This isn’t just a resort town for the living...
Creepy old mansions with echoing halls and dusty relics. The weird happenings at Otto Young’s 100-room Stone Manor. These beautiful homes and buildings are really something else, and on this 90-minute walking tour of downtown Lake Geneva, your guide focuses on the haunted history of places such as the Maxwell Mansion, the Baker House, and the eponymous lake itself. Witness these beautitful Nineteen Century landmarks, in addition to more than a handful of stops around downtown to places such as the lakefront and a haunted movie theater.
While this tour is meant to uncover some of the darker secrets of this resort town, you also learn more about indigenous people who first lived here, and hear about the famous residents such as the Wrigley, Sears, Maytag, and Schwinn families who once spent their summers here. On this Lake Geneva ghost walk, you’ll find out that there’s plenty of strangeness right in the downtown.
Read below for a sample itinerary of some of the places you visit, and the ghost stories you hear.
Expert paranormal guide
Duration: 1.50 hours
Easy/Moderate
The history of Lake Geneva tends to be wrapped up in the stories about the summer homes of Chicago’s wealthiest families. But even as early as 1912, when people were writing about the city, they said the second most significant thing about this town was the sanitariums. That’s right, Lake Geneva wasn’t just a getaway for the rich and famous, but it was also known as a place for healing, where the ill could come to get better.
Your guide stops to share another important part of the city’s history: its native tribes, the most recent of which were the Potawatomi Indians, whose leader in the early 1800s was Chief Big Foot. Here, learn more about Potawatomi folklore, mound builders, and recent sightings of the mythical Thunderbird.
Most ghosts aren’t quite as talkative as this Spirit of the Lake, and your guide tells you exactly what she said to a group of city slickers when they happened upon her during a canoe trip out on the lake. Did the spirit approach these canoers in a non-threatening form that they would understand so that it wouldn’t frighten them? Learn more as you overlook the peaceful water.
In this park, next to the Lake Geneva Public Library, lives an entrancing character. Learn about the history of this property, dating back to the late 1800s, and the Lady in Black who roams the park to this day. Reports of seeing a woman dressed in Victorian clothing have been reported since the 1970s. Some people have said she'll follow you as you walk around the park.
Not far from the Maxwell Mansion, you stop to learn about the “less haunted” Baker House. Here your guide tells you the history of this mansion that was built for the widow of a former Wisconsin senator.
According to the staff here, they said it's not quite as haunted as Maxwell Mansion, but they've still felt strange things. Not to mention seen time and again a man wandering the halls with a handlebar moustache. Your guide also shares more on the two rooms that have caused some lovers’ spats in recent years.
Not bad at all for the "less haunted" of the properties...
The man who built this house, the Maxwell Mansion, was Dr. Philip Maxwell. Like many of Lake Geneva's summer residents in the mid-19th century, Dr. Maxwell was a pillar of the early Chicago community.
He was also known as the "Father of Lake Geneva" because he paid for the process of getting the city divided into lots and mapping it, so people could start purchasing land here and developing it. (Let’s just say they didn’t talk about the rumoured basement surgeries he performed here at the mansion.)
Your guide knows the old “head butler” at the mansion, and you get to hear plenty of spooky things about what goes on inside this beautiful old home.
On this tour, we focus on building exteriors and outdoor spaces. Businesses and public places are open for you to visit during regular business hours. Otherwise we respect the privacy of individuals and organizations and expect that our guests do the same.
Service animals are welcome. However, for liability issues, please leave your furry friends at home if you don’t require their assistance.
We can never guarantee a supernatural encounter, but we will explain paranormal phenomena such as cold spots and residual hauntings. What we do guarantee: Our local connections and dedication to research means you'll get authentic accounts — in all their shocking detail.
While our tours do not contain anything too graphic or inappropriate, we find that kids that enjoy history have the best time. You know your children and that's left up to you. We do not recommend bringing children in strollers because sometimes that can be difficult with larger walking groups.
All sales are final, but we can help you with a reschedule or ticket credit. We love ghosts, not monsters!
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