Ghost Stories and Neighborhood Lore: The Haunted History of Chicago’s Ridge

Fall hits different in Beverly. The leaves turn fast, the air starts to smell like bonfires, and every porch seems to have a pumpkin or two by early-October. It’s also when the old stories come back, the ones about strange sights on the Ridge or whispers people swear they’ve heard near the cemeteries. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, it’s hard to ignore that this part of Chicago has a lot of history.

Beverly and Mt. Greenwood sit on one of the highest points in the city, a glacial ridge that used to give early settlers views clear across the prairie. People have lived here for well over a century, and many of the original homes still stand. Some are small frame houses tucked between trees, others are big stone places that look like they’ve seen a few lifetimes. With that much age and character, you can see why ghost stories have always stuck around.

Most people in the area have heard at least one. There’s the old tale about mysterious lights near the woods, or the rumors about shadowy figures walking past the fences at night. A few stories even connect to the nearby cemeteries that line the Ridge. The truth is probably less dramatic, but the stories are part of what makes the neighborhood interesting. They get passed along at backyard fires or told by parents who grew up here.

If you want more details, there are plenty of places to dig in. Patch’s feature on folklore around the Ridge gathers some of the most well-known stories, including those about local landmarks and old homes. The Ridge Historical Society also shares bits of neighborhood history, from early maps to photos of long-gone houses. Even the Beverly Area Planning Association (BAPA) occasionally posts about the area’s architecture and preservation work, which helps explain why some of these places look almost frozen in time.

But the reason these ghost stories keep showing up year after year isn’t really about the supernatural. It’s because people here actually care about where they live. This is a neighborhood where folks know their blocks, where they wave at each other from porches, and where families stay for generations. When you walk down the Ridge or around the old churches, you can feel that connection. It’s not spooky; it’s kind of comforting.

And that connection runs deep. Many of the houses here were built before modern Chicago really took shape. You can still find Prairie-style homes designed in the early 1900s, or Queen Anne-style houses with towers and wide front porches. Longwood Drive is basically an open-air museum of architecture if you look closely. These buildings tell the story of a neighborhood that’s grown but never lost its character. Every renovation and restoration adds a new layer to that story.

Sometimes that means literally uncovering the past. Homeowners here have found old letters in attics, hand-carved initials in basement beams, and even newspapers stuffed behind plaster. It’s not necessarily haunted it’s just history peeking through. When you live in Beverly or Mt. Greenwood, you don’t just buy a house; you join a timeline that stretches back generations. That’s probably why the ghost stories resonate so much. They remind people that time doesn’t really erase everything.

Of course, there are still spots that feel a little eerie after dark, especially around the Ridge and the older cemeteries. Places like Holy Sepulchre and Mount Olivet have been here since the 1800s, and anyone who’s driven by at night knows the mix of spooky quiet and mystery they hold. Whether or not you think there’s anything beyond that silence, it’s easy to see why so many local legends started in these places.

But maybe the most lasting part of these stories isn’t the ghosts themselves as much as what they say about the people who tell them. They show pride in the neighborhood’s age, its beauty, and its quirks. They connect kids, parents, and grandparents through a shared sense of place. It’s a reminder that in Beverly, Mt. Greenwood, and the rest of the Ridge, history isn’t something locked away in a museum; it’s something people live with every day.

So when you’re driving down 103rd or walking under those big old trees near Hurley Park in late October, you might catch yourself wondering about the people who built this place, and maybe even about the ones who never really left. Whether the stories are true or not doesn’t matter all that much. What matters is that they keep the neighborhood’s history alive, year after year.

And if you’re thinking about moving here, or if you already call this area home, that’s part of what makes it special. It’s not just another Chicago neighborhood. It’s a place where the past feels close, where houses hold stories, and where fall always seems to bring them back to life.