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Want to Visit a Few Haunted Places,
in downtown Naperville,
before embarking on the Official Ghost Tour?
in downtown Naperville,
before embarking on the Official Ghost Tour?
You're in luck!
Naperville is seething with great hauntings!
Below are a few you can check out on your own.
They're all in downtown, within walking distance of each-other.
Note: All stories are Copyright Kevin Frantz 2007. (feel free to copy & paste them
into a Word doc., that you can print out and bring with you to Naperville).
Also of interest, Naperville first-ever book of true ghost stories is called Naperville, Chicago's Haunted Neighbor. It has a great map in it of haunted downtown locations, so you can take your own self-guided ghost tour! You can buy a copy online and have it in-hand when you visit Naperville!
Buy it HERE, shipping is free.
Naperville is seething with great hauntings!
Below are a few you can check out on your own.
They're all in downtown, within walking distance of each-other.
Note: All stories are Copyright Kevin Frantz 2007. (feel free to copy & paste them
into a Word doc., that you can print out and bring with you to Naperville).
Also of interest, Naperville first-ever book of true ghost stories is called Naperville, Chicago's Haunted Neighbor. It has a great map in it of haunted downtown locations, so you can take your own self-guided ghost tour! You can buy a copy online and have it in-hand when you visit Naperville!
Buy it HERE, shipping is free.
The Place:
The Haunt:
In this simple basement shop lurks a most intriquing spirit. He has been spotted in and around the antique safe (pictured). A psychic has also communicated with him, telling her that his name is Nathan and he's "looking for Jean (Gene)".
He's 5'9", dark hair, and he's wearing a dark blue pee coat. Mike, the owner of Wayfarer Candles, will gladly show you the safe area where Nathan appears. Good luck...
The Place:
The Haunt:
A young woman spirit was spotted inside the building, about 30 feet inside the front door. She was looking through a rack of elaborate clothing. When the witness asked what she was doing, the spirit responded, "it's showtime!" The witness asked the spirit her name and she mumbled something the witness didn't understand. The witnessed asked again and the spirit snapped back, "just call me Marilyn!" With that she vanished.
The photo above was taken in front of the theater 2 months after the starlet appeared. Note the large orb in the window - inside the locked building! - as Kevin Frantz of Ghost Tours of Naperville tells the starlet's story! (Was she listening???)
Photo by Kristi Roepke. To see it close up, click HERE.
The Place:
The Haunt:
The Lantern has been a popular Naperville watering hole since the 1960's. The comfortable atmosphere, friendly service, and great food are something Naperville can be proud of. But is there a former customer who so enjoys the place, it wants to hang out and play a few games?
Customers and employees of the Lantern have, on occasions over the years, experienced an eerie, creepy, sensation moving through the place.... followed by flashing lights, and a sudden drop in room temperature! It only lasts moment. But the witnesses never forget it.
Why not stop in for a awesome burger and a brew? You never know....
The Place:
The Haunt:
In the 1800's this building was a saloon on the ground floor and a Victorian living quarters on the second floor. The building was owned by Arthur and Gladys Hesterman, they lived on the second floor. And it seems that Gladys Hesterman still considers this her home.
The problem? Gladys died 75 years ago.
Many tenants of this upstairs retail space, over the years, have complained of strange goings-on. Several decades ago there are was a salon in the space. The owner's small son used to carry on conversations with a person he called "the old woman". Unfortunately no one else could see her...
On occasion furniture would be shifted around in the room - rooms that no one had been in.
In 2007 a retailer in the space reported that ceramic displays had been, during the night, removed from their places on the shelves and smashed in the center of the room. There was no way they could have fallen from their places and landed where they did. It was almost as if they'd been thrown down...
Combine that with the reports of the stairs creaking with the same sounds as someone using them - when no one was on them... cold spots.... and the presence, during a seance in the space, who identified herself as "Gladys" to the psychic! The presence also "tripped" the EMF ghost meters being used at the time, signaling that an high electromagnetic presence was in the vicinity...
The Place:
The Haunt:
It seems the premises are visited by a woman and a small boy. They have been seen together and separately, walking through the restaurant and vanishing into the walls! There are even cases in which a child's small hand has been witnessed pushing through the wall into the restaurant!! The wall actually having the impression of a small hand as if it's trying to push through the wall from the other side!
The Heaven on Seven restaurant has some of the finest New Orleans cuisine outside of New Orleans. Why not treat yourself to gumbo and a ghost?
The Place:
The Haunt:
The Naperville Cemetery is seething with restless spirits! Go ghost hunting with your camera, or EVP gear, and you'll capture many interesting anomalies. (See photo below of anomaly captured on the grounds).
There are stories of "Ghost Lights" moving about the area. These are also called
"will-o-the-wisp" and have been spotted in cemeteries all over the world for centuries!
Once, a ghost tour participant took a photo of the grounds and in the photo was a Victorian Mourning Chair, sometimes called a Vacant Chair. (These were often in cemeteries, providing a person in mourning a place to sit). The problem? The chair was not on the grounds!! But, it was clear as day in the photo!!! Evidently, it had been there at one time!
Phantom spirits have been seen on the grounds, some dressed in period clothing, others more like "shadow people", dark spirits who move over the grounds!
There is also a celebrity grave here: that of the famous horse showman Otto Klein. He was born and raised in Naperville and went on to star in wild west shows with the likes of Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. He died tragically during a show in Madison Square Garden in New York. People have experienced supernatural-types of communication while sitting near his grave. To read his spectacular story, click HERE.
To get to his grave, enter the cemetery from the gate opening on Hillside street. Walk to the end of the walkway and turn left. Walk about 100 feet until you see the grave on your right for a family named Oaks. Stop there. Otto's grave is 30 feet to the right of the Oak family marker.
Note: Do NOT enter the cemetery after dark. It is disrespectful and illegal. You will be trespassing and can be arrested!!!
The Place:
The Haunt:
It began as a simple debut performance of a musical play. It ended in unexpected death, disappointment, and a determination to resolve some unfinished business. -- Even if it must be resolved from beyond the grave.
She's a little old woman in blue, and she's got quite a story... Read it HERE.
Photo by Josh Novak
The Place:
The Haunt:
In March of 1949, our Police Chief, Edward Otterpohl, was piloting his small boat westward down the river through town. It was about 2am, very dark. It was then that something appeared on the boat terrorizing the Police chief.
He was so terrified that he leaped over the side and swam to the river's edge. His boat was shipwrecked along the other side. To this day, no one knows what appeared on the Chief's boat that terrorized him enough to cause him to leap overboard!
The Place:
The Haunt: Step back from the building and note the shape of the bricked in windows on the second floor? They have a "church-like" quality to them, don't they? That's because, back in the early 1900's this location was a funeral parlor in town. It was part of the Biedelman Undertakers next door. Strangely, the parlor was free to use for the wake, as long as Biedelman's had prepared the deceased for viewing. Imagine, a free wake today?
The building has probably had hundreds of wakes in it, and there appears to be a couple of mischievous children ghosts still playing in the building!
Stories are that at times small children can be heard running around and laughing upstairs! As well, there are accounts of the owners of the spice shop opening up in morning only to find inventory on the floor that appeared to have been knocked across the room! As if children had been running around in the area and bumped into things knocking the items around the room!
The Place:
The Haunt:
Back in the 1980's this location was a rib restaurant. A young man named Robert worked there as a waiter. The place was closed, about 11pm, and Robert and a few others were preparing the place for the night. Robert was alone in the room - or so he thought.
Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a small boy peaking out from under a table. He looked over, there was no one there. He went back to work. A moment later he saw the boy again. He went to the table and looked underneath - an 8 year old boy sat there! The boy had a toy firehose that oozed water when he squeezed it.
Robert asked, "who are you?" The boy said, "I want to be a fireman!" Robert went to find the boy's parents, but no other employee in the building knew of the boy.
Robert went back to the table, and the boy was gone. Everyone looked for the boy but he was nowhere to be found. All doors locked from the inside.
Robert sat down next to the table thinking he was going crazy. Then he felt the carpet under the table - it was wet from the firehose water!
The boy was seen by other employees on several other occasions after that!
The Place:
The Haunt:
5th Avenue Station was the Kroehler Manufacturing facility in the early 1900's. It began in Naperville and was a national furniture manufacturer. The building employed over 900 Naperville residents at any one time! It was closed in the 1950's. Back in the 1970's, at a cost of 17 million dollars, it was converted to retail and condos. Today it thrives as a Naperville visitor-must-see-location. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The exposed wood beams and 19th century construction are evident, but what isn't obvious are the spirits that for some reason seem attracted to the facility!
Several spirits have made themselves known, among them the Naperville "Shadow Ghost", and Native American spirits.
The Place:
The Haunt:
This is one of the most haunted stretches of road anywhere! Because at this intersection of Loomis street and the tracks occurred one of the most horrific train accidents in American history! To read a detailed account of the Naperville Train Wreck, click here.
In April of 1946, the Advance Flyer passenger train had made an unscheduled maintenance stop in Naperville. Behind it, on the same track, was passenger train The Exposition Flyer, doing 88 miles per hour. The engineer of the Exposition didn't see the warning lights, informing him that there was a train stopped on the track ahead.
The Exposition rammed into the the stationary Advance Flyer at 88 mile per hour! 44 people were killed instantly. Many more would die shortly after.
The dead were laid out on 4th Avenue, and the Kroehler building became a make-shift morgue.
Today there are many reported sightings of people walking along the road, dazed and confused, who seem to vanish into thin air!
There are strange goings-on in the homes in the area too. Such as cold spots, strange noises & shadows, etc.
Our tours often bring people here to ghost hunt. Our tour participants have captured spectacular paranormal images, such as: large orbs, blue spheres, mists along the ground, erratic EMF readings, etc.
Once, a woman took a picture of tour guide Kevin, the bus driver, and an Investigator, all standing in front of the bus. She looked at the photo and let out a scream! Upon inspection of the image we saw that the image was crystal-clear except for the 3 men in the frame - they were black smudges!
As macabre as it seems, this is a very active paranormal area. Take lots of pictures here.
Please note these 2 requests:
1) Stay off the tracks! It is railroad property and you aren't allowed there. Besides it's dangerous and there are no ghosts there. Most of the great results we've seen were secured near the street - 4th Avenue - where the bodies were laid out.
2) Please stay out of private yards! People live here, please respect their property & privacy.
Wayfarer Candles 34 W. Jefferson Ave.
The Haunt:
In this simple basement shop lurks a most intriquing spirit. He has been spotted in and around the antique safe (pictured). A psychic has also communicated with him, telling her that his name is Nathan and he's "looking for Jean (Gene)".
The Place:
The Deserted Movie Theater 34 W Jefferson (street level)
The Haunt:
A young woman spirit was spotted inside the building, about 30 feet inside the front door. She was looking through a rack of elaborate clothing. When the witness asked what she was doing, the spirit responded, "it's showtime!" The witness asked the spirit her name and she mumbled something the witness didn't understand. The witnessed asked again and the spirit snapped back, "just call me Marilyn!" With that she vanished.
Photo by Kristi Roepke. To see it close up, click HERE.
The Place:
The LANTERN Tavern & Grill 8 W. Chicago Avenue
Open till 2 am on Friday & Sat.
Open till 2 am on Friday & Sat.
The Haunt:
The Lantern has been a popular Naperville watering hole since the 1960's. The comfortable atmosphere, friendly service, and great food are something Naperville can be proud of. But is there a former customer who so enjoys the place, it wants to hang out and play a few games?
Why not stop in for a awesome burger and a brew? You never know....
The Place:
103 W Jefferson NW corner of Jefferson & Main
The Haunt:
In the 1800's this building was a saloon on the ground floor and a Victorian living quarters on the second floor. The building was owned by Arthur and Gladys Hesterman, they lived on the second floor. And it seems that Gladys Hesterman still considers this her home.
The problem? Gladys died 75 years ago.
Many tenants of this upstairs retail space, over the years, have complained of strange goings-on. Several decades ago there are was a salon in the space. The owner's small son used to carry on conversations with a person he called "the old woman". Unfortunately no one else could see her...
On occasion furniture would be shifted around in the room - rooms that no one had been in.
In 2007 a retailer in the space reported that ceramic displays had been, during the night, removed from their places on the shelves and smashed in the center of the room. There was no way they could have fallen from their places and landed where they did. It was almost as if they'd been thrown down...
Combine that with the reports of the stairs creaking with the same sounds as someone using them - when no one was on them... cold spots.... and the presence, during a seance in the space, who identified herself as "Gladys" to the psychic! The presence also "tripped" the EMF ghost meters being used at the time, signaling that an high electromagnetic presence was in the vicinity...
The Place:
Heaven on Seven 224 S. Main St.
Open till 11pm on Friday & Sat.
The Haunt:
It seems the premises are visited by a woman and a small boy. They have been seen together and separately, walking through the restaurant and vanishing into the walls! There are even cases in which a child's small hand has been witnessed pushing through the wall into the restaurant!! The wall actually having the impression of a small hand as if it's trying to push through the wall from the other side!
The Heaven on Seven restaurant has some of the finest New Orleans cuisine outside of New Orleans. Why not treat yourself to gumbo and a ghost?
The Place:
Naperville Cemetery
On Washington street, 3 blocks south of downtown.
On Washington street, 3 blocks south of downtown.
The Haunt:
The Naperville Cemetery is seething with restless spirits! Go ghost hunting with your camera, or EVP gear, and you'll capture many interesting anomalies. (See photo below of anomaly captured on the grounds).
There are stories of "Ghost Lights" moving about the area. These are also called
"will-o-the-wisp" and have been spotted in cemeteries all over the world for centuries!
Once, a ghost tour participant took a photo of the grounds and in the photo was a Victorian Mourning Chair, sometimes called a Vacant Chair. (These were often in cemeteries, providing a person in mourning a place to sit). The problem? The chair was not on the grounds!! But, it was clear as day in the photo!!! Evidently, it had been there at one time!
Phantom spirits have been seen on the grounds, some dressed in period clothing, others more like "shadow people", dark spirits who move over the grounds!
There is also a celebrity grave here: that of the famous horse showman Otto Klein. He was born and raised in Naperville and went on to star in wild west shows with the likes of Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. He died tragically during a show in Madison Square Garden in New York. People have experienced supernatural-types of communication while sitting near his grave. To read his spectacular story, click HERE.
To get to his grave, enter the cemetery from the gate opening on Hillside street. Walk to the end of the walkway and turn left. Walk about 100 feet until you see the grave on your right for a family named Oaks. Stop there. Otto's grave is 30 feet to the right of the Oak family marker.
Note: Do NOT enter the cemetery after dark. It is disrespectful and illegal. You will be trespassing and can be arrested!!!
The Place:
North Central College's Pfeiffer Hall
The Haunt:
It began as a simple debut performance of a musical play. It ended in unexpected death, disappointment, and a determination to resolve some unfinished business. -- Even if it must be resolved from beyond the grave.
Photo by Josh Novak
The Place:
The River beneath Main street.
The Haunt:
In March of 1949, our Police Chief, Edward Otterpohl, was piloting his small boat westward down the river through town. It was about 2am, very dark. It was then that something appeared on the boat terrorizing the Police chief.
The Place:
Penzeys Spices 235 S. Washington St.
The Haunt: Step back from the building and note the shape of the bricked in windows on the second floor? They have a "church-like" quality to them, don't they? That's because, back in the early 1900's this location was a funeral parlor in town. It was part of the Biedelman Undertakers next door. Strangely, the parlor was free to use for the wake, as long as Biedelman's had prepared the deceased for viewing. Imagine, a free wake today?
Stories are that at times small children can be heard running around and laughing upstairs! As well, there are accounts of the owners of the spice shop opening up in morning only to find inventory on the floor that appeared to have been knocked across the room! As if children had been running around in the area and bumped into things knocking the items around the room!
The Place:
Rosebud Restaurant 48 W.Chicago Ave.
Open till 11:30pm on Friday & Sat.
The Haunt:
Back in the 1980's this location was a rib restaurant. A young man named Robert worked there as a waiter. The place was closed, about 11pm, and Robert and a few others were preparing the place for the night. Robert was alone in the room - or so he thought.
Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a small boy peaking out from under a table. He looked over, there was no one there. He went back to work. A moment later he saw the boy again. He went to the table and looked underneath - an 8 year old boy sat there! The boy had a toy firehose that oozed water when he squeezed it.
Robert asked, "who are you?" The boy said, "I want to be a fireman!" Robert went to find the boy's parents, but no other employee in the building knew of the boy.
Robert went back to the table, and the boy was gone. Everyone looked for the boy but he was nowhere to be found. All doors locked from the inside.
Robert sat down next to the table thinking he was going crazy. Then he felt the carpet under the table - it was wet from the firehose water!
The boy was seen by other employees on several other occasions after that!
The 2 haunts below are not in downtown, but are walking distance - about 15 minutes.
They are next to each other. To get to them, head north on Washington to 5th Avenue
(Harris Bank is on the corner).
Turn right onto 5th Avenue. Walk 3 blocks to the large brown building on the right.
That is your destination - 5th Avenue Station.
If it's during the day, you may go inside, it's a retail center.
They are next to each other. To get to them, head north on Washington to 5th Avenue
(Harris Bank is on the corner).
Turn right onto 5th Avenue. Walk 3 blocks to the large brown building on the right.
That is your destination - 5th Avenue Station.
If it's during the day, you may go inside, it's a retail center.
The Place:
5th Avenue Station 20 E 5th Avenue
The Haunt:
5th Avenue Station was the Kroehler Manufacturing facility in the early 1900's. It began in Naperville and was a national furniture manufacturer. The building employed over 900 Naperville residents at any one time! It was closed in the 1950's. Back in the 1970's, at a cost of 17 million dollars, it was converted to retail and condos. Today it thrives as a Naperville visitor-must-see-location. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Several spirits have made themselves known, among them the Naperville "Shadow Ghost", and Native American spirits.
The Place:
Behind the 5th Avenue Station
(along Loomis street, across the railroad tracks, at 4th Avenue)
The Haunt:
This is one of the most haunted stretches of road anywhere! Because at this intersection of Loomis street and the tracks occurred one of the most horrific train accidents in American history! To read a detailed account of the Naperville Train Wreck, click here.
In April of 1946, the Advance Flyer passenger train had made an unscheduled maintenance stop in Naperville. Behind it, on the same track, was passenger train The Exposition Flyer, doing 88 miles per hour. The engineer of the Exposition didn't see the warning lights, informing him that there was a train stopped on the track ahead.
The Exposition rammed into the the stationary Advance Flyer at 88 mile per hour! 44 people were killed instantly. Many more would die shortly after.
The dead were laid out on 4th Avenue, and the Kroehler building became a make-shift morgue.
Today there are many reported sightings of people walking along the road, dazed and confused, who seem to vanish into thin air!
There are strange goings-on in the homes in the area too. Such as cold spots, strange noises & shadows, etc.
Our tours often bring people here to ghost hunt. Our tour participants have captured spectacular paranormal images, such as: large orbs, blue spheres, mists along the ground, erratic EMF readings, etc.
Once, a woman took a picture of tour guide Kevin, the bus driver, and an Investigator, all standing in front of the bus. She looked at the photo and let out a scream! Upon inspection of the image we saw that the image was crystal-clear except for the 3 men in the frame - they were black smudges!
As macabre as it seems, this is a very active paranormal area. Take lots of pictures here.
Please note these 2 requests:
1) Stay off the tracks! It is railroad property and you aren't allowed there. Besides it's dangerous and there are no ghosts there. Most of the great results we've seen were secured near the street - 4th Avenue - where the bodies were laid out.
2) Please stay out of private yards! People live here, please respect their property & privacy.
