Bachelor's Grove Cemetery: How a Tiny Pioneer Graveyard Got Its Reputation
A one-acre cemetery from the 1840s in the Rubio Woods forest preserve near Midlothian became one of the most talked-about 'haunted' places in America. The real history, and how to visit respectfully.
Down a gravel path in the woods off Midlothian Turnpike sits a cemetery about the size of a city lot. It's been called one of the most haunted places in America. Its real history is quieter, and sadder.
The real history
Bachelor's Grove Cemetery dates to the 1840s, when settlers, many from New England, were farming the area southwest of Chicago. It was a small country graveyard, about one acre, for families nearby.
For about a century it was just that. Then two things changed:
- The road moved. In the 1950s, the stretch of Midlothian Turnpike that ran past it was rerouted, and the cemetery ended up at the end of a path in the woods, out of sight.
- People stopped coming to visit graves. With no one watching, vandals moved in. Headstones were stolen, knocked over and broken. Graves were dug into.
Of the many headstones that once stood there, only a handful remain. The last burial took place decades ago.
How the ghost stories started
An isolated, wrecked cemetery in the woods is the perfect setting for stories, and the stories came: a phantom farmhouse, lights in the trees, a woman in white. A photo taken by paranormal investigators in the 1990s that seems to show a translucent woman sitting on a grave made it famous far beyond Chicagoland.
The stories brought more visitors. Some came to look. Some came to wreck things.
Today
The cemetery sits in Rubio Woods, part of the Forest Preserves of Cook County. It's patrolled. Forest preserve hours apply, and it's closed at night.
If you go:
- Go in daylight, during preserve hours.
- Stay on the path. Don't climb on or move anything.
- Leave everything as you found it. These are the graves of real pioneer families, and what's left is fragile.
- Take only photos.
The ghost stories are part of Chicagoland folklore now. The best way to honor the place is to keep what's left of it standing. For more October history, see Resurrection Mary.
Photo: Bachelors Grove 2008 entrance by Redwoodperch (talk) at en.wikipedia, Public domain.