While I consider myself “ghost agnostic” in that I neither believe nor disbelieve in ghosts, I just haven’t seen any proof, that didn’t stop us (my friend Beth was a willing companion) from recently embarking on a downtown bus tour of local haunts. Our guide Clarence – no discernible relation to Clarence Odbody – explained that hauntings often occur when deaths happen near large bodies of water (something about the water being a conduit, either that or ghosts get thirsty) and that you don’t necessarily see an apparition but rather you might suddenly smell an unexplained scent out of the blue, or walk through a cold spot, or feel a hand on your shoulder and turn to see no one there. For instance, there have many reports of people being seriously groped on the German UB-40 Submarine at the Museum of Science and Industry (the entire crew perished.) I will be making the trek there posthaste to verify.
We boarded the bus across from the Rock & Roll McDonald’s where I assume people are haunted primarily by indigestion and high cholesterol. Our first stop was just west of Clark St. on Wacker Dr. at the site of the sinking of the SS Eastland on July 24, 1915. There, 844 passengers and crew on board for a Western Electric Company outing drowned that day when the ship rolled over due to overcrowding of an already top-heavy ship. George Halas was an employee at the time but was running late as, according to Wiki (so it must be true) “he was attempting to gain weight to play Big Ten Football and missed the capsizing.” So sometimes it really does pay to overeat. Speaking of eating, some of the bodies were taken to the building on the north side of the river for identification. Bodies were placed in the walk-in freezer…with the meats. There is still a restaurant (The Kitchen) on the premises and I will NOT be dining there. Ever.
Our next stop was the alley next to where the Iroquois Theater once stood (now home to the Oriental Theatre). The Iroquois was billed as fireproof so naturally it was the site of the deadliest single building fire on December 30th, 1903 when over 600 people died as a result of the fire. It was showing “Mr. Bluebeard” and about a third of the audience was children. Workers inside the Oriental Theatre often report hearing children playing outside…
The Family Circuit Court building used to be located nearby and many of the visitors parked in the garage on the other side of the alley. As anyone who has been to family circuit court knows, it is generally not a happy place and thus the top level of the garage was often used as a “stepping off” spot with the alley being their final landing. And in case you aren’t already creeped out, John Wayne Gacy is said to have picked up many of his victims at the other end of the alley where a bus stop used to be. And that is why the alley is known as Death Alley. To alleviate some of the ghoulishness it helps to say “oooohhh” after saying “death alley.” Do it.
From there we went to the Congress Hotel on Michigan Avenue for a drink. There had been a band leader and piano player known as The Professor whose band played in one of the ballrooms during the Capone days. Allegedly, one night The Professor chose to hit on the wrong woman between sets, namely the girlfriend of one of Capone’s captains. He was never heard from again although it is said the piano in the Florentine ballroom occasionally plays a note or two on its own. What was most interesting to me about this is that while Clarence had begun discussing the hotel’s history, the Jukebox started playing a Springsteen song. By the time it got to story of The Professor, Billy Joel’s “The Piano Man” was playing. I would have put it up to a gimmick but Clarence never mentioned the coincidence, if he was even aware of it.
The hotel was also a popular meeting spot for people in 1893 in Chicago during the World’s Fair. It is supposedly where Dr. H.H. Holmes (The Devil in the White City) scouted for many of his victims. Clarence explained that he hunted for women who appeared to be on their own with “no man to protect them.” Both Beth and I noticed that he focused on us as he told that part of the story. REALLY focused…
There were a couple of other stories during the trip but to be honest I was already planning my next visit to the Museum of Science and Industry’s submarine…
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