Following are the most haunted places in Rockford, Illinois, where ancient legends and dark myths are brought to life in the shadowy corners of historic landmarks. These places hold secrets that have yet to be uncovered, with each creaking floorboard and cold breeze hinting at restless souls trapped between worlds.
Bell School Rd
: "corn field - sightings of white orbs, a strange man who disappears once you leave the corn field, off of bell school rd close to the new condos just built"
Blackhawk
: "it is said that in this house down the road a black man was shot in the basement and now the people that live in that house have seen a black shadow wander around their house during the night."
Cherryvalle Mall
: "It is said that several stores in this mall are to be haunted. Several mall employees have reported being followed through the mall by unseen forces after mall hours, things moving on their own, hangers swinging around, clothes mysteriously falling off racks, strange voices, bathroom doors being held shut when no one was there, and occasionally a store would be rather messy the next morning when it was cleaned quite well the night before."
East High School
: "It is said that an old theater lover that worked for the school died many years ago. An old employee of the school saw the figure of a woman walking on the auditoriums balcony. He later identified the woman as Addy (or Haddy as the thespians called her) the woman who had died. To this day people have heard footsteps in an empty auditorium, exit lights flashing when the wiring had been check several times, faint singing after school hours were closed, doors slamming shut, things being moved around, and several other strange occurrences"
Faust Hotel
: "It is said that many areas of the old Faust Hotel are haunted. Many service/repair men go to the basement area which includes an old bar and bowling alley that haven''t been functional since the 1980''s, they have reported a very strong feeling of a presence. Almost like someone watching them. The warm air goes cold and damp and all they can think about is getting back to the lobby area as quickly as possible. These same eerie feelings have been reported by many who have been in the old kitchen areas and also on the 11th floor which used to be the ballroom."
Jefferson High School
: "a girl fell off of ladder on stage by props balcony. you hear he cries and moans only when a show is on. sometimes the tech theatre students see her shadow trying to get up off of the ground!"
Rock River School
: "Witnesses have seen an apparition of a male figure in a white shirt and sweater standing in the stairway of the gym area watching them. Many teachers would not go near that area of the building after hours. The building was built in 1911 as a county school and later made one of the Rockford Public Schools and then sold around 2003. Building still standing on Kishwaukee Street, south of Harrison road."
Rockford Board of Education Building
: "An interesting place is our Rockford Board of Education building at 201 S Madison St in Rockford. The head custodian there has for many years told stories of the evening shift custodians and the basement. The building was at first built as Rockford Central High School near the turn of the 20th century. It has two buildings attached to it and an underground hallway that my mother (deceased) used as a student and they called that passage "rat alley". The hallway connected the first building to the second building. The basement of the "haunted" area used to be the "shop" area and housed small machines for the male students to practice machine skills. It is not clear what happened down there, but the custodians DON''T like to go down there at night, the lights will turn on after being turned OFF. Many a morning the head custodian will arrive for his day shift and find all the lights on in the basement. The lights seem to have a will of their own. A former secretarythought it was strange to hear hear grown men sound afraid of the basement. They hear noises down there, voices, all kinds of things."
Rockford College
: "Adams'' Arch - the only surviving remnant of Rockford Colleges'' original campus, is reported to echo with the laughter of young women late at night."
Rockford College
: "Burpee Building - Students and staff members working late in the basement of the Burpee building have reported seeing doors rattle violently or slam shut, hearing footsteps in the hallway, and a male voice in the old radio station rooms. - November 2003 Update: Haunting believed to be caused by a guy who committed suicide. A person reportedly was working late one night and saw a reflection of him in the window. When he turned around and looked at the sound room, there was no one there. Then the papers the guy was working on blew off his desk, and the only paper that was left on the desk was an old archive article about the guy''s death."
Rockford College
: "The Clark Arts Center - is said to be haunted by the ghost of the Theatre Arts professor who designed the building. Flickering lights, piano music, and echoing footsteps on catwalks are just some instances of this; in particular, Cheek Theater, Maddox Theater (as well as the hallway outside of it) and the green room (actors'' dressing room) seem to be hot spots."
Rockford College
: "McGaw Hall - 5th Floor - where an epileptic girl died in the bathtub over a Thanksgiving break some years ago is reported to have ghost activity. If you have any information, please email us at Haunted Places - August 2004 additional information: A cheerleading squad has just came back from a four day cheerleading camp at Rockford College and they stayed on the 6th and 7th floor. In many cases, as they took their showers, they would hear a girl singing. Also in the bathroom, one cheerleader heard a man talking yet could not understand what he was saying, when there were no men in the building at anytime during the four days (the janitors were all women). Also, in room 607, many times everything on the third shelf from the top fell for no reason, sometimes when no one was in the room, everything on the shelf was: a box of tissues; sandals laying flat; and towels. Two cheerleaders stayed in room 603 and they heard walking and the chair sliding across the floor above me in room 703, when no one stayed in that room and the unoccupied rooms are locked and they did not have a key to that room."
Rockford College
: "Maddox Theatre -Down in the dressing rooms, lights sometimes flicker. They once went off in a storm and a face seemed to appear in the mirror. Often, in different parts of the theatre, loud screaming noises can be heard, even though nobody is around. The area around the building always seems to be windy. Also In the prop room in Maddox theatre, there is a bell that supposedly rings on it''s own. It was taken years earlier for a girl that was ill in her room and anytime she needed anything, she was to ring the bell. A couple of days later, she died in a car accident. It is said that a man several years later had the bell for the same purpose, and he would wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of the bell ringing."
Rockford College
: "Talcott Hall - room of a student who hung himself in the early nineties."
Twin Sisters Park Woods
: "If you walk by the willow tree it is said that you have a strange desire to go into the woods. There is an old hanging tree with some odd carvings on it. A little girl is said to be seen walking around. Additional experiences have included batteries going dead, figures walking behimd trees, and extrem feelings of dread."