Beef Villa

: "The resturant employees have claimed of seeing orbs of light and feeling cold spots, as well as the lights and ovens turning on and off in many different occasions. Some of the people who have eaten there say they have felt as if someone was standing behind them whispering, when nobody was there. There have been stories of a young teenage boy having been shot and killed in front of the resturant, in the 1980''s sometime. It is said that it is his angry and depressed spirt that plagues this location with the paranormal. - August, 2005 Update: Beef Villa (half Fact) The original Beef Villa that was involved in a murder in the 1980s has been torn down. Another Beef Villa has been built in its place that is much bigger so that it can handle more customers. The new building is further back in the lot than the old one. Where the old one existed is now parking. No activity has been reported seen since the new building was up.- January 2006 Update: Well known urban legend started by students at the local High School across the street in order to scare the freshmen. What was uncovered was no death had occurred, there was a gang shooting in the 1980s the victim survived. We checked everything including police reports to verify this. There is an awkward magnetic field in the area which has explained the orbs as the buildings around the Beef Villa and even the Beef Villa were torn down and rebuilt and the road it is on is under construction once a year as it as a main road that attaches to the local highway.WARNING:If there is anyone that is planning on doing anything in any of those locations they must be sure that they have permission first else they will be arrested."

Channing Memorial Elementary School

: "Everything from cold spots, to apparitions, to footsteps from the upper floor (when you are "alone" in the building)has been reported here. When an addition was built on to the building, over 13 skeletons were found in the ground under which the school was built. Most of them estimated to be children ages ranging 10 to 17 years of age. if you enter this building after dark, be prepared to hear voices whispering in your ear, as well as screaming from the upper floor(it all seems to be centered around the upper floor)doors that open and close by themselves, and an elevator that operates itself! Many night custodians have fled Phe building in the middle of their shift, leaving personal belongings, scared to death, refusing to tell what they saw, or heard. And refusing to ever enter the building again.- August, 2005 Update/Additional information: There are 3 common grave stones that can be easily seen and at this time most stones have now been removed from the hill. The Cemetery was mostly children but the ages were between stillborn and 10 with some adult graves. The best-known grave that is still intact was from an old man that worked at the Elgin Watch factory in the early 1900s. The school itself was founded and built over the cemetery in 1968.- January 2006 Update: Graves still exist here. The Local School District U46 that owns the school had in the past removed only a few graves(Just enough to build a basement) and left everything else. In the 1990s they dug up a total of 8 skeletons in the area where they were going to expand the building. They also at the same time finally removed stones from the hill, though it is unlikely that they bodies were moved with as no digging took place for that assignment but there is fresh sod on the hill. Another fact is that the majority of the graves were not children but adults. One of the few remaining graves being of a man that was older but worked at the Elgin Watch Factory in the Early years of the town. There is another fact. When the school was first built in 1968 a house on its boundary took many of the stones from the site and used them in the foundation of the house that was being built. This is a true haunted site. Tresspassers will be arrested"

Elgin Psychiatric Hospital Cemetery

: "Documentation of patients being tortured in the turn of the century era before science understood insanity. They then were buried five in a grave with the name of the body on top marking that grave. All kinds of supernatural activity here ranging from orbs to apparitions. - August, 2005 Update: Was actually the cemetery for those that died in the Elgin State Mental Institution. Little activity is found. Area is located near quarry in the back of the sports complex. Common activity is items of all types being dropped and when people look for them with flashlights or under other types of lighting the item can''t be found. Than in the daylight they are seen placed on top of stones that were searched thoroughly the night before.- January 2006 Update: the cemetery belongs to the Elgin State Mental Hospital. The name it has is the name that belonged to the Hospital before in changed its name within the last 10 years. The Cemetery is easily accessed behind the local sports complex but has the same policy as the hospital. It is Private Government Property with armed guards patrolling, only certified personnel can get back there without getting hit by the fine.WARNING:If there is anyone that is planning on doing anything in any of those locations they must be sure that they have permission first else they will be arrested."

Elgin State Mental Hospital

: "Elgin State was a relic of the 1950s era of using pain for mental treatment. Electroshock and cold therapy were some of the ghastly methods used on patients. Many died and as the years went on, and the cemetery ran out of room, the bodies were incinerated in the basement. The campus is shut down, and is closed down. Visitors have to hop a fence and run from the security guards to avoid being fined $5,000. Reports include tapings, screams, shadows, lights inside, cold fields, and fog. Inside, visitors claim to see blood stained walls, and smell the scent of decay. Many consider it the most haunted place in Chicago land. - June 2008 Update/correction to updates.: To see more on the history, please check out http://www.worldmedicalguide.com/medical-disorders/mental-disorders/elgin-mental-health-center-more-than-just-a-psychiatric-facility/. This place has been mostly closed down. The State built additions that are the part that is open and yet it must be regarded that open does not mean open to the public. The old part was closed done due to deadly asbestos that was discovered on the walls and the buildings that were contaminated were all torn down. The reason for the armed guards is that there is both a juvenile detention center and a center for the Criminally insane that exist on the property and the guards are there to make sure no one goes near these areas without clearance."

Elgin-U46 School District Central Office

: "Once known as the Old Elgin High School, the building was erected in the late 1800s. After a fire broke out in the first 50 years the school moved down the road and the District boarded the place up. No human deaths occurred however it is said that pets of the Science Faculty and classroom pets of most other departments were victims. The building has long since been gutted though many rooms still remain boarded up and the building no serves as the storage facility of all the district paperwork and offices of the central employees of the district. Lights will go on and off and in rooms that the windows are boarded up occasionally employees have still seen the rooms sunlight as if the windows were not boarded up. Note- This office is private property just like the schools within the district.WARNING:If there is anyone that is planning on doing anything in any of those locations they must be sure that they have permission first else they will be arrested."

Ellis Middle School

: "The auditorium is supposedly haunted by a woman in a white lace dress, and can only be seen in the Hallways backstage. - August, 2005 Update: Believed to be a hoax created by 8th grade students to scare the new 7th graders. The school was built in 1951 and was built on farmland in the area that was bought by the local school district U46. There is no documentation that would prove the existence of an activity.- January 2006 Update: Urban Legend. Another District U46 school. Built in 1951, nobody has ever been reported to have died on the property. This is another classic urban legend that students made over the years to scare incoming students. And as a side note please remember that all schools in U46 are on Private Property and unless you are an employee of the district or a student or parents of a student they do not want anyone to be near the place for the safety of the students. WARNING:If there is anyone that is planning on doing anything in any of those locations they must be sure that they have permission first else they will be arrested."

Illinois Park School

: "The school was about 100 years old. People have said that they hear little children crying or laughing by the k.g. area. Down in the basement people said that they hear noise of someone hamming some type of metal. Teachers seem to stick together when going to their class room. During night time people have said that weird things happen in the building. Few years back the school had a vote to build a new school or to remodel the old building, students and staff voted for a new school. The school no longer stands and place where it once stood is now a parking lot for the new school. - August, 2005 Update: This is a popular Urban Legend Hoax. This school was originally built in the 1940s therefore it is not anywhere near 100 years old. The old building was torn down due to asbestos and a need for a larger building, as the place was tiny but built in a way that they could not expand upon. They rebuilt it so that it was on a different part of the hill that it was on and now more capable of expansion. This was done back in 2000. The building was recently closed after being open for one year due to the fact the district did not have the funding to keep it open as the Person who was superintendent for the last several Years a Dr. Marvin Edwards retired shortly after playing with the accountants books and it was determined that when he left he took several million dollars with him. Thus the district has had to close down many of its schools to save money. Among the schools were Illinois park and Grant Elementary which was one of the oldest elementary schools in the area being that it was Grant that was the 100-year-old school. Thus the whole thing about Illinois park is not fact.- January 2006 Update: Illinois park just so happens to have been built in 1930s. The original building was torn down as they needed to fit more students in the building than there was room for. The newer building was built in 1999. This building is abandoned at the moment due to lack of funding by school District U46 to keep it open. basement in the old building was a large open area used only as storage. The only people that could go back and forth in the basement were the janitors. Though the building is abandoned it is on land owned by the district and the Elgin Police department is constantly on the premises. It is recommended that unless you want to be confronted by a cop that you stay away from the place.WARNING:If there is anyone that is planning on doing anything in any of those locations they must be sure that they have permission first else they will be arrested."

Old Gail Borden Library and City Office Building

: "No reports of deaths in this area yet doors open and close, lights turn on and off on their own and reports from employees of phone calls that tell them exactly were they are and what they are doing that can''t be traced. Even when the phone line is unplugged. April 2008 Update - Has been torn down and is now a parking lot; a new library was built on the North side of Kimball Street in approximately 2002. WARNING:If there is anyone that is planning on doing anything in any of those locations they must be sure that they have permission first else they will be arrested."