The Legends and Lore of Illinois
Join the Fallen as they uncover mysteries hidden in the Prairie State!
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed about 360,000 times in 2012. If it were Liechtenstein, it would take about 7 years for that many people to see it. Your blog had more visits than a small country in Europe!
Click here to download the entire issue in .pdf
Moon Point Cemetery is an old graveyard located just south of Streator in Livingston County. Like other rural graveyards, it became an object of folklore in the late 1960s and ‘70s when local teens, looking for a place to ‘hang out’ after dark, picked this isolated location to drink, spin yarns, and play pranks on one another. Moon’s Point got its name from Jacob Moon who, along with his daughter and three sons, was the first to settle the area. Locals believe the cemetery is haunted by the ghost of a “hatchet lady.” This lady went insane, the story goes, after either her son or daughter died, and every full moon, her spirit is seen stalking the cemetery, hatchet in hand. Another tale associated with Moon Point concerns an abandoned house—previously owned by a witch, of course—that is also rumored to be haunted. Many tales of séances and illicit trespasses have come from that location. The remoteness of the cemetery is accentuated by the fact that a railroad track bisects the road leading to it. It is said that anyone who is caught in the cemetery while a train passes will be trapped there. That much is true. According to legend, however, your car will also die and not be able to restart until after the train has gone.
For an in-depth look at this location, check out Volume 3 Issue 5 of the Legends and Lore of Illinois, featuring the history & hauntings of Moon Point Cemetery, the adventures of The Fallen, trivia, and much more!
Click here to download the entire issue (in .pdf)
————————
Legends and Lore of Illinois Vol. 3 – on Kindle!
Or, order all 12 issues of the Legends and Lore of Illinois from 2009 for only $5.00 in a special Kindle edition. Places covered in Vol. 3 include Lebanon Road’s 7 Gates to Hell, Ramsey Cemetery, Elmwood Cemetery’s Violin Annie, Manteno State Hospital, the Hatchet Lady of Moon Point Cemetery, Chanute Air Force Base, Ashmore Estates, Aux Sable Cemetery, Ax Man’s Bridge, and more. Plus, read letters from our readers, adventurer’s logs, Paranormal 101, and put your knowledge of these locations to the test with challenging trivia questions. Don’t miss these classic issues.
Order it today on Amazon.com.
Note: Amazon Kindle required.
Legends and Lore of Illinois: Investigation Reports
This collection consists of 47 haunted locations from the archives of the Legends and Lore of Illinois, arranged alphabetically and by category, with over 60 accompanying photos. Many of these photos have never been seen before. Inside, you will find the history, ghost stories, and folklore of popular locations such as Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, Resurrection Cemetery and Archer Avenue, Manteno State Hospital, Lakey’s Creek, and the Peoria State Hospital, plus local haunts such as Ashmore Estates, Chanute Air Force Base, Vishnu Springs, and Peck Cemetery. Learn the real stories behind the legends: misconceptions and misinformation about these places and more are tackled head on.
Order it today on Amazon.com!
Note: Amazon Kindle required.
Don’t have a Kindle reader? Check out all our print-edition books here.
Click here to download the entire issue!
The “Crybaby Bridge” is a common folklore motif in the Midwest, and although the bridges may be different, their stories are very similar. One concerns a young mother who drowned her unwanted child in the river under the bridge, and the infant’s cries can still be heard. Another common story is that a bus or van full of children drove off the bridge, killing everyone inside. Now, if you put your car in neutral while on the bridge, invisible hands will push you safely to the other side. Both of these legends are associated with a steel, graffiti-covered bridge in rural Warren County. One tale particular to this location involves a speeding car full of impetuous youths who struck and killed a fisherman as he cast a line into the creek. Additionally, several people have claimed to hear a baby crying near this bridge.
For an in-depth look at this location, check out Volume 4 Issue 7 of the Legends and Lore of Illinois, featuring the history & hauntings of Monmouth’s Crybaby Bridge, the adventures of The Fallen, trivia, and much more!
Download entire issue (in .pdf)
————————
Legends and Lore of Illinois Vol. 4 – on Kindle!
Or, order all 11 issues of the Legends and Lore of Illinois from 2010 for only $5.00 in a special Kindle edition. Places covered in Vol. 4 include Western Illinois University’s Simpkins Hall, the Seventh Avenue Dead End, Illinois State University, Willow Creek Farm, Vishnu Springs, the Cambridge Death Curve, Crybaby Bridge, Archer Avenue, Rockford College, Starved Rock State Park and more. Plus, read letters from our readers, the latest adventures of The Fallen, skeptic’s corner, and put your knowledge of these locations to the test with challenging trivia questions.
Order it today on Amazon.com.
Note: Amazon Kindle required.
Legends and Lore of Illinois: Investigation Reports
This collection consists of 47 haunted locations from the archives of the Legends and Lore of Illinois, arranged alphabetically and by category, with over 60 accompanying photos. Many of these photos have never been seen before. Inside, you will find the history, ghost stories, and folklore of popular locations such as Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, Resurrection Cemetery and Archer Avenue, Manteno State Hospital, Lakey’s Creek, and the Peoria State Hospital, plus local haunts such as Ashmore Estates, Chanute Air Force Base, Vishnu Springs, and Peck Cemetery. Learn the real stories behind the legends: misconceptions and misinformation about these places and more are tackled head on.
Order it today on Amazon.com!
Note: Amazon Kindle required.
Don’t have a Kindle reader? Check out all our print-edition books here.
Click here to download the entire issue!
Vishnu Springs was a once-thriving resort community. Attracted to the natural spring’s healing properties, an entrepreneur named Darius Hicks inherited the land and built a hotel he called the Capital Hotel. Other people soon arrived to live and work there, but the isolated nature of the resort impeded its growth. During the early 1900s, several deadly incidents and scandals tarnished the community, and when Darius Hicks committed suicide in 1908, no one remained who was willing to invest their energy in the resort. During the 1970s, a group of hippies made a short lived attempt to turn it into a commune. Today, all that remains is the old hotel—a shadow of what it once was. Olga Kay Kennedy, a Western Illinois University alumnus, inherited Vishnu Springs from her grandparents and gifted it to the university in 2003. According to her wishes, all 140 acres will be turned into a wildlife sanctuary.
For an in-depth look at this location, check out Volume 4 Issue 6 of the Legends and Lore of Illinois, featuring the history & hauntings of Vishnu Springs, the adventures of The Fallen, trivia, and much more!
Download entire issue (in .pdf)
————————
Legends and Lore of Illinois Vol. 4 – on Kindle!
Or, order all 11 issues of the Legends and Lore of Illinois from 2010 for only $5.00 in a special Kindle edition. Places covered in Vol. 4 include Western Illinois University’s Simpkins Hall, the Seventh Avenue Dead End, Illinois State University, Willow Creek Farm, Vishnu Springs, the Cambridge Death Curve, Crybaby Bridge, Archer Avenue, Rockford College, Starved Rock State Park and more. Plus, read letters from our readers, the latest adventures of The Fallen, skeptic’s corner, and put your knowledge of these locations to the test with challenging trivia questions.
Order it today on Amazon.com.
Note: Amazon Kindle required.
Legends and Lore of Illinois: Investigation Reports
This collection consists of 47 haunted locations from the archives of the Legends and Lore of Illinois, arranged alphabetically and by category, with over 60 accompanying photos. Many of these photos have never been seen before. Inside, you will find the history, ghost stories, and folklore of popular locations such as Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, Resurrection Cemetery and Archer Avenue, Manteno State Hospital, Lakey’s Creek, and the Peoria State Hospital, plus local haunts such as Ashmore Estates, Chanute Air Force Base, Vishnu Springs, and Peck Cemetery. Learn the real stories behind the legends: misconceptions and misinformation about these places and more are tackled head on.
Order it today on Amazon.com!
Note: Amazon Kindle required.
Don’t have a Kindle reader? Check out all our print-edition books here.
Click here to purchase the entire issue!
Rockford College is steeped in history. It was founded in 1847 as Rockford Female Seminary and changed its name in 1892, but remained a predominately female academy until 1958. Jane Addams graduated from the school in 1881. In 1964 the campus was moved from its home along the river to its present location along State Street. Many campus buildings are said to be haunted. The laughter of past students has been heard in the vicinity of Adams Arch, which was constructed using a doorway from the original campus. The ghost of either a student or professor reportedly haunts a former radio station in the Burpee Building. The Clark Arts Center’s two theaters are also visited by their own phantoms, one of whom is supposed to be the ghost of the building’s architect.
For an in-depth look at this location, check out Volume 4 Issue 4 of the Legends and Lore of Illinois, featuring the history & hauntings of Rockford College, the adventures of The Fallen, trivia, and much more!
Download entire issue (in .pdf)
————————
Legends and Lore of Illinois Vol. 4 – on Kindle!
Or, order all 11 issues of the Legends and Lore of Illinois from 2010 for only $5.00 in a special Kindle edition. Places covered in Vol. 4 include Western Illinois University’s Simpkins Hall, the Seventh Avenue Dead End, Illinois State University, Willow Creek Farm, Vishnu Springs, the Cambridge Death Curve, Crybaby Bridge, Archer Avenue, Rockford College, Starved Rock State Park and more. Plus, read letters from our readers, the latest adventures of The Fallen, skeptic’s corner, and put your knowledge of these locations to the test with challenging trivia questions.
Order it today on Amazon.com.
Note: Amazon Kindle required.
Legends and Lore of Illinois: Investigation Reports
This collection consists of 47 haunted locations from the archives of the Legends and Lore of Illinois, arranged alphabetically and by category, with over 60 accompanying photos. Many of these photos have never been seen before. Inside, you will find the history, ghost stories, and folklore of popular locations such as Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, Resurrection Cemetery and Archer Avenue, Manteno State Hospital, Lakey’s Creek, and the Peoria State Hospital, plus local haunts such as Ashmore Estates, Chanute Air Force Base, Vishnu Springs, and Peck Cemetery. Learn the real stories behind the legends: misconceptions and misinformation about these places and more are tackled head on.
Order it today on Amazon.com!
Note: Amazon Kindle required.
Don’t have a Kindle reader? Check out all our print-edition books here.
Recent Comments