Haunted Sites in the Fox River Valley

Photo+taken+by+Mackenzie+Wallace+and+Emalyse+Galhausen

Mackenzie Wallace

Photo taken by Mackenzie Wallace and Emalyse Galhausen

Mackenzie Wallace, Staff Writer

Do you believe in the supernatural? Some people don’t want to, while others are fascinated by it. 

There are three places in St. Charles that are rumored to be haunted. Two of them are accounted for in documents, while one, on the other hand, is not. 

The 90-year-old Baker Hotel has hosted Presidents John F. Kennedy and Gerald Ford, as well as other dignitaries.

Its 6th-floor storage area has a dark history. 

Over 40 years ago, a hotel chambermaid committed suicide, after being rejected at the altar by her prospective groom. She drowned herself in the adjacent Fox River, leaving her spirit to haunt the hotel. Local legend holds that her moans are heard in that 6th-floor storage area, which is where she worked, according to the website hauntedrooms.com 

Have you heard about the legend of Munger Road? The legend states that a school bus was hit by a train on Munger Road, killing the children on the bus. Local lore has it that their ghosts wander the area, causing screams and flashing lights near the railroad tracks. Some even say that if a car gets stuck on the tracks, the children will try and push the car out of the tracks. According to the Kane County Chronicle, a woman, who lives by herself, said that her horses avoid a certain corner in their barn for unexplained reasons. She claimed that she saw a glimpse of a ghost girl in the corner of her barn. Was this a child who was in the Munger Road bus accident? 

A different “explanation” for the screams and lights is that a derailed train crashed into a home. Everyone in the home other than an old man and his dog was killed. The survivors haunt the location of the crash. Yet upon doing research, there were no reports on seeing or hearing the man and his dog.

While I heard none of the screams reported by others, I admit I was startled to see a coyote not far down Munger Road where I had stopped.

Finally, one unknown place across the street from Wredling Middle School.

Round Grove Cemetery is found at the south end of the Royal Fox neighborhood on the east side of St. Charles. It is a small family burial plot which was originally known as ‘Laughlin Burial Ground.’  It’s Mosely Lane location was the road to the family farm. 

While the farm is now a subdivision, Mosley Lane remains a tree arched walking path. Round Gove is an inactive cemetery, maintained by St. Charles Township Cemeteries, with the first known burial to be in 1850. Eight stones remain there, with others having been moved to the North and Union cemeteries in St. Charles.

There is not a lot of information about who is buried there but upon taking photos, there were, what seemed to look like, eyes staring at the camera while pictures were being taken.

According to a member of the HOA, “there is a spirit that goes by the name, Mr. Red because when he comes out at night he has bright red eyes that stare out into the distance.”

You can visit these areas yourself, but be sure to bring a friend with you if you do.