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BACHELOR’S GROVE CEMETERY

5900 Midlothian Turnpike, Midlothian, Illinois 60445

directions

Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery is rather difficult to find. From the center of Chicago, take I-94 East to I-57 South. Follow I-57 South for about 5 miles to Exit 353, the Burr Oak Avenue exit. Take your first right onto 127th Street and follow that for about 3 miles. Turn left onto South Pulaski Road and follow that for another 1.5 miles. Turn right onto Midlothian Turnpike. About 2.5 miles down the road, you will see a parking area on your right for the Rubio Forest Preserve. Park there. Cross Midlothian Turnpike, heading toward cell towers by the woods. To the right of the cell towers is a small path that runs into the woods. Follow that path for about a 0.25 mile into the woods, and you will come to the decrepit cemetery.

history

Until the 1960s, instead of angling at 143rd Street, Midlothian Turnpike continued straight, all the way to Ridgeland Avenue. But in the 1960s, the road was shut down at 143rd Street to vehicular traffic, leaving only a trail leading out into the woods. This stretch of road between the angling of Midlothian Turnpike and Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery has a rather turbulent history for an area so remote.

Perhaps the most famous recorded death in the area occurred in the 1870s. A farmer was plowing a field across 143rd Street when something startled his horse. The horse ran across 143rd Street towards where the small pond exists today near the cemetery. As the farmer struggled to control his horse, he became entangled in the reins. When the horse arrived at the pond, and the plow began to sink into the water, the farmer was still hopelessly entangled. Unable to escape, he was slowly pulled under the water and drowned. This same pond would become a dumping ground for bodies of the victims of the gang wars of the 1920s.

This story is just a drop in the bucket of all of the troubling occurrences that have happened here since 1833, when four unmarried bachelors founded the settlement for which the cemetery is named. Many of the worst occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, after the road was shut down. Even before the road was closed, the area was a popular “lover’s lane,” where local teenagers hung around late into the night. Newly closed to access, the remote burial site was exposed to vandals, who destroyed what they could of the cemetery by tearing up or spray-painting its headstones. These headstones would be strewn about and discovered miles away. Local police would not even return the found headstones to the cemetery, knowing that they would just be taken again.

The 1960s and 1970s also saw Bachelor’s Grove become a center for Satanic rituals. People would find dead animals strewn around the area, apparently victims of some dark sacrifice. Eventually, the vandalism and rituals all but stopped. Some thank the increased patrols of local law enforcement. Others say that something darker inside of those woods scared the vandals away.

ghost story

Some say that this cemetery is the most haunted place on Earth. People will experience the ghosts from the beginning of the trail off the Midlothian Turnpike all the way back to the cemetery and the pond just past it. Perhaps the most frequently seen ghosts here take the form of balls of light. These balls of light appear as either red or blue orbs that float down the path or through the woods directly adjacent to the path. Other witnesses only report feelings of discomfort while walking the path; they experience intangible feelings of dread or depression, or feel as though they are being watched by some unseen entity as they walk the trail.

Beyond these common ghost stories, a few highly unusual sightings have been reported in the area. One night, forest officials from the Rubio Forest Preserve were patrolling the area near the pond. Out of nowhere, they saw a horse pulling a plow run across the path toward the pond and then vanish without a trace. Others have seen a phantom house appear and disappear in the woods. The house has been seen on several occasions by people who had never heard the story of the phantom house before. Many of the accounts of this house are eerily similar. It is always a white, two-story farmhouse. There is a swing on the porch and a welcoming light burning in one of the downstairs windows. Legend has it that if you enter the house, you will be trapped there forever. Some stories report that as you approach the house, it seems to get farther and farther away, until it eventually vanishes into the distance.

As if these stories weren’t enough to give this place its haunted reputation, there are numerous other tales told about the area. Most of these involve apparitions who walk the trail and cemetery and vanish without a trace. Some of these apparitions are men wearing brown robes and hoods. The most famous apparition, though, is that of a woman. She has been called “the white lady,” “Mrs. Rodgers,” and, most famously, “the Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove.” She has been photographed at least twice by people who did not see her when they took the photograph. She has been seen countless other times on the path or in the cemetery itself.

visiting

When visiting this place, the most important thing to keep in mind is to follow all of the local laws. This means that when you park, park your car at the Rubio Forest Preserve and not in the nearby driveways or along the road. Furthermore and most importantly, the path and cemetery close at sunset. You must not enter this area under any circumstances after the sun has set. Due to the turbulent history of the area, it is patrolled regularly, and you will be arrested if you attempt to visit at night.