31 Days of Spook – Givens Castle

 Welcome my friends to 31 Days of Spook.  Today we are focusing on a spook in Chicago ion an area where my Aunt Tina lives.  Buckle in for some bumps and scares.  Enjoy – don’t be scared now – BOO!

Givens Castle / Beverly Unitarian Church

The Givens Castle was originally built in 1886 as a residence by Robert Givens. Givens was real estate developer and wanted the house to be a replica of a castle in his native Ireland.  Some say that Givens built the home for his fiancee who died before the house could be finished.  Maybe that accounts for why Givens only lived in the castle for 8 years.

Around 1894, the castle turned into the Chicago Female College. It is reputed to have had a student die in the 1930’s from flu.

During the 1960’s, the castle was turned into the Beverly Unitarian Church.  A janitor once reported that he had a conversation with a woman who disappeared from sight. Their conversation was about the house and how much it had changed over the years.  The janitor saw no footprints outside in the snow and all of the doors were locked.  Where did she go?  Was it the student that passed away from the flu?

The pastor of the church at the time was a woman who claimed she saw a pair of hands touch her husband’s waist.  Even more, the pastor thought the hands were those of a woman.  The husband never felt a thing.  During this time as well, there were reports of a candle being seen through windows when nobody was present in the building.

Unexplained noises have also been attributed to the ghost and a former pastor said that he often tried to track down the source of the noises but was never able to.

The story is courtesy of Chicago Ghost blogger.