Bachelor's Grove Cemetery is a small, abandoned cemetery in section 8 of Bremen Township,
Cook County,
Illinois. The location is just northwest of
Midlothian and
Oak Forest, and near the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve on the Midlothian Turnpike, in the
Chicago metropolitan area. It is well known for its haunted reputation and supposed ghost sightings. There are countless reports of glowing balls, apparitions, squeaks, moans, groans and unexplained noises. Its adjacent pond is also known for unsubstantiated mafia affiliation with Al Capone.[citation needed]
Bachelor's Grove Cemetery was chosen to be a burial ground in 1844, settled by "Yankee farmers" as Clarence
Fulton, the now deceased caretaker of the cemetery claimed in a 1977 newspaper article. However, at least a few tombstones note death dates before 1844. The earliest death date noticed on a tombstone was that of William Nobles who died in 1838, per an article in the
Blue Island Sun-Standard from 1935. Currently, the cemetery is inactive, but it was used for burials until the last recorded burial in 1989. Due to the isolated location of the cemetery along an old, small, chained-off road, vandalism and Satanic rituals have been reported.
The small entrance road was once a branch of the Midlothian Turnpike until the early 1960s, when the smaller branch was left in favor of letting traffic go onto 143rd street. The closing of the road engendered the "racer's lane" era of Bachelor's Grove, making it the perfect spot for teenagers looking for a clandestine spot to drag race and become amorous with their cars. It was around this time that many ghost stories about Bachelor's Grove came into being. In the early 1970s, vandalism developed from scattered littering to full on destruction of tombstones and trees. Of the estimated 200 tombstones that once were in the cemetery, only 20 remain: the ones that are too heavy to be moved. In addition to that, several graves were dug up, forcing those in charge to set the tombs in concrete for protection. Today the small patch of land sits quiet, and for the most part unused, bothered only by the so called "Ghost-Hunter" and legend trippers of the area.
