemetery that supposedly drew the mobs attention. According to the legends it soon became the perfect place to fit hitmen, snitches, and people who owed money with a pair of permanent concrete shoes.

Bachelor's Grove is most famous for the ghost stories that surround the strange plot of land at the end of the long gravel road. One of the most famous images of a supposed ghost was captured at the graveyard. The "White Lady" or "Madonna of Bachelor's Grove" is rumored to be the spirit of a woman who was buried next to her child. Often times she's seen wandering the cemetery during the full moon, holding the body of a baby in her arms.

The white lady is of course just one of many strange ghostly things eyewitnesses have seen while braving Bachelor's Grove Cemetery. More than once groups of people have come across a phantom farmhouse while making the gravel road hike late at night. The house appears as a picturesque white farmhouse in perfect condition, before disappearing completely before your eyes.

In 1870 a farmer died after he and his horse plowed too close to the waters edge. They have both been spotted in spirit form years later, continuing to plow the area around the lagoon to this day, only when you call out to him he dissipates into nothing.

Many of the paranormal experiences at Bachelor's Grove Cemetery peaked in the 70s and 80s, like the rash of people who 1984 reported seeing the ghostly figure of a monk walking slowly across the cemetery towards the road. There are still groups who claim to see orbs of light, strange shadows, and the sounds of arguing voices coming from the lagoon.

Visiting the cemetery during the day is totally fine, but at night expect plenty of police presence, so it's probably not a good idea to trespass. Don't worry though because if you want to visit at night there are loads of ghost hunts and investigation tours that bring groups out to explore the cemetery at night.

Bachelor's Grove Cemetery is a classic haunting and an iconic part of Chicago-land's history. If you get the chance to visit don't pass up the opportunity, and if you make it to a picturesque white farm house, keep going it'll be gone soon enough