According to ghostly legend, at Blaber House there is a spectral elderly woman who sits and reads in a chair, and walks around the yard at around midnight. When she is finished walking the perimeter of the yard, she heads for the roadway and vanishes.
Blaber House
Peoria Public Library
Peoria Public Library, according to local lore, was built upon cursed ground. So the story goes, Mrs. Andrew Gray lived in a house here around 1830. Family and financial hardships led to a foreclosure on her home, and Mrs. Gray cursed the property and all of its future owners. Her curse is said to have come true for all subsequent owners of the property. In 1894, the library was built very near where Mrs. Gray’s house stood, and the first three library directors died under mysterious circumstances. The library was demolished in 1966 and a new one built in its place, but the many ghosts who are said to live here as a result of Mrs. Gray’s curse have stayed on. According to staff, their names are called when they are alone in the stacks and they feel cold drafts and see apparitions of a former library director in a basement doorway.
Cuba Road
Along Cuba Road, a phantom black car is said to appear near a cemetery or an old house before vanishing away. Trouble is, that house burned down years ago. Also along the road appears a ghost woman carrying a lantern, who flags down motorists and then disappears when they stop for her. An apparition of a gangster chewing on a cigar also has been seen in drivers’ rear-view mirrors. The road is said to have been frequented by gangsters during the Prohibition era.
Massock Mausoleum
The Massock Mausoleum stands in a small graveyard called the Lithuanian Liberty Cemetery, and it’s the stuff of legends. Locals tell of a Hatchet Man, a scary ghost who guards the cemetery, and the mausoleum door is said to remain warm and has been sealed closed since the 1960s when vandals stole a skull from it. In Rosemary Ellen Guiley’s The Complete Vampire Companion, she tells about a pale, thin apparition seen here at night. According to the book, after hearing about the sightings, a reporter poured holy water into the mausoleum’s vent, and consequently heard an eerie groaning sound come from the crypt. The area is reported to be closely patrolled by police.
Miner's Theatre
Experts on the Miner’s Theatre say it has three ghosts: Two are brothers, one of whom one killed the other to become the sole owner of the theater. The third ghost, a young woman, is friendly but likes to play pranks like hiding the actors’ makeup or costumes.
Lawford Theatre
Folks who have visited or worked at the Lawford Theatre have seen faces appear in photographs and have felt cold chills behind the curtains on opening nights.
Arcada Theater
Arcada Theatre, built in 1926 by millionaire and Chicago Tribune cartoonist Lester J. Norris, is haunted by disembodied voices that waft from the balcony throughout the rest of the building, a phantom odd odor, and unexplained cold pockets.
Kennedy Brothers Memorial Apartments
Kennedy Brothers Memorial Apartments are rumored to be built on top of an old cemetery. Now, folks say they are haunted. Witnesses have reported disembodied footsteps, the sound of crying, and a ghost girl. The sound of someone playing basketball has been heard in the gym when no one was using the courts, and much more activity has been reported. In May 2014, a woman, age 60, was found burned to death inside one of the apartments. The cause of the fire was unknown.
Cristo Rey Catholic Church
Cristo Rey Catholic Church is only open to the public during Holy Week, as it is part of a cloistered convent. Its ghost in residence is said to be a kindly nun in traditional habit, seen praying at the altar communion rail. If people approach her, she gradually fades away.
Evergreen Cemetery
The ghost boy at Evergreen Cemetery is said to stand on the sidewalk and ask passersby for a ride in the wee hours of the morning. Also, a mist and a strong smell are said to materialize near the train tracks behind the graveyard.
