The McPike Mansion is one of the scariest haunted houses in the Midwest. Located in the greater St. Louis area, just across the Illinois border in the historical city of Alton, it was once the residence of Henry G. McPike, a businessman and politician. He initiated the construction of the mansion and lived there from 1869 until 1910. Since the 1990s, the mansion has gained the reputation of a haunted house and has become an area of interest for scholars of the supernatural.
The McPike Mansion was designed by architect Lucas Pfeiffenberger; built in 1869, the house soon became one of the most beautiful homes in the country. A proud owner of the house, Henry McPike was a man of many talents who moved to Alton from Kentucky in 1847. McPike’s true passion was horticulture. He planted rare trees and shrubs, orchards, and flowers on the nearby land. He also set up a beautiful vineyard, which with years would become McPike Grape, known in the area for its massive size. Along with his accomplishments in horticulture, McPike was also a skillful insurance executive, real estate agent, box manufacturer, and politician. He became mayor of Alton in 1887, chair of the Relief Committee to help those in need after the 1892 Mississippi River flood, and vice president of the Illinois chapter of the National Pomological Society in 1897. McPike died in 1910 at his home.
Paul A. Laichinger, charmed by the sixteen rooms of the mansion, its vaulted wine cellar, and its beautifully developed land, became the next owner of the house. He purchased the McPike Mansion sometime before 1936 (existing records are unclear about the date), and while living there, also rented rooms to tenants. After his death in the 1950s, the house remained vacant for close to forty years. During this time it suffered massive decline, becoming decayed and uninhabitable. Almost everything not nailed to the ground, including marble fireplaces and delicate woodwork, was stolen. Ghost hunters and scholars of the supernatural believe that it was during this time that the ghosts decided to take up residence.
The ensuing owners of the house, Sharyn and George Luedke, purchased the McPike Mansion in a 1994 auction. They had no knowledge of the house’s haunted character prior to moving in. No known tragic events such as murder or suicide had ever taken place there, and no supernatural activities had ever been reported back then. The Luedkes initially intended to restore it into a bed and breakfast, but because of the extensive damage and slow restoration, they abandoned the idea.
Six weeks after acquiring the house, Ms. Luedke, while watering her garden, saw a man standing and looking out of a second-floor window of the mansion. He looked straight at her for a few moments and then disappeared completely. The man was wearing a striped shirt and a tie. An old photograph that Ms. Luedke had found in the house featured its previous owner wearing the very same attire. Thus, she concluded in horror that the man in the window was the ghost of dead Paul A. Laichinger. Meanwhile, rumors of the McPike Mansion’s haunted character were slowly reaching the new owners. A number of Alton residents reported seeing ghosts in the windows. Terrified, Ms. Luedke contacted a friend, a former nun, for help (Brown 2011, 14). The nun performed a Native American purification ritual on the house. Ms. Luedke was not satisfied with the ritual and contacted two psychics for further assistance. The psychics suggested cleansing the mansion to remove any negative spirits who might have been residing inside. Ms. Luedke agreed and took part in the spiritual routine. The cleansing confirmed Ms. Luedke’s fears, producing more evidence of the presence of ghosts in the mansion.
During the routine, one of the psychics felt cold in certain rooms and hallways, which she interpreted as evidence of the presence of supernatural beings. Ms. Luedke herself, while tripping on a loose floorboard and falling, felt a tug on her jacket (Brown 2011, 14). Further investigation led them to conclude that at least four ghosts resided in the mansion. The first was what they called a negative spirit. This one was found on the third floor and was the one responsible for staging Ms. Luedke’s fall. This spirit, the psychics explained, was fearful of crossing over into the afterlife and had to remain in the house. The second was the ghost of a lonely woman sitting in a rocking chair who was located on the ground floor and unable to leave the house. The third was the one Ms. Luedke had seen, Mr. Laichinger’s ghost, who continued to appear out of the second-floor window of the house. The last ghost was the spirit of an elderly former servant of McPike, Sarah Wells. She lived on the third floor and loved lilac, a popular perfume of the nineteenth century. The Luedkes came to this realization after they discovered a lilac smell in the place where Sarah used to live. Later reports of Sarah’s presence revealed that the ghost liked to touch and hug people.
Another peculiar occurrence took place in the McPike Mansion in 1999. University professor Rene Kruse came to Alton to visit the mansion. While examining the basement of the house with Ms. Luedke, Kruse experienced something she felt was unusual. She captured the source of the abnormality on film, and having examined it later, described it as “an eerie white mist.” The mist swirled around and randomly dissipated. No air currents were present to move the mist about. Kruse published the videotape, part of which was even featured on television. A number of videographers, ghost researchers, and special effects artists examined the video, yet none was able to explain this occurrence.
The Luedkes remain the current owners of the McPike Mansion. A popular tourist attraction, the house contains many trademark aspects of a haunted house: a metal fence guarding the property, old Victorian architecture, several broken windows, and a cemetery in the backyard. Since the 1990s, it has gained national fame as a haunted house. Its reputation for supernatural occurrences has attracted ghost hunters, researchers, and tourists. In the last fifteen years, the McPike Mansion’s visitors have claimed to see many new ghosts, including those of former servants and staff members of the McPikes, that of a cook preparing food in the kitchen, and of children playing in the yard. A few visitors have also claimed to see Henry McPike himself and his wife Eleanor. Those who have not seen actual ghosts have observed random orbs of light and strange mists, and have heard the voices and laughter of ghostly children. Many also have experienced the sensation of cold spots in random areas of the house. The wine cellar has been the most common location for supernatural occurrences.
The McPike Mansion has also been featured in popular television shows, including Scariest Places on Earth and Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, as well as Ghost Lab. Today it is considered one of the scariest haunted houses in the Midwest, and arguably, in the United States.
Nouf W. Abdulghani, Thomas Gosart, and Ulia Popova
See also Amityville Hauntings; Haunted Houses; LaLaurie House; Myrtles Plantation; Stanley Hotel; Whaley House
Further Reading
Brown, Alan. 2011. Ghosts along the Mississippi River. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
Kleen, Michael. 2010. Haunting the Prairie: A Tourist’s Guide to the Weird and Wild Places of Illinois. Rockford, IL: Black Oak Media.
Taylor, Troy. 2008. Haunted Illinois: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Prairie State. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.
Taylor, Troy. 2009. The Big Book of Illinois Ghost Stories. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.