The Haunted Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago | 3rd Palm Paranormal Places
Many American hotels across the country have a history that's much darker than their modern hospitality likes to exhume. And with the given history of Chicago, Illinois, it's no wonder that their most famous hotel has housed President's and the like. But it's also widely considered one of the most haunted hotels in all of America.
From strange shifts in the indoor climate of the hotel rooms, to shadowy figures wandering the halls, and a very disturbing history involving a child, suicide, and other horrible events, the Congress Plaza Hotel has earned its place in America's most haunted. But simply stating such is easier said than explained. So, saddle up and enjoy another deep dive into 0ne of the most haunted hotels in the United States.
Presently:
From weddings to corporate meetings, there are a great number of large and small rooms to accommodate any situation here, like most modern hotels do. However, unlike a lot of hotels, the Congress Plaza also tends to host live events at its location, including annual Halloween Balls and New Year's Eve nightly celebrations. To top things off, during the Chicago marathons and music festivals such as Lollapalooza, this hotel tends to be the perfect spot for tourists and incomers of these events alike.
Located near both Grant Park (also known as "Chicago's Front Yard") as well as the Magnificent Mile (a stretch of around 460 stores, 275 restaurants, and 60 hotels within the heart of the Windy City) the Congress Plaza Hotel offers convenience with its luxury. For those who don't know, Grant Park can be seen from the Plaza and is home to the great silver bean, an outdoor art venue known as Millenium Park, and the extraordinary Buckingham Fountain.
With so many different sites and attractions surrounding the immediate area, it's no wonder how thousands of people flock to the Congress Plaza Hotel each week throughout the year. But with all of these excitements and thrills, is there something more devious hiding underneath the surface? Of course, there is and you're about to discover them firsthand...
A Telltale History of a Hotel:
The hotel officially opened in 1893 and saw continuous renovations until 1911 when the hotel name was changed from the Auditorium Annex (originally used to house visitors from the World's Columbian Exposition) to the Congress Plaza Hotel as it's known today. Those specific renovations included an added south tower and the Gold Room. From 1912 and onward President Rosevelt had utilized the hotel as his headquarters during his successful Presidential campaign, and a live radio broadcast was built and emitted from the hotel starting in 1935, with Benny Goodman hosting from the Elizabeth Room.
During its early years the hotel featured a unique section within its structure called Peacock Alley, which conjoined the new annex to the original hotel through an underground passageway. The South Tower also featured the first American ballroom equipped with air conditioning. And by 1908 the hotel housed around 1,000 guest rooms, an amazing feat for the time.
Though, by the time that World War 2 hit the country, the hotel was purchased by the United States Government and was established as a housing unit for military officers. Five years after the war however, the hotel was bought out by the Pick Hotel Corporation and was completely renovated, before being renovated again in the 1960's. Eventually this hotel became nicknamed the "Hotel of Presidents", with the likes of William Howard Taft, Teddy Roosevelt, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, William McKinley and Grover Cleveland having visited or campaigned at this hotel.
Although so far this hotel might seem somewhat normal and untouched by tragedy, there's a lot that we have not yet discussed. Such as that of Al Capone, who had seemed to visit many of these now haunted hotels before they were haunted, has been one particular criminal known for frequenting this establishment. It seems like no matter where Al Capone goes, his spirit follows...
Aside from the criminal history, it was really around World War I when horrific tragedies began to occur at the Congress Plaza Hotel. It's said that over the years (especially between the Great Depression and World War I) and an undisclosed number of individuals had either committed suicide or died by sudden fatalities within or around hotel grounds.
One horrific tale includes two very young boys being thrown from a window in a room on the twelfth floor of the hotel by an immigrant mother suffering a mental breakdown at the time. Shortly after dropping her infantile son from her bedroom window, she jumped too, taking her own life in the process. It's said that the woman (an Adele Langer) and her two sons were Jewish refugees staying at the hotel before the tragic incident had occurred.
It's also said through urban legends that a construction worker was accidentally sealed alive behind drywall expansions, later leading to tales of ghostly hands reaching out from the walls within the hotel. Elevator malfunctions/accidents had also led to the deaths of at least two individuals, one in 1904 and another in 1914. A Spanish-American war veteran by the name of Louis Ostheim had taken his own life in 1900, and a much more recent event in 2018 left two men killed in a drive-by shooting.
Strangely enough, much of the darker history surrounding this hotel has to do with accidental deaths and more so suicides, rather than criminal violence, outright murders, or grisly captivity. It truly is astounding and strange how many deaths had occurred, either out of sheer unfortunate coincidence or from a depressive mental state of being. Chicago is, after all, the Windy City, and sometimes the wind blows in more than what people are prepare for.
The Ghostly Tragedies and Torments:
If you still recall the story of the mother who threw her two young boys out from her hotel window, at least one (if not both) of the boy's ghosts can be witnessed wandering the upper floors of the hotel where the family at the time had stayed. As grisly as it is, this hotel may have become the boys final resting place, as you can sometimes still hear his laughter and playful nature.
The Florentine Room is one of the more famed hotspots. A place where Al Capone and other criminals would frequent, it's no surprise that disembodied sounds of gunshots can be heard echoing through its chambers. All the while the piano will sometimes play itself, voices from begone eras dance throughout the room, and shadowy specters linger here.
Yet, the most active room in this hotel is located on the fourth floor in room 441. Here it is said that a ghostly woman enters unannounced, removes the bedsheets from those sleeping within the room, turns on the lights in the middle of the night, and has also been known to kick people awake.
Our last ghost is more mischievous than the others, however. Known as Peg-Leg Johnny, he's the specter of a murdered man who roams the hallways, constantly flickering lights and causing strange noises to be heard throughout the hotel.
This hundred-plus year-old hotel sure has a history of its own within the heart of the Windy City. Its location has been featured on numerous paranormal investigative shows such as Ghost Adventures and the like. While many independent ghost hunters flock to this hotel for a look into its hauntings, it seems like the spirits overall are not too very welcoming to guests.
The Congress Plaza Hotel definitely has one of the darker histories of hotels and haunted locations in general that we've covered on 3rd Palm Paranormal Places thus far. From crime to war, suicides and murders, and a string of tragic events, I'm not so sure I'd feel safe staying here.
Although the hotel and the city of Chicago have modernized this location throughout the decades, there remains an eerie presence here that, only by having researched for the sake of this article, I myself would not want to be trapped here. Especially room 441, as I'm a man who enjoys my beauty sleep when I can get it.
The Haunted Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago | 3rd Palm Paranormal Places
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