Lemont Limestone: Is It Haunted?

LEMONT, IL — If you live in Lemont, you may know a few ghost stories about spooky happenings in town. With all these stories, it begs the question: why are there seemingly so many Lemont ghost stories?

The possible answer? Limestone.

Lemont is well known for its limestone and its quarries. According to the village website, dolomite limestone was first discovered when workers were digging the Illinois and Michigan Canal starting in the 1830s.

Soon after, the stone quarries were developed, and Joliet-Lemont limestone was used in landmark buildings across the area. Not only are several Lemont buildings made of Lemont limestone, but The Chicago Water Tower, the gate to the Stockyards, Holy Name Cathedral, part of the Auditorium Building in Chicago, Old Main at Northwestern University and part of the Capitol building at Springfield are also some of the structures constructed of Lemont stone.

Paranormal enthusiasts have a working theory about limestone and its association with paranormal activity, and several bloggers have even written about Lemont limestone and paranormal reports.

Patch spoke to Patricia Camalliere, a local mystery author and board member for the Lemont Library and Lemont Historical Society. Camalliere has written several novels, including "The Mystery at Sag Bridge."

That novel is set at St. James at Sag Bridge in Lemont, which has been the site of many ghost reports and stories. Located on Archer Avenue, St. James Church is made of, you guessed it, Lemont limestone.

Ghosts stories at St. James at Sag Bridge include tales of ghostly monks walking the grounds, and of a ghostly bride waiting for her groom.

"There is a claim that there is a tie between limestone and the paranormal," Camalliere told Patch. "Activity is higher where there is high amounts of limestone."

Even more famous urban legends, like the story of Archer Avenue's notorious Resurrection Mary and the Willowbrook Ballroom, take place in areas adjacent to the limestone quarries. Bachelors Grove Cemetery in Midlothian, another site of ghost reports, again sits beside a quarry.

In Camalliere's blog, she points out other ghost stories involving Lemont limestone. There's the story of the "Hanging Man" in the tower windows of Chicago's Water Tower and the story of reappearing bullet holes in Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. These two buildings are both made from Lemont limestone.

Whether you believe in the paranormal or not, it's certainly spooky to think of the connections Lemont limestone may have to ghost reports throughout history.

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