Vishnu Springs: Is the old place haunted?
Katrina Best
Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: News
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Local historians downplay stories of spirits or paranormal activity, but several Web sites claim peculiar things have been seen and heard in the secluded site nestled along the Lamoine River, northwest of Colchester.
All agree, however, that vandals have done their part to destroy much of what once existed at Vishnu Springs. These days uninvited visitors will be arrested if they step on the property, which is owned by Western Illinois University.
In fact, more than 50 people have been arrested since the beginning of this year. A caretaker watches over the property, which still includes a three-story hotel, an old grain tower, foundations and the spring that gave the town its name.
As for ghostly tales, some have reported seeing a woman in black. When you approach her, she mysteriously disappears.
Perhaps the most gruesome event associated with the springs occurred in 1903, when the town had a horse-drawn carousel for children. One day, the owner of the attraction was taking a group of children for a ride, watching them carefully.
No one is quite certain what happened next. Apparently, he was watching the children so intently he did not notice his own shirt had become ensnared in the carousel gears. The children's cries of glee turned to screams of horror when the man was pulled into the contraption and crushed to death.
Between 1910 and 1930, little is known about the spring. Some say it was a hideout for gangster Al Capone and other criminals. There are even legends that the men may have hidden money in caves in the area (these caves are also rumored to have been used for making bootleg liquor during that time).
Accoding to John Hallwas, retired Western English professor and local historian, Vishnu Springs traces its beginnings to the mid-1800s when McDonough County rancher Ebenezer Hicks acquired the land. A man named Dr. John Aiken leased the land with the intention of developing a therapeutic resort that would take advantage of a natural mineral spring located there.
Aiken did not succeed, and the property was taken over by Hicks' son, Darius, who built the three-story Capitol Hotel as well as a goldfish pond, called Lake Vishnu, a skating rink, racetrack, flower gardens, croquet courts and the merry-go-round.
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