For Halloween: The Ghosts of the Quarries!

Halloween is almost here! A good time to rell you about the Ghosts of the Quarries!

Ghost hunters sometimes describe a phenomenon called the “stone tape theory.” The theory proposes that certain rocks have the ability to imprint—or “record” —energy and store images and events from the past. In other words, an event imprints itself on the environment where it took place, the rocks capture the energy like a big magnet or battery, much the same as film or magnetic tape records and replays voice or images. The energy remains but in changed form, and could discharge, or “replay” itself as a psychic impression at any time. The impression might be visual, or sounds, smells, tastes, even touches—how creepy that is! The rocks could hold this potential for years, decades, even centuries.

Emotional or traumatic events are most likely to be captured, due to the high energy generated when such events took place. This phenomenon could be experienced by anyone, but especially by people who are more sensitive to psychic phenomena.

These episodes are especially notable in areas where there are large deposits of limestone. One possible explanation for this is that the chemical makeup of limestone is similar to that of magnetic recording tape, and therefore is prone to being imprinted, thus capturing and storing activity. Another theory is that the chemical make-up of limestone is prone to drawing, storing and releasing electromagnetic fields (EMF) on which “hauntings” depend, thus enhancing activity that happens in the proximity.

I am neither a geologist nor a paranormal investigator. The point is that regardless of whether one believes in the ability of stone to capture impressions or be used as an energy source for paranormal activity—regardless of the science—there is some documentation that paranormal activity is reported more frequently in areas where there are large amounts of limestone.

Such as the quarries in and near Lemont.

The stone that exists in the Lemont-Joliet region is dolomite limestone with a high crystalline structure. This adds credence to the electromagnetic field theory—should you choose to believe that.
 
Here are some of the stories reported near Lemont quarries:
 
Archer Avenue, said to be one of the most haunted roads in America, runs diagonally from one end of Lemont to the other, passing many quarries. Archer is the site of numerous ghost tales.

Perhaps must famous is Resurrection Mary, the vanishing hitchhiker who haunts Archer Avenue between the Willowbrook Ballroom and Resurrection Cemetery, since 1939 and until the present. The Willowbrook Ballroom mysteriously burned down on October 28, 2016, three days before Halloween.

St. James at Sag Bridge, a Mission Church and Cemetery in the Palos Forests on Archer, has had a number of ghosts reported in its long history.

American Indians lived in the area since before Columbus; remnants of their villages have been found in the Des Plaines and Sag valleys on either side of St. James. One could surmise that such burials, combined with the underlying beds of local limestone so close to the surface, could account for some of the tales of Indians on horseback being seen in the area long after the tribes had moved to western states.
 
In 1897, the skeletons of nine Indians were dug up near the quarries, followed by a rash of reported hauntings: phantom Indians on horseback riding through the town at night and other visions of roaming spirits. Fearing the hauntings were due to disturbing the skeletons, residents demanded they be reburied. Some were reinterred, but some ended up at the Field Museum in Chicago.

This gave rise to further reports of mysterious disappearing monks, a glowing infant’s casket, and the ground in St. James Cemetery rising and falling as if the earth were breathing.

The most repeated sighting at St. James is of a horse and wagon and a woman in white who gallop past the church and then disappear. The church, sitting on a hill surrounded by cemetery and forest, is made of limestone, which came from quarries at the base of the hill on which it stands. It has a peaceful, but eerie, atmosphere even during the day.

Aside from the stone itself, it is known that many Irish-American canal workers died from disease, poor living and working conditions, and violence in the 1840s when the I and M Canal was being built; later quarry workers shared the same conditions and fate. Many were buried at St. James at Sag Bridge, but it is said that, due to poverty, some of the deceased were cremated and their ashes scattered over the quarries. Most people who believe in the supernatural will say that people who had violent or untimely deaths are more likely to remain as spirits. And the stone tape theory states that violent experiences are those most likely to be captured.

Not far away is Bachelors Grove Cemetery in Midlothian, Illinois. This cemetery continues to mystify visitors with an astounding variety of paranormal experiences: ghosts, lights, mystery houses, disorientation, electronic and automotive malfunctions, among others. It is one of the most haunted spots in the Chicago area. The cemetery is located beside a quarry.

The theory pertains to stone even after it was removed from its quarry. Cut stone was used in buildings that seemed to retain paranormal potential. Stories abound locally of paranormal activity in and around homes and forests in and near Lemont, especially those that are built with stone from the local quarries.

Chicago’s Water Tower on North Michigan Avenue is constructed of stone quarried in Lemont. Stories are told of the ghost of the “Hanging Man,” seen in one of the tower windows, and thought to be that of the “Lone Pumpman,”—the only worker who stayed behind during the Great Fire of 1871.
 
Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago is another building made from Lemont stone. In 1924, Chicago Gang boss Dion O’Banion was shot and killed in the flower shop he owned directly across the street from Holy Name, reportedly on the orders of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone. Bullets from the ambush lodged in the cornerstone of Holy Name and it is reported that despite numerous attempts to patch the holes they continue to reappear.
 
I’m not going to ask you to believe in the Stone Tape Theory or that Lemont stone caused all of this—that’s up to you. After all, the area has also from its beginning been the home of many Irish, who have been known to tell a tale or two….