Vishnu Springs

[artemis moon]

Thought that this might be a great place to explore one of these days:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu_Springs

 

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[pmb333]

Here's a bit more detailed history of Vishnu Springs...

http://www.prairieghosts.com/vishnu.html

Unfortunately, note the last paragraph in bold print.

 

[pmb333]

Then again... Check this site.

http://community.webshots.com/album/42793076OkXOCA

Evidently people explore it pretty much at will, even spending the night in the abandoned hotel basement!

 

[artemis moon]

I'm really fascinated with this place, and I think I might just have to check it out in the fall. Interested

 

[pmb333]

I'll have to see when my son's football season ends this year - weekends are pretty much tied up until then. They made the playoffs last year and that took them into late October, early November!

 

[artemis moon]

Heck with football-this is metal detecting, by God!!!

 

[Skinny Puppy]

I'm up for it if we can ever hunt it. Just let me know. Thanks in advance.

 

[Gypsy Heart]

During the late 1800s, Vishnu Springs was a successful resort and small village. Vishnu is located in McDonough County near the small town of Tennessee, Illinois. The spring itself does not have an actual discovery date, but there have been many owners of the spring and the land it is on.

The original owner of Vishnu Springs was a man named Ebenezer Hicks. Ebenezer's son leased twenty acres of land including the springs to Dr. John Aiken. Aiken tried to make a profit from the land, but his attempts failed. The next owner was Darius Hicks, who inherited the land from his father, Ebenezer. Darius was the one to develop the land and make something of it. He took a partner, John Mourning, but they eventually parted ways. This left Darius the sole owner.

Darius developed the property. First he built a hotel. The building was 26 by 40 feet, 3 1/2 stories tall, and had 24 rooms, a grand piano, and indoor plumbing. The grounds that were developed eventually had a fountain, a goldfish pond, a skating rink, beautiful flower gardens, a croquet court, a deer park, swings and hammocks, a horse-powered merry-go-round, a racetrack, and a wrestling ring. Some of these recreational improvements, such as the wrestling ring and the merry-go-round, were also open to the residents.

The village of Vishnu was built around the resort and was small. This village consisted of a few houses, a store, a post office, and a saloon. The village's first resident was Andy Ruddle. Because of the resort's existence and success, the town prospered.

There were many reasons for the popularity of Vishnu Springs. One of these reasons was that people believed that the water had special healing powers. Another and more practical reason is that the water had a high mineral count, which helped alleviate or improve certain ailments and conditions. The beautiful surroundings combined with a luxurious hotel with many recreational activities to make Vishnu Springs a "hotspot."

Even though Vishnu Springs was popular and seemed successful, it failed. There were many things that contributed to this failure. One reason was the lack of roads and railroads close to the resort. It was also geographically difficult to get to from major cities. The resort itself was virtually in the middle of a forest and was hard to reach except on foot or horseback. Possibly the biggest reason for the failure of Vishnu Springs Hotel was that the owner, Darius Hicks, committed suicide after his wife died from difficulties in childbirth.

Although the current owner of the property is Western Illinois University, there were many successors who tried to restore the resort after Darius. Unfortunately, all of the attempts were unsuccessful.

During the 1930s Ira Post acquired the property and attempted to restore it to its once-successful era. The hotel never regained popularity and it lost money for the Posts. Eventually, Ira died, and his wife tried to open the land to the public as a nature preserve. Vandals started ruining the property, and Mrs. Post was forced to put up "No Trespassing" signs.

In the 1970s Vishnu Springs saw another attempted revival when students from Western Illinois University rented the hotel as living quarters because they wanted to enjoy nature and the surroundings of Vishnu Springs. They organized a music festival, which proved to be a large event with hundreds of people in attendance. The students eventually moved out and the hotel became empty again.

Vandalism continued to be a problem throughout the 1980s with graffiti being the most common offense. Because of the concern for the future of the property, two organizations united to try another solution for Vishnu Springs. The McDonough County Historical Preservation Society and The Audubon Society jointly tried to preserve the grounds, but again the attempts fell through.

Today the future of Vishnu Springs is uncertain. However, there is still hope the property will be used for the greater good, and it still attracts sightseers. It stands as a skeletal reminder of a fascinating chapter in local history, that led to the development of Tennessee and surrounding areas.—[From Joseph Adams, "A Lost Village," Historic Illinois; Macomb Sunday Journal, Nov. 14, 1982; Macomb Daily Journal, Feb. 13,1989; Colchester Chronicle, April 1, Sept. 23,1999.]

For the Record
The December 2001 issue of Illinois History contained an error in the article entitled, Belleville Zeitung: The Newspaper that Started a Revolution, which appeared on pages 3 and 4. The Belleville News-Democrat was founded in 1858 by Rev. W. F. Boyakin, not Fred J. Kern.

........................................

http://media.www.westerncourier.com....Is.The.Old.Place.Haunted-3067579-page2.shtml
The weird thing about Vishnu Springs is how it came to be so peaceful and so unsettling at the same time. A thriving resort community in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Vishnu Springs is Western Illinois' only ghost town.

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.
He also sold lots around the hotel, hoping to develop a small resort community. Eventually, the town included several houses, two stores, a livery stable and a post office.

Hallwas said the resort's remote location ultimately doomed its chances of success, and it was virtually abandoned by the 1920s.

As for developer Darius Hicks, local expert Marla Vizdal explained how he led an interesting life.

He was married three times, each time being a little more unusual than the first. He divorced his first wife, the second died in childbirth and the third was his stepdaughter from the previous marriage, who was quite a bit younger than him.

A woman by the name of Nellie Darrah became the caretaker for the children, and she too became romantically involved with Hicks. When she became pregnant, however, she tried to convince Hicks to marry her. When Hicks refused, she subsequently had an abortion, which did not go well and caused her to become hospitalized. When Hicks learned this, he committed suicide.

In 1935, Ira Post bought the land. Post hoped to open Vishnu back up to the public. However, Post died in 1951, and the property was closed completely in 1954.

In April 1968, two gentlemen came to Vishnu with a dream. They hoped to open a restaurant and offered overnight stays for 50 cents. Even though the men had good intent, the town went under and Vishnu Springs was closed again.

Betty Post, a member of the Post family, decided to open Vishnu in the early 1970s to Western students. During this time, the students held different music festivals to pay rent, had gardens and raised livestock. This only lasted about 10 years. Some say it ended because Betty Post only rented half of the hotel while the upper part was used for storage. One day when Post went to a flea market, she ended up seeing furniture that was supposed to be stored away in the hotel.

More recently, the Post family donated Vishnu Springs to Western. A non-profit group, Friends of Vishnu, is trying to restore the old Vishnu Springs and hopes to open it to the public again as a nature preserve.

Is the old place haunted? Who knows, but in the late afternoon, when the shadows lengthen and the wind picks up, you hear what might be the sound of leaves rustling - or it might just be something else.

 

[treasurefiend]

Looks like a great place to me...