Location: Alton, IL
If you've ever taken a driven near Alton, Illinois, chances are you've heard of the famous McPike Mansion. On the outside, McPike is a large, barren, rustic building with roots dating back to 1869, but if you know anything of its history the old mansion is much more than just an old looking building. History The original owner of the mansion, Henry Guest McPike, lived on the property with his family until 1936. Through their time at the mansion the McPike's owned 15 acres of land that was at one point known as Mount Lookout Park. With this large piece of land Henry, a horticulturist, was able to to grow his famous McPike Grape. Paul A Laichinger bought the house after the McPike's left in 1936 and owned it until his death in 1951. The house remained abandoned for years after Paul's death, becoming somewhat of a testament of the towns history as it sat brooding in mystery. In 1994, Sharon and George Luedke were able to buy the mansion through auction and had plans to renovate it into a Bed and Breakfast. It was during the time of renovations that supernatural activity began to take place... While working in the garden of the house one day, Sharon looked up to one of the second floor windows and noticed a man staring back down at her. After some research into the house's history Sharon was able to find a picture of the mystery man she had seen in the window, it had been the ghost of Paul A Laichinger. Present Renovations on the McPike Mansion are still ongoing to this day, but even with the construction two spirits have made themselves known to the Luedke couple. Paul continues to make appearances throughout the house while Sarah, a domestic servant in the house many years ago. Sarah was little more than a presence with an assumed name until a man came by the house one day and presented the Luedke’s with some books that he had removed from the house 17 years before. One of the books had the name "Sarah Wells" written inside of it. Since that time, Sharyn has been touched (actually hugged) by this spirit and she and her husband have occasionally caught the scent of lilac on the third floor. One specific investigation managed to pick up a curious event that is worthy of mention. While the entire group was gathered in the wine cellar of the house (a step down below the basement) one of the group members became uncomfortable in the small, enclosed space and asked to go upstairs. She was accompanied upstairs by another woman who was present and soon the group in the cellar was waiting patiently for her to return. After a few moments, the sound of the second woman's footsteps could be heard descending the steps, descending the basement stairs and then crossing the basement floor. The steps were followed by short pause and then the metal door to the wine cellar opened, scraping across the stone floor as it did so. One problem though - there was no one there. Both of the women who had left were still upstairs and no one had come down the steps? The entire strange incident was captured on video tape. This incident, along with other explainable events, has lead to the McPike mansion being considered one of the most haunted places in Illinois |