Haunted Illinois: The Culver House in Decatur

The Culver House in Decatur, Illinois is listed as one of the ten most endangered sits in the state. This gorgeous Richardsonian Romanesque style home currently sits empty and abandoned. Preservation groups have managed to save and restore the exterior and hope to get started on the interior as soon as they secure the funding. Until then the ghost stories of this building will have to suffice.

Once upon a time the land underneath the house was an Indian burial ground. That didn't deter Josiah Clokey from purchasing the land and building his own home in 1881 for a fairly small price. One day with no explanation the man up and left, abandoning the work he had started. In stepped John Culver.

Culver finished the home and quickly moved in his family. Local legend claims that the family witnessed something so disturbing that they raced from the home. One night when they sat down to dinner, a large and scary creature came right down the chimney and swept into the dining room through the fireplace. Culver's wife and children were frightened so badly that he instantly had the fireplace removed and bricked over the opening. Even today legend says that you'll find fireplaces in all the rooms on the first floor except for the dining room.

Following Culver's death in 1943 the house sat empty, but people began seeing a man staring at them from the windows. This ghost may have even stuck around for a few additional years as did a strange and mysterious curse.

The house was eventually turned into apartments, but the horrors didn't stop. A resident killed herself in the building during the 1960s and the house had severe damage after a fire broke out. The final straw came in 1988 when a resident was killed inside the building by her lover. People were already hesitant about the Culver House and after that incident, no one wanted to live there. The building was officially abandoned and at one point in recent history it was even condemned.

Today there are some who hope to change things. There has been a lot of work done on the house in recent years and even more work is planned in the future. Those who think there is nothing wrong with the house believe that the Culver family saw nothing more than a bird. Then there are those who say the house has experienced too much to ever be inhabited again.