Hartford Castle
Hartford Castle – Hartford, IL
By Michael Kleen
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“Hartford Castle” is the colloquial name for a mansion that formerly stood on a tract of land just outside of Hartford, Illinois, across the river from St. Louis. The mansion’s actual name was Lakeview, but few besides the original owner referred to it as such. The original owner was a French immigrant named Benjamin Biszant, who built the imposing home for his bride, an Englishwoman whose name has apparently been lost to history.
Sparing no expense (which was certainly an impressive dollar amount in 1897), Biszant surrounded Lakeview with sprawling gardens, statuary, romantic gazebos, and, finally, a moat to keep out trespassers. According to Louie Haines, a neighbor who recalled helping to dig the moat with his father, the Frenchman stocked it with goldfish that interbred with local crappie, producing what he described as “unusual looking fish” (Lewis & Clark Journal 25 March 1973).
Eventually, Biszant’s wife died and, perhaps, the pain was too much for him to remain at Lakeview. He sold the mansion and moved west. A number of owners and tenants occupied the mansion until 1923 when a husband and wife from nearby Wood River purchased the property. They lived there until 1964, when the wife became a widow and decided to move to less lonely surroundings.
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I VISITED THIS PLACE ONCE AS A TEENAGER CAN’T REMEMBER HOW TO GET TO IT WOULD LOVE TO GO THERE AGAIN CAN YOU HELP
Hey, I live here in Hartford, And I go there atleast once or twice or month. I take my metal dectector. I found lots of good stuff. Cant tell ya what.. But if you ever wunna go let me know and be sure to bring wade’n pant’s or water proof boot’s
Randy,
I would love to go ou there but is it private property?
who owns this property now?
Who owns this property now? Does anyone have any information on this topic? I can’t seem to track down the owners for the life of me!
A lady in Belle, Mo owns it, according to Madison County records. Supposedly, the police keep a close eye on the property for trespassers.
Last I was there, a hunter told me a local doctor owns the land.
Having 3 years of Paranormal Investative experience- Hartford Castle is with in our Riverbend local area- Our research team Riverbend Independent Paranormal Services R.I.P.S. is preparing to showcase local haunts for our tourist attractions. I’ve already collected countless hours at McPike and I’m on the volunteer staff there. (With lots of nitevison cameras. I also remember hearing of Hartford Castle and want to do a documentery on it if at all possible. PLEASE REPLY?
I live in hartford and know exactly where the castle is but need help getting to it. id be willing to take you as far as i know and then venture on forth to find a way to it
I live in hartford currently and know exactly where the castle is but can’t find anyone to go with nor anyone to lead me there. I have never been there but iv been right next to it and know how to get in the general area, id be willing to take people with me as far as i know and on a scout team to figure out a good route.
we found it have pics of what is left not hard to find google earth if you know hartford real good i live in east alton ten minutes away their is not much left but still cool found old hair dryer switch that was burned in the fire that took the house it was lying next to some rubble way cool that it was still their and its from the 50′s-60′s
how do u get tot the place?? i am into photography and i would LOVE to take some cool pics..help?
From the pictures I have seen on the web, there probably aren’t any cool pictures to take, unless you run into the yeti that one site says lives there. If you go on Google earth and go to the intersection of New Poag Rd and 111, it is just west of there on the east side of the railroad overpass. Once again, it is private property and supposedly the police watch it for trespassers.
I would love to go here. I live in St Louis. If anyone would like to go reply back and maybe we can set something up.
I tracked it down, since I do not live far. I took my son with me. It’s privately owned, as Mike said. Yes, the moat still exists. I’m not sure how deep it is, but it’s SO infested with mosquitoes back in there that it’s just UNreal. It’s incredibly marshy too. We couldn’t find an area to cross the moat, and since we were both getting eaten alive… plus the fact that I was trespassing with my son, it was time to go.
I think we were incredibly lucky that we didn’t get caught, either by police or by the farmer whose field we cut through, in order to get back into this little hidden away place. You have the farmer to contend with, the county, local police and then there’s railroad property that runs along it as well. HOWEVER, there IS a place to park your vehicle… out of the way, if you want to take a little walk down the tracks, you can get there without having to walk through the farmer’s field and all the marshy crap that my son and I treked through. But, good luck, because if you get caught I can guarantee you that’s a court appearance and not just a ticket that you can pay through the mail.
I live in wood river, my girlfriend and I go to lakeveiw. Easy to find, email me