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Resurrection Mary: The Eerie Tale of Chicago's Most Famous Ghost

They say her spirit dances past the cemetery at night, dressed entirely in white.

resurrection cemetery

  • Photo Credit: Richie Diesterheft / Flickr (CC)

Just outside of Chicago, Archer Avenue leads motorists past Resurrection Cemetery, the final resting spot of a young woman killed in the 1930s. Many believe the same young woman mysteriously returns to the cemetery night after night, dancing and hitchhiking her way back down the avenue. Of all of Chicago’s ghost stories, this one has been told and retold for over 80 years.

Resurrection Mary, as she is called, was reportedly first sighted in 1939, when a man named Jerry Palus met a beautiful young blonde woman in a white dress at a local dance hall. After dancing together all night, Jerry offered the beautiful stranger a ride home. She directed him down Archer Avenue, stopping in front of Resurrection Cemetery, where she vanished before reaching the front gates.

resurrection graveyard

Resurrection Cemetery.

Decades later, tales of encounters with Resurrection Mary continued to surface. One of the most prominent sightings of the spirit was reported in the Suburban Trib in 1979. Reporter Bill Geist interviewed a man named Ralph for an article aptly titled, “Cryptic Rider Leaves Taxi Driver with the Willies.” The taxi driver requested that his last name be withheld—although he stuck by his chilling story, he didn’t want people to think he was crazy. 

Ralph explained that he had picked up a strange young woman in a white dress one evening, who had directed him down Archer Avenue. She was mostly silent, except to remark that the snows had come early this year. When she abruptly requested that he stop in front of Resurrection Cemetery, Ralph slammed on the brakes. He looked away for only a moment, when something happened that made his blood run cold: “When I turned she was gone. Vanished!  And the door never opened.  May the good Lord strike me dead, it never opened.”

Related: Lady in White: The Haunted Burial Grounds of Union Cemetery  

Throughout the years, dozens of other men came forward with eerily similar stories. They all involved an attractive blonde wearing a white party dress who would dance--and ultimately disappear near the cemetery. Some claimed to see her walking down the road, sometimes even jumping into oncoming traffic. Others would say that they stopped to give the girl a ride, and in traditional “ vanishing hitchhiker ” form, the white-clad woman would disappear as they neared Resurrection Cemetery—sometimes after she got out of the car, and sometimes as the driver walked around to the passenger side to open her door. 

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resurrection graveyard

The original Oh Henry Ballroom.

The stories of the girl behind the ghost vary. The most prominent is that Mary, as she came to be called, was out one evening with a boyfriend, dancing at the Oh Henry Ballroom (now the Willowbrook Ballroom). They got into a spat, and unable to stand his company any longer, the young woman stormed out of the ballroom to walk home alone. Not long after departing the dance hall, Mary was struck by a car. The driver fled the scene, leaving her for dead. Mary’s parents later found by her body; they dressed her in a white gown and dancing shoes and buried her in Resurrection Cemetery. The young woman’s spirit then rose from the grave, wandering the cemetery grounds and haunting her favorite dancing places. Unlike other reported ghosts, it seems that this spirit does not hide from human contact—rather, she seeks it out.

The story of Resurrection Mary’s death explains another type of strange encounter that people have had with her spirit. Several people traveling down Archer Avenue have made distressed phone calls to police claiming to have discovered a young woman’s body on the side of the road, seemingly abandoned after a hit and run accident. When officers reported to the scene, the body seemed to vanish. The only sign left behind was a dent in the grass, in the shape of a human body.

Related: The Bronze Lady: The Spooky Legend of Sleepy Hollow That You've Never Heard of  

Over the years, many researchers have attempted to pin the ghost’s identity on young women named Mary that were killed in automotive accidents in the late 1920s or early 30s. One theory proposes that the disturbed spirit is Mary Bregovy, a 21-year-old woman who was killed in 1934 when the driver of the vehicle she was riding in crashed into a structure on the side of the road. Another possibility is that Resurrection Mary is the ghost of Anna Norkus, whose devotion to the Virgin Mary led her to adopt Marija (Lithuanian for Mary) as her middle name. Norkus was killed in an automobile accident in 1927, on her way home from an evening spent at the Oh Henry Ballroom.

However, Mary Bregovy was a brunette, and Anna Norkus was just shy of 13 years old—neither matching the description of a blonde in her early 20s. They also weren’t involved in hit and run accidents, leaving the true identity of Resurrection Mary a mystery.

resurrection cemetery

The section of the front gate allegedly burned by Mary’s touch.

Another chilling aspect of this local legend involves the cemetery itself. Resurrection Cemetery encompasses over 540 acres, making it one of the largest—and possibly most haunted—cemeteries in North America. One night, a man reported seeing a young woman who looked like she was locked in the vast cemetery. When a police officer went to go check out the scene, he didn’t see anyone there. However, the bars on the gate of the cemetery looked scorched and warped. Although authorities chalk it up to a maintenance accident with a truck, legend has it that Resurrection Mary seared the bars with her hands when she grasped them, as if trying to free herself.

Related: Beware the Black Angel of Oakland Cemetery

In any case, Mary’s story has captivated ghost-hunters for decades. Some write it off as merely an urban legend, but the consistent sightings of this mysterious figure over the years are undeniably striking.

Featured photo: Richie Diesterheft / Flickr (CC)  

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resurrection cemetery ghost

Resurrection Mary, The Hitchhiking Ghost of Archer Avenue

Chicagoland has a lot of ghost stories, but none are as well-known as the infamous Resurrection Mary, the hitchhiking ghost who haunts the roadsides of Archer Avenue. Mary has different origins, depending on who’s telling the story, but the most shared narratives put her untimely death sometime in the late 1920s to early 1930s, when she was either a victim of a fatal car crash on the way to a night of dancing or the unfortunate victim of a hit-and-run accident while she was walking home in the rain.

Most documented reports of Mary describe her as a young, fashionable blonde woman no older than mid-twenties, wearing a white ball gown, accessories, and hairstyle to match. As the story goes, she typically manifests as a lonely guest at a dance hall, and after a night of dancing, she asks for a ride back home, slipping into the backseat and guiding her driver for the night (usually a man) up Archer Avenue. But by the time the car reaches a local cemetery, Mary vanishes without a trace, leaving nothing more than her ghostly memory.

Mary is supposedly buried at Resurrection Cemetery, in Justice, Illinois, about a 30-minute drive southwest of Chicago. This burial ground gives Mary her stomping grounds, as well as her iconic name. She usually sticks to this stretch of road on Archer Avenue, between the cemetery and what was once the Oh Henry Ballroom (later renamed the Willowbrook Ballroom) in Willow Springs. Over the years, several researchers have tried to determine the exact identity of Mary, but no answer has proved conclusive.

Resurrection Mary’s fame has gone beyond Chicagoland. Her hitchhiking ghost has had a number of ballads written about her, along with a few B-list horror movies (all named after her), and even a couple segments on Unsolved Mysteries. On a more local level (and for those thirsty for a good drink), Chet’s Melody Lounge on Archer Avenue in Justice, right across the street from Resurrection cemetery, has a tradition for Mary. Every Sunday, they serve a Bloody Mary at the end of the bar for her. To date, Mary hasn’t shown up to claim the drink—maybe she’s waiting for the right person to accompany her and then give her a ride back home.

The trope of the hitchhiking ghost is a common one not only in the United States, but across the world. Stories of phantom hitchhikers are part of the common folklore in both urban and rural areas, with stories similar to Mary’s showing up in South Carolina’s infamous Walhalla Hitchhiker, the phantom hitchhiker of Bedfordshire in Great Britain, and in Quezon City in the Philippines, where she is known as the White Lady. These urban legends often serve as cautionary tales, reminding those out in the late hours of the night that not everything may be what it seems, and that sometimes it’s just best to keep on driving.

You can read more about Mary and other Chicago folk stories in the Encyclopedia of Chicago .

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Meet Resurrection Mary, the ghost of Archer Avenue

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resurrection cemetery ghost

Just southwest of Chicago, on Archer Avenue in Justice, Illinois, across the street from Resurrection Cemetery, is a bar called Chet’s Melody Lounge. Chet’s is a classic roadside tavern, with a pool table, a jukebox, a popcorn machine, and a large clientele of bikers. But Chet’s has an unusual tradition: every Sunday, the staff leaves a Bloody Mary at the end of the bar for a ghost. The ghost’s name is Resurrection Mary, and she has haunted this stretch of Archer since the 1930s, when she picked up young men dancing to the big bands at the Oh Henry Ballroom.

An old south-sider named Vince was still telling his Resurrection Mary story to paranormal investigators half a century after it happened. When he did, he sounded just as haunted as he’d been the night he met the ghost. Before he went out dancing that evening, Vince put on his favorite suit-a double-breasted gray number with squared-off shoulders-and his most colorful tie, red with Hawaiian hula girls in grass skirts. He cruised Archer Avenue with the top down on his Chevy Cabriolet. The night was warm, and he’d slicked back his hair with enough Brylcreem to keep the wind from mussing it. The Oh Henry Ballroom was going to be jumping, as it always was on Saturdays. Vince had danced to some of the biggest of the big bands there: Harry James, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey. Tonight was just Chet Barsuitis and His Merry Men, from the southwest side of Chicago, but even the local combos knew all the hot numbers on the hit parade.

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Inside the ballroom, Vince spent the first half hour downing enough Cuba Libres and smoking enough Lucky Strikes to work up the courage to ask a girl for a dance. By the time the band got started on “Jumpin’ at the Woodside,” he was in a bold state of mind.

Spotting a pretty blond girl in a white dress, he said, as casually as he could manage, “Hey, it ain’t right to stand still for Count Basie. Why don’t we cut a rug on this one?”

The girl smiled, and they joined the jitterbugging throng on the parquet floor. The band played a few more fast numbers-“Boogie Woogie” and “Jeepers Creepers”-so Vince didn’t get a chance to talk to his partner. That he didn’t mind too much. Sometimes girls asked what he did for a living. He was a bookkeeper at the Union Stockyards. Even though he didn’t work anywhere near the slaughterhouse, that gave some girls the willies.

When the band segued into “Begin the Beguine,” Vince was finally able to get close to his partner. Her name was Mary, and she lived, she said, on Damen Avenue in the Brighton Park neighborhood. That wasn’t far from where Vince lived, in the house he shared with his parents (something else he didn’t like to tell girls). As they slow danced, he noticed, for the first time, that the girl’s hands were cold, her skin brittle. Mary seemed to notice that he noticed it, so he made what he hoped was a lighthearted remark: “Cold hands mean you have a warm heart.”

Mary smiled, and they danced together for the rest of the evening.

After the final number, Vince offered Mary a ride home; her place was just a straight shot up Archer. But after they had driven north for a few miles, Mary insisted he pull the car over, outside the locked gates of Resurrection Cemetery, the graveyard of Chicago’s Polish community. Vince was baffled, but he complied. Mary opened the door, and stepped out onto the roadside.

“I have to go, and you can’t follow me,” she said.

Then she walked toward the gates, laid a hand on the iron chain that bound the gates together, and vanished.

Chet's Melody Lounge, as seen from Resurrection Cemetery

Vince spent the rest of the night driving his Chevy up and down Archer Avenue, looking for a blond girl in a white dress. He drove until dawn, and then, when the cemetery gates opened, he drove through the rows of tombstones engraved with crosses and angels and names such as Butkowski and Gwiazda and Pietrzyk. He was impelled not simply by the mystery of having seen a ghost, but by the hope that the girl he had danced with was not a ghost, that he could dance with her again on some future night. Catching no sight of Mary, he decided finally to drive to the address she had given him before they got into his car. It was a brick bungalow, on a street of nearly identical houses separated by concrete gangways a few feet wide. Only the adornments on the porches and in the yards-an American flag, a statue of the Virgin in a half bathtub-differentiated the dwellings.

Vince rang the doorbell. His eyes were red with sleeplessness, his dark beard had not been shaven for a day, and his hair had fallen loose over his forehead. The middle-aged woman who answered the door looked startled by the young caller’s dishevelment. She looked even more startled when Vince asked, “Is Mary home?”

“Mary doesn’t live here anymore,” said the woman, who looked old enough, and enough like Mary, to be her mother. “Mary died in a car accident four years ago. Who are you?”

“I knew Mary in high school,” Vince lied; it was the only plausible story for why he had been unaware of her death.

“And you didn’t know?”

“I went to college downstate after I graduated,” he said. That much was true: he had attended Illinois State University, in Normal. “I just moved back to Chicago.”

Looking past the woman, who was still blocking the doorway, Vince spied a framed photo resting atop a piano in the front room. It was the girl he had danced with the night before: an ever-youthful face, never to age. The face of a ghost.

“I am sorry to be the one to tell you,” the woman said. “Mary went out dancing with some boys she worked with at Brach’s, but they never made it to the dance hall. One of the boys crashed the car into the el at Wacker and Lake. Mary was thrown through the windshield and died on the way to the hospital.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Vince said, retreating down the steps. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“If you want to visit Mary’s grave,” the woman added, “she’s buried in Resurrection Cemetery.”

Vince never returned to the Oh Henry Ballroom. Or to Resurrection Cemetery. (He had never learned Mary’s last name, so he could not have located her tombstone.) In fact, he was so shaken by having danced with a ghost that he never set foot in a dance hall again. But Resurrection Mary, as the girl’s ghost came to be known, continued to haunt Archer Avenue. When the big-band era ended, after the war, Mary rested quietly in her grave, because the music she had hoped to dance to on her final night among the living was no longer heard at the Oh Henry. But in the 1970s, her ghost rose again.

Mary’s family, not being wealthy, had buried her in a “term grave,” a rented plot that only held remains for a quarter century. By the time the term expired, all of Mary’s loved ones had joined her in the cemetery, leaving no one alive to renew it. During a renovation, Mary’s coffin was removed to an unmarked grave in a remote corner of the cemetery. One night, a suburban police officer received a report of a woman in a white dress walking through the grounds of Resurrection Cemetery. When he arrived at the gates, he found two bars pried apart, with scorch marks where a pair of hands would have gripped them. The following year, a couple driving down Archer Avenue saw a girl, wearing the same white dress, lying in the street. The man at the wheel swerved to avoid her, but she disappeared before his tires could make contact. In the 1990s, the owner of Chet’s Melody Lounge was pulling out of the driveway when he saw a man running up the road, waving desperately.

“I need to use your phone,” the man said, in a stricken voice. “I hit a woman back there, but I can’t find her body.”

“Was she a blond woman in a white dress?” the owner asked.

“How did you know?”

“That was Resurrection Mary. Don’t worry, you didn’t hit anyone; you saw a ghost.”

Despite these reappearances on Archer Avenue, Mary has yet to drink her Bloody Mary at Chet’s. When a ghost is roaming your neighborhood, though, you have to be ready to soothe her restless spirit.    v

Excerpted with permission from Folktales and Legends of the Middle West by Edward McClelland ( Belt Publishing , 2018). Illustration by David Wilson.

resurrection cemetery ghost

The Legend of Resurrection Mary

One of Chicago’s most famous ghosts stories is that of Resurrection Mary. The legend goes that she was killed in a hit-and-run while walking home from a ball sometime in the 1920s. Ever since, the ghost of a young woman in a white gown has been seen by dozens of people along Archer Avenue. Generally, she tends to be walking down the side of the road, searching for a ride home. Those kind enough to pick up the stranded woman are surprised when she vanishes into thin air before reaching her destination. She’s duped several cab drivers, and according to one man, she somehow got out of the car without ever opening the doors. Resurrection Mary has also been spotted in popular dance halls in the Southside, and men who have danced with her usually noted her ice-cold hands. Resurrection Mary is so named for her connection to the nearby Resurrection Cemetery, where she is said to be buried. She often asks for a ride to or from the graveyard, promptly disappearing once she reaches her destination.

Death at the Oh Henry Ballroom

The story of Resurrection Mary starts at the Oh Henry Ballroom in Willow Springs, Illinois. A young woman named Mary was attending a dance with her boyfriend. Later on that night, the young couple got into a heated argument, and Mary decided to walk home. She marched on through the rain down Archer Avenue, wearing her white gown. Mary never made it home. She was struck and killed by a car between the Oh Henry Ballroom and the Resurrection Cemetery. The driver of the vehicle that hit Mary was never identified. It was assumed to be a hit-and-run, with the driver leaving Mary to die on the side of the road.

Since her death in the late 1920s, several people claimed to see the ghost of a young woman hitchhiking down Archer Avenue. While the stories vary, almost all of them share the same basic characteristics. The woman always appears at night, she’s always seen wearing her trademark white gown, and she’s found either on Archer Avenue, at the ballroom, or in the cemetery. According to some, she’s also been spotted around various dance halls and nightclubs around Chicago’s Southside.

Most of the stories follow a typical version of the “vanishing hitchhiker” story. She’s usually given a ride, only to disappear upon reaching her destination. Due to the number of sightings and the credibility of those who claimed to have seen her, Resurrection Mary is said to be one of Chicago’s most famous ghosts.

The first person who claimed to encounter Resurrection Mary was a man named Jerry Palus. In 1939, Jerry was at a popular dance hall on the Southside, when he was lovestruck by a young blonde woman. He approached her, and the two hit it off and spent the night dancing away. They even shared a kiss. But something was off. According to Jerry, her hands were as cold as ice. He described her as having “cold hands but a warm heart.”

Closing time came around, and Jerry offered the woman a ride home, as she said she lived in the Southside. Still, the woman asked to be taken down to Archer. Jerry was confused. Archer Avenue was in the opposite direction. So why was she asking to go there instead of home? Jerry took the woman down towards Archer anyway. She motioned for Jerry to stop in front of the Resurrection Cemetery. When he stopped the car, she got out and vanished before his eyes.

Jerry was shaken with disbelief but not too frightened to seek out answers. The next morning, he made his way to the address where Mary said she lived. He knocked on the door and encountered her mother. When Jerry asked about the woman he met the previous night, she informed him that she’d been dead for nearly three years. It turns out that Jerry had encountered Resurrection Mary, and over the next few decades, several other men would have similar experiences. But Jerry’s encounter was the one that began the legend.

Several people claimed to have run-ins with Resurrection Mary in the 1970s and 80s. One cab driver in the 1970s claimed to see a young woman standing in front of the Resurrection Cemetery one night. He pulled over to check if she needed a ride. As the woman approached the vehicle, she disappeared.

Another encounter with Mary occurred in 1979 when a separate cab driver named Ralph claimed to pick up a young female hitchhiker. He said she was no older than 21. As the two drove up Archer Avenue, she suddenly jumped up and said, “Here! Here!” The car came to a sudden stop, and the woman pointed to a small abandoned shack off the left side of the road. Ralph questioned whether this was actually where she wanted to go, but before he got an answer, she disappeared without ever opening the door of the cab. His encounter was detailed in a 1979 issue of Suburban Trip magazine.

In 1980, Clare Rudniki and her husband Mark were driving down Archer Avenue toward the Resurrection Cemetery when they spotted a young woman in a white gown slowly walking down the side of the road. It was immediately obvious that she wasn’t an ordinary person. She was partially transparent with a white aura around her, almost as if she was glowing. Shocked, the Rudniki’s wondered if they had just seen a ghost. Believing it to be the infamous Resurrection Mary, they did a u-turn to confirm what they had just seen. When they once again reached the spot where Mary was walking, she was gone.

In 1989, Janet Kalal was out with her friend for an evening drive. While passing by the Resurrection Cemetery, a young woman wearing a white gown jumped in front of her car. Janet didn’t have enough time to stop, and ran into the woman. But something was strange. There was no impact and no sound. The woman just disappeared into thin air. When Janet and her friend got out to check out the scene, the woman was nowhere to be found, and there was no damage to their car. Both Janet and her friend both saw the woman, yet she vanished without a trace.

Was Mary a Real Person?

While some doubt whether the story of Resurrection Mary is real, some particularly persistent paranormal investigators have begun digging to uncover Mary’s true identity. They combed through the thousands of graves at the Resurrection Cemetery looking for a connection. It was once believed that Resurrection Mary was actually a woman named Mary Bregovy, who was struck by a car and killed in 1934. This was later proven to be false, as Bregovy was killed in the Downtown Loop District.

Today, many agree that a woman named Anna “Majira” Norkus is actually Resurrection Mary. She was killed in a car accident in 1927 while on her way back from a party at the Oh Henry Ballroom. Her story seems fairly consistent with the legends.

Related Phenomena

There have been several ghost sightings and unusual phenomena related to Resurrection Mary. For several decades, two of the bars at the front gate of Resurrection Cemetery were bent apart, as if someone had tried to open a space in the bars. Some attribute this to Mary, as there are even a few people who claimed to have witnessed the event. Locals point to the handprints seemingly burned into the bars as evidence for this taking place, but the cemetery officials vehemently deny any ghostly occurrences. Instead, they chalk up the bent bars to an impact with a truck.

Some have claimed to see the ghost of a young blonde woman walking around Resurrection Cemetery at night. It’s unknown whether or not this is Mary, but she does have a similar appearance. Other strange apparitions have been seen around the graveyard as well.

Want to see more Chicago haunts?

Want to see what terrors await in the Windy City? Why not take a tour of the Old Joliet Prison? Several ghosts are said to hide within its stone walls. Hundreds died in Joliet over the years, either from executions, murder, or simply old age. John Wayne Gacy, the killer clown, was said to have done some time in Old Joliet. Gacy murdered over thirty people, and did a frighteningly good job covering up his tracks. But he got caught when he cockily decided to sell marijuana at a gas station. The Excalibur was one of the hotspots of Chicago’s nightlife. But before it was a popular club, it was the headquarters of the Chicago Historical Society. Being a storage space for old artifacts and human remains, ghosts and spirits flocked to the building. Want to see more Windy City haunts? Check out the top ten haunted hotspots in Chi-town right here!

Read Our Blog For More Haunted History!

Manteno state mental hospital, the old joliet prison.

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In search of Resurrection Mary, Chicago’s ’most famous ghost’

Ursula Bielski, the founder of Chicago Hauntings Inc., shared slides Saturday of some of the more interesting stories in Chicago's paranormal history and hauntings, including this one of Mary Bregovy, thought by some to be the woman behind the ghost story of Resurrection Mary.

Ursula Bielski, the founder of Chicago Hauntings Inc., shared slides Saturday of some of the more interesting stories in Chicago's paranormal history and hauntings, including this one of Mary Bregovy, thought by some to be the woman behind the ghost story of Resurrection Mary. (Heidi Litchfield)

Haunted Folklore

Haunted Folklore

Editor’s note: Whether or not you believe in ghosts and hauntings, this is one of several spooky tales of local lore that Shaw Local News Network will be sharing with readers in the spirit of Halloween.

CHICAGO — If you grew up in the south suburbs, odds are that you’ve heard a version of the story.

A car drives down Archer Avenue through the woods. It’s dark, and suddenly the driver sees a young woman in a white dress walking down the side of the road trying to hitch a ride.

The driver stops to pick up the woman, and she tells the driver that she’s trying to get home. She doesn’t say much, and then, just as the car passes the gate of Resurrection Cemetery, she tells the driver to stop.

Just as mysteriously as she appeared, she vanishes without the car door ever opening.

The girl was Resurrection Mary, the Chicago area’s most famous ghost.

Thanks to its infamous spectral hitchhiker, Resurrection Cemetery, the Catholic burial ground in Justice, has earned a reputation as one of the most haunted cemeteries in the U.S. and even the world.

“Unsolved Mysteries,” numerous Travel Channel programs and countless online lists have featured the story first reported in 1939.

Oak Lawn-based paranormal investigator and writer Dale Kaczmarek said this is a slight misnomer, however, since Mary’s exclusive presence and changing location implies that it is, in fact, the road that is haunted, not the cemetery itself.

Resurrection Cemetery is home to one of Chicago’s most popular ghosts, Resurrection Mary. Urban legends are told of Resurrection Mary, who hit and killed by a car walking home from a dance, hitchhiking along Archer Avenue only to disappear as the near Resurrection Cemetery.

Resurrection Cemetery is home to one of Chicago’s most popular ghost stories, that of Resurrection Mary. Urban legends are told of Resurrection Mary, who may have been hit and killed by a car walking home from a dance, hitchhiking along Archer Avenue only to disappear near the cemetery. (Gary Middendorf/Gary Middendorf)

“The story goes that she was out dancing at the Willowbrook Ballroom, which was originally the O’Henry Ballroom, [which] burned down recently [in 2016]. She left and was killed by a car, but she is still trying to get home,” Kaczmarek said. “She appears anywhere along the road from right outside what used to be the ballroom to the main cemetery gate, sometimes along the road and sometimes back further in the woods, but when she gets to the gate, she disappears, like she realizes that’s where she belongs.”

Although Kaczmarek said that hitchhiking ghosts are a “staple of American folklore,” he noted that the longevity of Mary’s story, as well as the sheer number and variety of accounts, make this legend more credible.

“This is a lot more than a folktale because a lot of the famous accounts came from people who didn’t already know the story,” said Kaczmarek, who has written two books on haunted Chicago locations and is president of the Ghost Research Society . “One of the most famous accounts is from 1979. A cab driver from the North Side was lost coming home from the airport and picked her up, hoping to exchange a free ride home for directions. He said she was useless for directions and just told him to drive down Archer Avenue, but then yelled for him to stop in front of the cemetery. He did, and when he turned around, the back seat was empty.

“He didn’t know the story, he didn’t even know where he was, but he talked about it anonymously with the Chicago Sun-Times, and those are the kind of stories that make it seem more credible.”

Through the Ghost Research Society, which has investigated paranormal claims across the U.S. and even internationally, Kaczmarek said he has seen thousands of accounts of the ghost, which first piqued his interest in the paranormal.

Oak Lawn resident Dale Kaczmarek is president of the Ghost Research Society.

Oak Lawn resident Dale Kaczmarek is president of the Ghost Research Society. (Photo provided by Dale Kaczmarek)

“This was the first ghost story I was ever told by my parents,” he said. “They were dating back in the late ‘30s when the story started, and my dad would like to go driving past the cemetery looking for her after their dates, much to the chagrin of my mom, who was terrified.”

Although no members of his family ever saw the hitchhiking ghost, Kaczmarek said he has seen enough accounts to believe it is legitimate.

“Obviously, there are a lot of copycats out there, but many of them are completely unique, which makes them seem more credible,” he said.

Stories of Mary encounters range from seeing the glowing specter along the road to giving the mysterious woman a ride. Several people have claimed that they saw her dart into the road ahead of them and thought they hit her, only to find that no one was there.

In all cases, the ghost is described similarly: a pale, blonde woman who appears to be about 20 years old and is dressed in an old-fashioned white dress. In every account, she vanishes without a trace.

One story from the 1970s included physical evidence, which Kaczmarek said recently has been removed.

“On Aug. 10, 1976, a man drove past the cemetery and said he saw a girl standing in the cemetery holding the bars of the fence,” Kaczmarek said. “He thought somebody had gotten locked in by accident when the cemetery closed, which had happened before, so he called the police.

“When the cops arrived, they didn’t see anyone, but they found two bars near the gate had been bent apart and there were handprints seared into them. The cemetery said that a truck had hit the fence and the handprints were left by a welder who tried to bend them back into shape, but that doesn’t make any sense.”

Kaczmarek says that the explanation never made sense because the bars were not only scorched but also still bent.

Bent bars in the gate of Resurrection Cemetery appear to have handprints seared into them.

Bent bars in the gate of Resurrection Cemetery appear to have handprints seared into them. (Photo provided by Dale Kaczmarek)

“She left her handprints on the bars,” he said. “The scorch marks don’t look like the work of a blowtorch, and a welder would be wearing gloves, so specific handprints wouldn’t be there. Over the years, they tried to paint over it, but you could always see the marks. If they really wanted to make the story go away, they probably should have just replaced them, but they didn’t for years.

“It was only within the last year that the bars were taken out, but they haven’t been replaced yet. Now there’s just a gap in the fence, so I’m interested to see what they’ll do with it now.”

While the story of Resurrection Mary persists, Kaczmarek said reports of sightings have dropped off since their peak in the 1970s and 1980s.

“They installed brighter streetlights along Archer in 1985 for safety and to try to stop vandalism at the cemetery,” he said. “Since then, the reports are fewer and farther between because I think ghosts are harder to see in bright light because they are faint apparitions, which are sort of dissolved by it. It doesn’t mean they aren’t there; they just are harder to see.”

It is not know who really is Resurrection Mary but many theorist believe it was Anna "Marija" Norkus, who died in a 1927 auto accident while on her way home from the Oh Henry Ballroom. Another being Mary Bregovy, who died in 1934, although her death came in an automobile accident in the downtown Chicago Loop.

Resurrection Mary's identity is not known, but many believe it was Anna "Marija" Norkus, who died in a 1927 auto accident while on her way home from the Oh Henry Ballroom. Another possibility is Mary Bregovy, who died in 1934, although her death came in an automobile accident in the Chicago Loop. (Gary Middendorf/Gary Middendorf)

Whatever the reason for the reduced sightings, the story of Resurrection Mary is one that’s never far from the hearts and minds of Chicago-area residents.

After the Willowbrook Ballroom burned down in 2016, Kaczmarek recalled, there was an outpouring of sadness from the community by people who had danced there over the years, including a note on Mary’s behalf.

“I went out there to see what was left, and people had left signs asking for the ballroom to be rebuilt,” Kaczmarek said. “One thing that stuck with me as sad but rather funny was near what was left of the door frame, someone had hung a pair of white women’s dancing shoes and a sign that said ‘Please rebuild the ballroom,’ which was signed from Resurrection Mary.”

If someone does believe they saw Resurrection Mary or experienced any other haunting, Kaczmarek encourages them to share their stories with the Ghost Research Society, but also not to be scared.

“I’ve been doing this for 50 years,” he said. “I’ve seen my fair share, but I’ve never come across a malicious or harmful ghost. I don’t think they’re capable of harming anybody. I think they’re there because of unfinished business or an untimely death, and they just want to show someone that they still exist in some way, shape or form.”

chicagology

Resurrection Mary

Haunted Chicago

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Resurrection Mary (portrayed here by Jenna Harvey) floats mysteriously in and out of the lives of travelers near Justice.

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If you’ve got any ideas about taking her dancing, forget it. The damsel’s a ghost, one of Chicago’s most famous. Dating from the 1930s, she even has a nickname—”Resurrection Mary”—for the cemetery at 7200 S. Archer Rd., Justice, where she invariably leaps out of the car and disappears.

THE LEGEND of Mary is one of the many, involving ghosts and haunted places, that have grown up in Chicagoland over the years. Haunted cemeteries, ghostly visitations in churches, ghost lights, mysterious weeping, even a “disappearing house,” all are part of area ghost lore, collected by Chicagoan Richard Crowe (1948-2012), a man who spends much of his time tracking down psychic phenomena and even leads tours to “ghosts” favorite haunts.

Crowe’s found a number of sites in the area that the like-minded or just plain curious might find worth a visit (and what better time than Halloween, though none of the ghosts involved appear to pay much attention to the calendar?). But it’s South Archer Avenue’s famous “hitchhiking ghost” that interests most.

HITCHHIKING GHOSTS —usually women, who beg rides from strangers and then either get out at cemeteries or disappear before the driver’s eyes—have long been staples of folklore and ghost legends throughout the world. Chicago, Crowe says, can claim at three ethic varieties of the phenomenon: Jewish, Mexican, and Polish.

Resurrection Mary, according to Crowe, hails from Resurrection Cemetery and haunts Archer from Ashland Avenue to Willow Springs.

Supposedly killed in a car wreck en route to a dance in the’30s, Mary apparently was buried in her dancing slippers and has refused to stay still ever since.

In years past, young men used to report picking up a girl fitting Mary’s description and taking her dancing, frequently at the Willowbrook Ballroom, in Willow Springs. She’d seem friendly, they said, but a little “chilly.” On the way home from the dance, the same thing happened to each of them; Mary would jump out at Resurrection Cemetery and vanish. Other men (Mary apparently had no interest in women) have reported picking her up on Archer Avenue as she tries to flag a ride “home” from a dance.

Over the years, Mary’s physical appearance has remained constant, but her mental state seems to be deteriorating; Mary, in fact seems to be going crackers.

“Lately,” Crowe says, “the reports I’ve gotten seem to indicate Mary’s on the verge of a breakdown. She’s reportedly jumped in young men’s cars when they stopped for a light on Archer, and she’s been incoherent. She acts hysterical as they ride along, then jumps out, always at the cemetery.”

The most recent report Crowe has of Mary concerns an incident that occurred last Christmas season. Two boys, walking down Archer Avenue, noticed a blond girl, dressed in an old-fashioned-looking ball dress, “dancing down the street, acting weird.” The kids, who never heard of the legend, went home and told their parents. In turn, their parents, who’d grown up hearing about dancing Mary, told Crowe. 1

THE ANNA NORKUS STORY

Chicago Tribune, July 21, 1927

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The dead girl is Anna Norkus, 12 years old, 5421 South Neva avenue. She was crushed under the car. The injured are William Wasnor (Weisner), 32 years old, 3148 Auburn avenue; Loretta Gwozdz, 14 years old, 5312 South Nottingham avenue; Adam Lipinski, 58 years old; August Norkus, 42 years old, 5421 South Neva avenue, and Sophie Norkus, 16 years old, 5421 South Neva avenue. This death and two others raised the 1927 county auto toll to 510. 2

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William Wesnor (Weisner), 32 years old, 3148 Auburn avenue, driver of the car, was going east in 63d street. The street is closed for repairs east of Harlem road, he detoured south on Harlem. The route provides for turning east again on 65th street, but this is little more than a trail and is not marked. Wesnor missed it and hit the end of the road a few blocks farther south, plunging into the ditch.

Ask Mark for Detour. A coroner’s jury, under Deputy John J. Dedrick, inspected the scene and advised Argo authorities and the county highway department to mark the detour. 3

1 Double-exposure photograph by Karen Engstrom, published in Chicago Tribune, October 31, 1985. 2 Anna Norkus was born in Cicero, Illinois in 1914. It has been suggested that Anna Norkus called herself “Marija.” According to a later inquiry, the party was driving home from the Oh Henry Ballroom in Willowbrook, Illinois. The accident took place about 1:30 a.m. 3 The Death Certificate of Anna Norkus states that she was to be interned at St. Casimir, however, during this time many gravediggers were on strike and several bodies were buried in temporary graves at Resurrection Cemetery till the strike was over and would be moved to their permanent lot. It is possible that Norkus’ body was so decomposed due to lack of proper storage conditions that she was not able to be identified and remained misplaced at Resurrection.

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Resurrection Cemetery – Home Of Chicago’s Most Famous Ghost

  • Chicago , Illinois
  • Anthony Kimani
  • No Comments
  • May 21, 2018

Chicago city is home to many ghosts. From eerie graveyards to haunted houses, there is always something scary in the neighborhoods that can scare the wit out of you. Though there are many stories of ghosts, Resurrection Mary has to be among the most famous ghosts of Chicago. Resurrection Cemetery on Archer Avenue, Justice, IL, is a haunted cemetery that’s the focus of a continuing mystery.

Resurrection Mary is a popular Chicago ghost story. It is about a vanishing hitchhiker and takes place near the Resurrection Cemetery. There have been many hitchhiker ghost stories but Resurrection Mary is still the most famous. The tale of Mary the vanishing ghost starts in mid-1930s. Drivers driving along Archer Avenue between Resurrection Cemetery and Willowbrook Ballroom (formerly Oh Henry Ballroom) started reporting picking up a female hitchhiker. The young woman was allegedly dressed in a formal white party dress and is said to have blue eyes and light blond hair. Other reports indicate that she wears dancing shoes, has a thin shawl, and has a small clutch purse. As the vehicles approach the cemetery, the young woman asks to be let out and she vanishes into the cemetery. Quite scary, right?

Richard Crowe a ‘full-time ghost hunter’ has managed to collect dozens of ‘substantiated’ reports of the sighting of Mary from the mid-1930’s to present time.

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The Legend Behind Mary The Ghost

The story behind the ghosts starts with Mary spending the evening with her boyfriend at Oh Henry Ballroom. They allegedly argued at some point and this led to Mary storming out of the ballroom. It was a cold winter but she preferred walking home in the cold rather than staying another second with the boyfriend.

A short distance from the ballroom, on Archer Avenue, she was hit by a hit-and-run driver and she died on the spot. Her parents found her dead and were grief-stricken when they saw her body. She was buried in Resurrection Cemetery. Her burial clothes were a beautiful white dancing dress that matched her dancing shoes. There are no reports of the hit-and-run driver being found.

Resurrection Mary Sightings

There have been many people who have claimed to have had an encounter with Mary. The surprising thing is that every story seems to be different in the encounter but the description of Mary has remained almost 100% constant. This can really send shivers down your spine because it puts the mystery closer to a truth that we all don’t want to believe in.

There are many sane people who have claimed to have met Mary the Ghost. Some say that she was standing on the roadside along Archer Avenue. Some have actually claimed that they hit Mary but when they exited the car, she was gone.

One of the most bizarre encounters involves a driver driving past the Cemetery on the night of August 10 th 1976. The driver was passing the cemetery at around 10:30 at night. He saw a girl standing on the inside part of the cemetery gates. He said that she was in a white dress holding the gates’ iron bars. So he stopped at the Justice police station to report that someone might have been locked inside the cemetery. When the offer responding to the report got to the cemetery, there was no one there

He decided to inspect the location where the driver claimed to have seen the girl. The revelation was scary. Two of the gate bars had been pulled apart and had sharp bent angles. The bent parts had blackened scorch marks. The marks have handprints that were seared into the bars. These marks made headlines and people started visiting the cemetery to witness the evidence left behind by Mary. The cemetery officials tried to get rid of the marks with a blowtorch but this made things worse. Finally, they decided to cut the bars off to discourage the crowds.

The cemetery tried to cover up everything with their version of the story. They said that a sewer truck backed into the cemetery gates. They said that the scorched marks were as a result of the workers trying to fix the bars with a blowtorch. Though they tried to explain the bent bars, they did little to explain the small fingers marks on the bars.

Resurrection Mary’s Identity

Some people have reported having a dance with Mary at the ballroom. They offer Mary a ride home but once they pass the cemetery, she does the usual, she disappears into thin air. The story of the encounter comes in many variations, but the end is always the same – Mary disappears. Story lovers believe that the true identity of Mary is Anna ‘Marija’ Norkus, They also suspect that she could be Mary Bregovy, a young woman who died in 1934 after a car accident downtown Chicago Loop.

Resurrection Mary Today

The stories of Mary from Resurrection Cemetery faded off in the 1990’s but to date, people are still seeing the inadequately dressed young lady in winter months. People are still visiting this Avenue attempting to experience the encounter. There are still many stories some unbelievable and some straight chilling to the bone.

No one really knows who Mary is but the stories are not about to stop. She might vanish every time she reaches the cemetery gates but her legend lives on.  We might never know why she haunts this area and what she wants. However, she will continue providing a mysterious place in Windy City.

You can have a chance to experience the ghost of Mary. Experience the spooky cemetery and enjoy the sight of the largest stained glass window, and maybe grab a drink at the Oh Henry Ballroom, now known as Willowbrook Ballroom & Banquets where the story began. You can also, maybe, see Mary the ghost.

Whatever you do, don’t give her a ride; she will not chip in for gas.

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Chicago’s favorite ghost: Resurrection Mary

Chicago’s favorite ghost: Resurrection Mary

I first heard the story at one of the Duke’s Halloween parties. That would make it when I was in college, in the late ‘sixties.

The way the Duke told it, this guy he knew had been driving north on Milwaukee Avenue near Lawrence, by the Holiday Ballroom. Suddenly a young woman in a white dress jumped in front of the car. The guy screeched to a halt, the woman got in the car, and asked for a ride.

Now the driver figured he was getting lucky, so he agreed. The woman told him to head up Milwaukee toward Niles. Other than that, she didn’t say much.

Getting into Niles, they passed the main entrance to St. Adalbert’s Cemetery. “Stop the car!” the woman shouted. The driver stopped the car. When he turned to look at the woman, she had vanished.

Sound familiar? Substitute Archer Avenue, the Willow Brook Ballroom, and Resurrection Cemetery. Now you have Chicago’s most famous ghost story, the tale of Resurrection Mary.

At the time I hadn’t heard anything about Resurrection Mary. Neither had any of my friends. We only knew that this was a great story.

As the years went by, I became better acquainted with Chicago folklore. Then I realized that the Duke had picked up the Resurrection Mary story somewhere, and simply adapted it to his own purposes. That was a habit of his. Last I heard of him, he was a long-term guest of the federal government. Something about counterfeiting.

The first sighting of Resurrection Mary occurred in 1939. Since then there have been dozens. The story has been related in newspapers and magazine articles, in books, in songs, and in a movie. In 2011, Mary is all over the internet.

Who was the real Resurrection Mary? Researchers have nominated a number of candidates. My vote goes to Anna Norkus.

Anna was born in Cicero in 1914, and later lived in Chicago near Archer and Harlem. On her 13th birthday—July 20, 1927—she rode along with her father and some friends to the Oh Henry Ballroom (today’s Willow Brook). After an evening of partying, they drove home.

Along the way they passed Resurrection Cemetery. On Harlem near 67th Street, the driver lost control of the car and plunged into a deep ditch at the side of the road. Anna was killed in the crash.

The dead girl was supposed to be buried at St. Casimir’s Cemetery. But because of a grave-diggers’ strike there, Anna was temporarily interred at Resurrection Cemetery. Later, when the strike ended, her remains could not be identified.

That account fits the main elements of the Resurrection Mary story. As noted, there’s plenty of information available, and you’re welcome to come up with your own theory.

As for me, I’ve driven past St. Adalbert’s Cemetery hundreds of times, and never had anything unusual happen. But I’ve never driven by Resurrection Cemetery at night. And I don’t intend to.

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A paranormal field guide.

resurrection cemetery ghost

Resurrection Mary, Chicago’s Ghostly Hitchhiker

December 12, 2021 jacob 'jake' rice.

Since the 1930s, a spirit has walked along Archer Avenue in Justice, Illinois. Many drivers have stopped to help the young woman, only to see her disappear before their very eyes. There are 2 leading theories on Mary’s true identity. But, perhaps, we should consider other people.

History of Resurrection Mary Sightings

Before we start, let’s look at hitchhiker spirits across Chicago. Quite frankly, if there’s a major road and intersection, you’re going to have a hitchhiker ghost roaming. There’s more than a dozen of these spirits appearing across Chicagoland area.

The Urban Legend

According to the story I’m most familiar with, Mary is the 18 year-old daughter of Polish immigrants. She had gone out dancing with her boyfriend at Oh Henry Ballroom in Willow Springs, Illinois. Later in the evening, she gets into a fight with her boyfriend after she catches him dancing with another girl. She leaves the dance hall and starts walking home. A car then strikes and kills her at 1:30 a.m. The police never find the driver. Mary is then buried in Resurrection Cemetery.

Another story says she and her boyfriend have a fight in his car, which causes him to crash and kill Mary.

Chronological Order of Sightings

1934 – First reports of a hitchhiker ghost at Resurrection Cemetery.

1939 – Jerry Palus dances with Mary at a ballroom. While driving her home, she asks to get out at Resurrection Cemetery and disappears.

1973 – A cab driver enters Chet’s Melody Lounge to find the young lady that stiffed him for her ride to Resurrection Cemetery.

1976 – A motorist reports hitting a young lady in front of the cemetery, but she was gone when he exited his car.

1978 – Another motorist strikes a young lady in front of the cemetery, but she vanishes when he gets out of the car.

1979 – A cabbie picks up a young lady from a strip mall on Archer Avenue. After a few miles, she asks him to stop by the cemetery and vanishes from the backseat.

1980 – A driver hits a young lady in front of the cemetery, but she isn’t found when the couple leaves the car to check on her.

1989 – In the last reported sighting, a couple of friends driving along Archer Avenue hit, more like pass through, Mary. They could see her clearly. Mary had an illumination around her, and her face was a black void.

Where Resurrection Mary Manifests

resurrection cemetery ghost

Resurrection Mary appears alongside a 3.5-mile stretch of Archer Avenue between Willow Springs and Justice, Illinois. In many cases, she’s found east of Willowbrook Ballroom & Banquet ( destroyed by fire ) in Willow Springs, and she exits cars at the main gate of Resurrection Cemetery in Justice. In general, she manifests between midnight and 3 a.m. There have been cases where she appeared before midnight, but never during daylight hours.

How Mary Manifests

Most witnesses report a teenage girl walks along the side of the road. She wears a white dress, white shawl and white shoes. The ghost appears to be 18 years-old and has blond hair. She also speaks with a Polish accent. Now, there’s not much documentation of the ghost speaking to witnesses. A few times, she asked the driver to stop at the cemetery. The most infamous encounter occurred in 1979 when the spirit exited a taxi and burned the cemetery gate.

It’s interesting how her last sighting seemed to detail the ghost’s decomposition. No longer was Mary a lifelike apparition, but an ethereal wisp without a face. I wonder if her essence dissipated. She had been manifesting for 50 years at this point. Maybe she had nothing left?

Current Theories to Resurrection Mary’s Identity

resurrection cemetery ghost

There are 2 people thought to be Resurrection Mary. Troy Taylor proposed Mary Bergovy, and Ursula Bielski believes Anna Norkus is the spirit. Let’s take a look at each possibility.

Mary Bergovy

Troy Taylor has written one of the most thorough examinations of Mary Bergovy .

In summary, Ms. Bergovy (age 21) was killed in a car crash in Chicago’s Loop, or downtown area. As he points out, she doesn’t look like the witness descriptions. She has short, dark hair, and, well, she died an hour away from Archer Avenue. Not a very compelling case, eh?

Ms. Bergovy was also Czech, not Polish. However, this Mary is buried at Resurrection Cemetery. At least, she’s one of two Mary Bergovy’s interned there. Yep, there’s two. The second Mary Bergovy was a 34 year-old mother of two, who was buried in 1922.

There could be a very good reason why the 21-year-old haunts the cemetery. Her grave may have been desecrated when the cemetery expanded during World War II. The cemetery staff had some graves covered over and not moved to a new section. Now, this Mary Bergovy’s grave is left hidden under feet of dirt.

On a side note: A groundskeeper reported a young woman spirit roaming the cemetery in April 1934, one month after Mary’s burial.

Anna “Marija” Norkus

Ursula Bielski proposed Mary’s true identity is Anna Marija Norkus, who died in a car accident at Harlem Avenue and 66th Street in July 1927. However, that doesn’t seem to go with eyewitness accounts. Anna Norkus was 12-years-old when she died, and she isn’t buried in Resurrection Cemetery. Anna is interred at St. Casimir’s Cemetery in the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood of Chicago (see Anna Norkus death record).

Witnesses report Mary is a young adult. It would be odd that a child would manifest as an adult. It would also be odd to haunt a cemetery where you have no connection in life. If anything, she may haunt the crash site. One last thing to consider, Anna’s family spoke Lithuanian, not Polish. Both languages may seem similar to Americans, so I understand confusion.

In Bielski’s Ghost Village article , she states that Anna may have been interred at Resurrection Cemetery due to a gravedigger strike at St. Casimir’s Cemetery. Her body was left at Resurrection Cemetery, unidentified and in an unmarked grave, after her body and temporary coffin decomposed.

For more possible identities, please see the research by Raymond Johnson .

Could Mary Be A Suicide or Murder Victim?

I used newspaper archives (NewspaperArchive.com and Newspapers.com) to see if these were possibilities. Simple searches for suicide, murder, forest preserves and woods for the area around Justice pulled up 96 articles between 1920 and 1940. That makes it plausible that Resurrection Mary may not be a car crash or hit-and-run victim. She could be a suicide or murder victim. There are many people to check out for either option. This could take a long time to figure out.

I don’t think we’ll ever really know who she was in life. Over 30 years have passed since the last reported sighting and she may have moved on. But ghost hunters shouldn’t be let down by this. Chicago has over a dozen hitchhiker ghosts walking the roadways. Be on the lookout for these spirits and let us know if you find something.

Ghost Hunting Tips

Ghostly Activities has looked for Resurrection Mary in the past. It’s a difficult investigation to conduct. The section of Archer Avenue that Mary haunts is busy. As in planes, trains and automobiles always go by. It’s on a flight path to Midway Airport, the second largest in Chicagoland. Trains blow their horns as they move through town. Cars are non-stop along the highway. Did I also mention the Canada Geese that like to hang out in the cemetery? Oh boy. Your audio is going to be covered in background noise.

But, Mary isn’t known for talking, so go for visual evidence. Her apparition is so lifelike, she should show up on film easily. But then again there’s a catch: She only manifests at night. If you’ve got an IR camcorder or full-spectrum one, you can use those. It’s fairly well-lit along the avenue, and it has a wide shoulder for your setup.

You may want to use an electromagnetic pump to boost the ambient energy levels. Her last sighting stated Mary wasn’t in the best shape. She may need some energy to manifest again.

Resurrection Mary hasn’t been encountered since 1989, so she may have moved on. If you capture her, you’ll be a ghost-hunting rockstar. And don’t forget to send me some clips for the site, eh?

Research Sources

Anna Norkus burial location: “Illinois, Archdiocese of Chicago, Cemetery Records, 1864-1989,” database with images,  FamilySearch  (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6SL3-Z3H?cc=1503083&wc=Q64L-7X8%3A1590082652 : 31 October 2016), 004401990 > image 5204 of 5339; Archdiocese of Chicago, Illinois.

Anna Norkus death record: “Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQT7-M5G : 8 March 2018), Anna Norkus, 20 Jul 1927; Public Board of Health, Archives, Springfield; FHL microfilm 1,614,256.

Johnson, Raymond (no date). “Possibly the most loved ghost in Chicagoland,” Chicago’s Haunt Detective blog, retrieved from: http://www.hauntdetective.com/hauntings-legends-folklore/chicago/westside/53-resurrection-mary on Dec. 11, 2021.

Editors (Dec. 4, 2021). “Resurrection Mary,” Wikipedia.org, retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_Mary on Dec. 11, 2021.

McClelland, Edward (June 26, 2018). “Meet Resurrection Mary, the ghost of Archer Avenue,” Chicago Reader, retrieved from: https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/meet-resurrection-mary-the-ghost-of-archer-avenue/ on Dec. 10, 2021.

Williamson, Elizabeth (Oct. 25, 1992). “Deathly Dancer,” Chicago Tribune, retrieved from: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-10-25-9204060394-story.html on Dec. 10, 2021.

Bielski, Ursula (June 8, 2020). “Resurrection Mary & the Ghosts of Archer Avenue,” YouTube Channel, retrieved from: https://youtu.be/E2QRJHAtvOc on Dec. 10, 2021.

Editors (Oct. 8, 2010 – created). “Resurrection Cemetery,” Unsolved Mysteries wiki, retrieved from: https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Resurrection_Cemetery retrieved on Dec. 9, 2021.

Taylor, Troy (March 9, 2013). “The Last Dance of Mary Bergovy,” American Hauntings, retrieved from: http://troytaylorbooks.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-last-dance-of-mary-bregovy.html retrieved on Dec. 9, 2021.

Bielski, Ursula (March 23, 2007). “Marija: The half-life of Resurrection Mary,” GhostVillage.com, retrieved from: http://www.ghostvillage.com/resources/2007/features_03232007.shtml retrieved on Dec. 12, 2021.

Staff writer (July 22, 1927). “Three Deaths in Day Make Toll 513,” Chicago Tribune, p. 5, retrieved from: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90469818/anna-norkus-death-chicago-tribue/# on Dec. 12, 2021.

resurrection cemetery ghost

Jacob Rice began investigating and writing about monsters in 2007. He has published 3 books on ghost hunting, ghost stories and paranormal protection. His podcast, Ghostly Activities, dives into these topics even more. You can also watch his ghost hunts on the Ghostly Activities YouTube channel. He lives in Olympia, Washington.

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Mysterious Chicago

Resurrection Mary: Mary Bregovy?

If there’s one ghost story in Chicago that everyone knows, it’s the story of Resurrection Mary – the beautiful girl who hitches rides home from roadways and ballrooms on the south side, only to vanish then the car passes Resurrection Cemetery. And combing through the archives and records to determine who she might be the ghost OF is a popular past-time.

The “classical” answer for the identity of Resurrection Mary is Mary Bregovy, who lived on South Damen and was killed in an auto wreck at Wacker and Lake in 1934 at the age of 21. She was buried at Resurrection Cemetery (though the Mary Bregovy grave that people see there now is a whole different person), and, unlike others, her ghost has specifically been named as haunting the cemetery. Her ghost was reportedly seen by the caretaker wandering among the graves shortly after she was buried.

But few today believe that Mary Bregovy is the ghost who is hitching rides along Archer Avenue –  most people who have given the girl a ride say that she’s a blond girl in a white dress. Mary B. was buried in an orchid colored dress (though what this has to do with what her ghost would wear is up to considerable debate), and her hair was dark brown.

Furthermore, the story of a vanishing hitchhiker near Resurrection seems to have been current as early as 1932 – in a 1942 scholarly essay on vanishing hitcher stories, one story from “before 1932” was told of a vanishing hitchhiker who was picked up near a graveyard in Summit. There is no graveyard in Summit that I know of, but Resurrection is very close by – close enough so that someone who didn’t REALLY know their boundaries and borders could easily think they were in Summit while passing by the graveyard. This means that the story might have already been a couple of years old when Miss Bregovy died.

Here’s the photo that ran in the Tribune at the time of her death:

In our podcast, Ray Johnson mentioned that he’d been through the microfilm of the Resurrection Cemetery records, and that there was a handwritten note saying “Resurrection Mary” next to Mary Bregovy’s information. So, does this indicate that the cemetery knows something the rest of us don’t? Probably not. The files were photographed for the microfilm in the mid 1980s, shortly after the Southtown Economist published a couple of big articles about Resurrection Mary putting forth the proposition (which had been going around for several years by then) that the ghost was of Mary Bregovy. The note was probably added after the articles appeared.

Practically everything you read about Mary Bregovy – that her friends said she loved to dance, that the undertaker remembered her as “a hell of a nice girl,” that she was out ballroom hopping the night of her death, etc – came from interviews with her friends and family conducted by that paper for a Halloween article in 1983 and a follow-up with one of her friends a few months later. In these, they gave the name of her school, the names of several of her friends and relatives, the funeral home where the funeral was held – even the location of her original burial plot.

For a whole lot more information on Mary Bregovy and the other theoretical “candidates,” check out our  Resurrection Mary Roundtable  podcast episode!

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Possibly the "most loved" Ghost in Chicagoland

resurrection cemetery ghost

A young gentleman is out dancing at a local ballroom and meets a pretty young polish girl with long blond hair and wearing a white dancing dress.  She seems very quiet and actually quite cold to the touch but there is something about her that is both exciting and mysterious.  Toward the end of the evening he offers the young lady a ride home and she accepts.  On the way home they pass by a local cemetery and the girl seems very anxious and signals to the young man to drop her off.  The gentleman hesitates because it is late and there doesn't seem to be any residences nearby but because she is so persistent and agitated he reluctantly pulls over.  The young lady jumps from the car and runs toward the locked gates of the cemetery where she seems to pass through easily and  then promptly disappears.

He does remember that the young lady had written her address down on a napkin and later the next day he proceeds to the address to insure that his date made it home safely only to be met by an older woman lamenting the loss of her daughter some years ago after being the victim of a hit-and-run driver coming home from a night of dancing.  The young man notices a photograph on the coffee table and immediately recognizes it as the woman that he danced with the night before.

I will admit that the above story is more of a conglomerate of a multitude of stories told about the "vanishing hitchhiker" along Archer Ave known as "Resurrection Mary".  Some eyewitnesses have reported seeing a young blond girl in a white dress step out in front of their car only to disappear.  Some have seen "Mary" hitchhiking along Archer Ave near Resurrection Cemetery only to have her disappear on second glance.  Others still have had very vivid recollections of actually dancing with her.

The "vanishing traveler" or "vanishing hitchhiker" legend (after the invention of the motor car) has been with us for a very long time and is widespread.  One of the earliest written examples of this type of story can actually be found in the Christian Bible.  In Luke 24:13-32 (forgive me for the paraphrasing) it is said that two Christians were walking on the road to Emmaus (about 7 miles from Jerusalem) discussing the recent crucifixion of Jesus Christ when Jesus himself walked up to them and walked along with them.  They however did not recognize him.  When they got to their destination the two, one named Cleopas, invited Jesus to stay with them because it was almost evening.  Jesus agreed and sat down at the table with them to have a meal.  Verses 30-31 state: "When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight."

Another Biblical reference could possibly be related to the "Resurrection Mary" legend as well.  In the March 2009 edition of the "Paranormal Underground" p. 40, Michael Kleen recounts Jerry Palus (one of the first, if not the first to recount the tale) as hearing Mary say, "Where I'm going you cannot follow.", as she disappeared through the gates of Resurrection Cemetery.  In John 13:36 (Jesus was informing the apostles of his imminent betrayal and execution) it says, "Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later."

I don't intend this to be a Sunday School lesson, I just wanted to show how the concept of the "vanishing traveler" has been with us for at least 2,000 years.  It is amazing, however, how well known our "vanishing hitchhiker", our youthful, beautiful, free-spirted, Mary has become over the years.  It could be the fact that many of the encounters with her  have been very well documented and retold countless times over the years and that many times our "Resurrection Mary" of Archer Avenue is mentioned in anthologies of ghost stories such as David Cohen's The Encyclopedia of Ghosts, Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, 1984, p. 293, where she is referred to as a "Phantom Hitchhiker"

Whatever the case, Mary has been a rite of passage for youthful drivers on the southwest side of Chicago for many years and I must say one of the most beloved spirits of the Chicagoland area.

Eyewitness Accounts

Jerry palus.

The generally accepted first account of Resurrection Mary was by that of Jerry Palus.  Veteran ghost hunter and historian, Richard Crowe, had an opportunity to interview Mr. Palus in 1986 before he passed away in September of 1992.  Excerpts from that interview can be seen in a late 1980's episode of Unsolved Mysteries, hosted by Robert Stack.  Mr. Palus related that one night in 1936 he was at a local establishment called the Liberty Grove Hall and Ballroom in the mostly Polish southside Chicago neighborhood of Brighton Park.  He noticed a very pretty blond girl in a white dancing dress.  He asked her for a dance and during the evening she mentioned that her name was Mary and that she lived on Damen Avenue.  Jerry noticed that she was a very quiet girl and was unusually cold to the touch.  He asked her if she would allow him to give her a ride home and she agreed.  Once in the vehicle she indicated that she would like to take a drive down Archer Avenue.  Jerry thought this was a bit odd since Damen Avenue was in the opposite direction.  After a short while, Mary suddenly asked Jerry to stop the car.  Jerry stopped and Mary hurriedly exited the vehicle.  She crossed Archer Ave and disappeared into the closed gates of Resurrection Cemetery in suburban Justice, Illinois. The Liberty Grove Hall and Ballroom no longer exists but I wanted to attempt to locate where it used to be and who owned it. (Maybe somewhere in the process actually find a picture!)  Some authors put the location at 47th Street and Mozart Avenue.  In looking up the history of the area, I did find an establishment called the Liberty Grove Tavern at 4615 S. Mozart that existed in 1950.  A ranch style single family home exists there today and according to the Cook County Assessor's Office was built in 1965.  I did find some humor in my research in that in 1923, during the prohibition era, the name of the establishment was "Liberty Grove Amusement Co."  and was managed by an Albert Pavlil. I guess using the name "Tavern" would have attracted too much attention from Eliot Ness and his boys.  Using 1919 fire maps I was able to determine that there was no building in the area of 4615 S. Mozart in 1919.  The last mention I have found of the Liberty Grove Hall and Ballroom is that of a small Chicago Tribune article from December 16, 1951.  The article referred to it as "The Liberty Grove Inn" and it was the site of a children's Christmas party put on by the General Hap Arnold post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.  At this point it appears that the establishment existed between 1919 and 1965.  In looking through Cook County land records, I was able to determine that The Committee of Polish Home of Brighton Park owned the property and at least two lots on both sides of the property eventually known as the "Liberty Grove" establishment. Being that it appears that the "Hall and Ballroom" only occupied one lot, it is doubtful that it was actually what one would picture as an elegant ballroom.  It was more than likely one of many "taxi-dance halls" that were popular all over the city of Chicago during the 1920's and 1930's.  A taxi-dance hall gave young women and the dance hall owner an opportunity for making money.  The establishment would sell dance tickets, usually about 10 cents per ticket, and the women would earn a commission, usually 5 cents, for each ticket they collected by dancing with the patrons.  Another interesting tidbit of information that I found while looking through the land records is that the secretary of The Committe of Polish Home of Brighton Park in 1951 was named Mary Mysdowska. that organization according to the Warranty Deed dated 1951 (Cook County Recorder's Office Document #15117826), was Mary Myszkowska.  In older Polish naming customs Myskowska is the feminine version of the name Myskowski.   Mary Miskowski is one of the names mentioned as being a possible candidate for the titile of "Resurrection Mary".  I am not implying that it would be the same Mary since the Mary Miskowski of legend would not have been old enough in 1923 to be the secretary of a corporation however the name of Mary Miskowski could have been linked somehow to the property since the name was associated with an officer of the corporation owning it. (See Mary Miskowski below)

Who is Resurrection Mary?

Let's face it, there are probably any number of cemeteries that have a young polish girl named Mary "Something" buried there who have died as a victim of an automobile accident.  But that hasn't stopped the curious from trying to figure out who "Mary" was during her life.   Since I grew up in the Chicago area and have been a big fan of the curious, the unexplained and the creepy over the years, I have come across a number of candidates for the title of "Resurrection Mary".  I have included them here in no specific order.

Mary Bregovy (1912-1934)

Mary Bregovy was born in Chicago on April 7, 1912 to Stefan and Johanna (Kulawiak) Bregovy .  In 1930 the family was living at 4611 S. Damen Avenue in Chicago.  Mary was the older sister of Joseph and Steve Bregovy.  Mary had worked for Bauer & Black, a surgical supply company, as a factory worker since she was 18 years old.  On the night of March 10, 1934, Mary was in a vehicle driven by John Thoel (25) from Chicago.  Also in the vehicle were John Rieker (23) of Park Ridge and Virginia Rozanski (22) from Chicago.  The vehicle struck an "L" substructure at Lake St. and Wacker Drive.  Mary died from severe head injury and shock while enroute to Iroquois Hospital ( a small emergency hospital started with funds donated from families of victims of the Iroquois Theater Fire)

For some time, I have read that Mary was buried in an unmarked grave near her mother of the same name in Resurrection Cemetery.  There is a Mary Bregovy 1888 - 1922 who is buried at Resurrection but that is more than likely an aunt to Mary if any relation at all.  According to the research I have conducted based on U.S. Census Records, death certificates and obituaries, Mary Bregovy d: 1922, did have a daughter named Mary but she eventually became Mary Williams, died in 1987, and is buried a few graves away from her mother Mary.

Mary Bregovy's actual parents (Stefan and Johanna) are buried at Resurrection Cemetery as well as Mary herself (according to her death certificate).  There is no listing of a burial for Mary Bregovy (who died in 1934) in the Cemetery's public computer kiosk (more than likely to discourage the disrespectful)  Her parents are buried next to each other with an unmarked  grave next to them. (It could be Mary)

The family seemed to be no stranger to tragedy.  After the death of their daughter in 1934, Stefan lost his wife Johanna in 1945 at the age of 62 as a result of heart problems complicated by probable pulmonary tuberculosis.  The family was no stranger to tragedy when Mary's father committed suicide by hanging himself in the family garage at 4611 S. Damen Avenue. on September 21, 1951.

Definitely a tragic story but Mary Bregovy does not match the description of "Resurrection Mary" due to the fact that she had short dark hair, and was killed nowhere near Resurrection Cemetery.

resurrection cemetery ghost

Anna Marija Norkus (1914-1927)

Anna Norkus was born to Lithuanian parents, August and Anna Simkus Norkus in Cicero, Illinois on September 4, 1914.  Much of what I know about Anna Norkus and her relationship with the legend is from an article written by Ursula Bielski and posted on GhostVillage.com on March 23, 2007. The article is excellent and I cannot do it justice here so I will let you read it for yourself.  In a nutshell, Anna was a vibrant youth and loved to dance.  She chose to use the name Marija as her middle name because of her devotion to the Blessed Mother.  By the time Anna neared her teenage years she had grown into an attractive young woman, with blonde hair and a slender build.  According to the research of Frank Andrejasich who is credited in Bielski's article, Anna was begging her father to take her dancing for her 13th birthday (Anna was born in September so it must have been an early birthday present).  On the night of July 20, 1927, coming back from the Oh Henry Ballroom (Now the Willowbrook Ballroom on Archer Ave.), Anna's father did not see the 25 foot railroad cut hole in the roadway at 66th and Harlem Ave.  Anna was crushed under the vehicle.   You won't find the location of Anna's death by traveling down the current Harlem Ave.  The location is actually along "Old Harlem Avenue" which is just east of the current Harlem Ave and under the bridge which spans the railroad tracks at that location.  It is an eerily quiet location in an industrial area which sees nowhere near the amount of traffic it did at the time of Anna's death. Officially Anna Norkus is buried at St. Casimir Cemetery in Chicago but according to Ms. Bielski's article that may or may not be the case.  A fellow by the name of Al Churas Jr. was a grave digger who lived across the street from the gates of Resurrection Cemetery.  He was also the cousin of one of Anna's friends, Mary Nagode.  Mr. Churas stated that during the time frame when Anna died, there were several strikes by gravediggers at various cemeteries.  He remembered that many bodies that were unable to be buried because of the strike would be temporarily interred at Resurrection until the strike was over.  Unfortunately, due to poor construction of caskets and earlier embalming techniques some bodies were unable to be properly identified and may have actually been left at Resurrection (I have not been able to confirm or deny this fact but will be following up with Resurrection)

Sobiesk Funeral Home Records

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Anna's death certificate states that George Sobiesk was in charge of the funeral and that she was buried at St. Casimir's in Chicago.  I thought that it would be helpful to locate her funeral record and so I tried to tract down the Sobiesk Funeral Home.  Sobiesk had at least two locations and there was still a funeral home at one location although it was no longer owned or operated by the Sobiesk Family.  The current proprietors stated that they would not have the old funeral records and were probably discarded after the business was sold.  I had more or less considered that a done deal until about 6 months ago.

I conduct historic research for a living (when I'm not investigating Chicago legends) and deal with U.S. Census documents quite a bit.  I thought it would be interesting and educational to be involved in this past year's Decennial Census so I took a temporary position with the U.S. Census Bureau in March of 2010.  I had been working at the local census office in Lemont for about 2 months and was chatting with a co-worker about Resurrection Mary and a book that I was working on and he said that his grandfather used to tell him that he was the funeral director for Resurrection Mary!  Now his last name was not Sobiesk so I asked him what his grandfather's name was and he replied to my astonishment, "George Sobiesk"!

I just about fell over when he told me this.  I asked him if his grandfather was still alive and he said that he had passed some time ago and doesn't have the business anymore but he remembers his mother telling him stories about growing up in a funeral home.  He said that he and his mother were just looking over the old records the other day.  I stopped him right there and said, "You wouldn't happen to have the records as far back as 1927 would you?"  He said, "Oh yeah, we have 'em all!"  He agreed to bring in one and then a couple of the ledger books and sure enough I was looking at the original funeral record for Anna Norkus!

I tend not to put much weight in coincidences and I don't get creeped out easily but this time I was a little creeped out!  It was especially weird when he let me borrow the ledger book and actually take it home with me.  It was weird because we worked until 1 a.m. and I had to drive past, you guessed it, Resurrection Cemetery.  I thought to myself as I was passing the cemetery that the last time that this book had been in this area was when Anna had died over 83 years ago!  I thought to myself that if I say a young girl wearing a dancing dress trying to flag me down I would just pass out, but alas Mary stood me up!

I was hoping that maybe the funeral record would indicate whether or not there was a temporary interment at Resurrection Cemetery but it, along with Anna's death certificate, state nothing but St. Casimir's as a final resting place.  In fact Anna's marker is at St. Casimir's that includes both her father, August's picture and her mother, Anna's picture but young Anna's photo is missing.  One would hope that the missing photo is due to environmental factors and not vandals but Ursula Bielski had told me that she remembers the photo disappearing shortly after the mention of Anna Norkus as a possible Resurrection Mary candidate.

So is she buried in the family plot at St. Casimir's or is she lost somewhere between there and Resurrection Cemetery? At this point my vote would have to be St. Casimir's but stranger things have happened.

Could it be that Anna's body is misplaced and exists at Resurrection even though her burial record states that it is in St. Casimir? Anna's case bears striking resemblance to the legend of "Resurrection Mary"  even though she was only 12 years old at the time and may not be buried at Resurrection.

resurrection cemetery ghost

Portion of article on Anna Norkus's death

resurrection cemetery ghost

Anna Norkus's 1914 Cook County Birth Certificate

resurrection cemetery ghost

Willowbrook Ballrom (formerly the Oh Henry) where Anna allegedly danced

Mary Miskowski (? - October 31, 1930?)

I had only recently become aware of this third candidate for Marydom while reading Ms. Bielski's article and by checking some of the comments and blogs of various Chicago haunt enthusiasts.  The story is one of a south side Polish girl named Mary Miskowski who was supposedly killed walking across the street while attempting to walk to a Halloween Party.  I conducted a search of local papers, Illinois State death records and Cook County death records and there was no person by that name who died between 1916 and 1950.  I did notice a blog on Weird Chicago Tours from October 2008 that mentions the possibility of the misspelling of the Miskowski name as Mary Muchowski who died on November 5, 1930.  I did check on that and the name was not a misspelling.  Mrs. Muchowski did die on November 5, 1930 but was 67 years old at the time and buried at St. Adalbert's in Niles, IL What may be nothing more but coincidence but weird just the same is the fact that while I was doing research on the Liberty Grove Hall and Ballroom I discovered the deed which transferred ownership.  Among the officers of the corporation that owned the land was a secretary by the name of Mary Miskowski!

Mary Petkiewicz (1915 - December 25, 1932)

I have to be honest that I have not heard this name mentioned as a possible candidate for "Resurrection Mary" but I came across this person while I was conducting the research on the above candidates.  Mary Petkiewicz was a young bride of 17 years.  (I do not know if she was of eastern European descent yet because Petkiewicz is her married name and  I have not found any marriage documents or obituaries as of yet)  She was living at 5815 West 64th Street and was married to Casimir Petkiewicz.  On Christmas night 1932, Casimir (21) was driving a car containing his wife Mary, his brother Alex, Anna Guoinovich (19), Adeline Ruzzis(18) and Alcy Neal (16).   On a dark corner at 55th St. and Cicero Ave, a car driven by Steve O'Donnell, who was the brother of south side beer boss, Edward (Spike) O'Donnell, swerved and Petkiewicz's vehicle rolled over on top of Mary, killing her.  I have not begun to fully research this candidate for Marydom but will continue to do so.  I will keep fellow haunt enthusiasts up to date on my findings.

resurrection cemetery ghost

Chicago Tribune Artice recounting Petkiewicz Crash

Case Still Pending

resurrection cemetery ghost

We may never really know the in-life identity of Resurrection Mary.  It may be that all of the above plus more yet unknown are different incarnations of Mary since the story has changed so many times over the years.  It may be ,as many skeptics speculate, that the witnesses themselves have created Mary out of a combination of hallucination or overactive imagination coupled with the ever popular "hitchhiking ghost" story to come up with who we regard so dearly as Resurrection Mary.  Whatever the outcome, if you find yourself driving alone down Archer Avenue on a cold, dark, blustery Chicago night, keep an eye out for hitchhikers.  If you happen to pick up a young blonde one with a Polish accent, tell Mary I said, "cześć!"

Resurrection Cemetery

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Case File: Resurrection Cemetery Location: Justice, Illinois Date: January 1979 Description: Resurrection Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 150,000 souls on Archer Avenue in Justice, Illinois on the southwest side of Chicago.

History: Resurrection Cemetery is one of the most famous haunted locations in the United States. Unusual and unexplained phenomena has been reported here as far back as January 1979. Several motorists have stated that they have picked up a hitchhiker only to have her disappear minutes later, almost as if she was a ghost. Richard Crowe was a local historian and folklorist in January 1979. He believed that the hitchhiker was not a human, but a ghost. "I think that of all the ghost stories worth believing in, Resurrection Mary is the one with the best documentation. The witnesses that I've found are remarkably level-headed. And they're primarily blue-collar, middle-class types who have steady jobs and who have no other major claims to psychic encounters in their lives," he stated. The first known case was in 1939 when a Chicago cab driver named Jerry Palus stopped to pick up a blonde woman at the front gates of the cemetery. He was captivated by her and immediately asked her on a date to the local dance hall. He learned her name was Mary and that she lived on the south side of town. When it was time to leave he offered her a ride home, but she asked him to drop her off at the cemetery on Archer Road instead. When they arrived there she stepped out of his car and vanished before his eyes. He was perplexed at what he had witnessed and was determined to know more about her.

Resurrection Mary as seen by Jerry Palus

Palus drove to the house where Mary said she lived. He was greeted by her mother who looked surprised to see a stranger on her doorstep in the dead of night. He inquired that he'd danced with Mary just hours before, and then he received terrible news. Her mother told him that she died five years earlier. "It was then that I understood why the woman I was dancing with that night was ice cold to the touch. I had worked in a funeral home for a while and it was the touch of a corpse," he stated. Another incident involved two police officers who patrolled the area near the cemetery. One night, they noticed a figure inside the gate and thought someone had accidentally been locked inside. They called the cemetery caretaker and left the area for a brief moment, but returned to see no figure inside the gate or anywhere in the area. At the gate where she stood just minutes earlier, there were imprints of two small hands in the space of two bent bars. In 1980, Clare Rudnicki claimed that she'd seen Mary just as others before her had. Her husband, Mark, was also in the car and saw Mary as well. They drove past her, turned around, came back, and in that amount of time, she had vanished. "I really didn't think there was any ghost. You hear these stories and these old ghost tales, but it's never happened to me. I must say I think I'm changing my mind. I was just looking out the window as we were going down the street, and there was a girl walking on the right-hand side of the road. She was bright, very bright, like illuminating. She was just walking very slowly. I remember thinking, 'Oh my god, it's Resurrection Mary.' and I can feel my stomach starting to turn. I was very frightened, I have to admit. It did scare me," he said. In October 1989, Janet Kalal and a friend also spotted Mary at the cemetery. She recalled a pale young woman who stepped in front of the car. No impact or bump was made, but they knew they had hit something. She was dressed in white and her hair flowed back behind her, like a stream backwards with a profile of a young woman. Another group of friends claimed to have seen Mary. They had driven by the cemetery one night when they looked up and saw the ghostly figure of a woman illuminated by the light in front of it. They were terrified by what they saw: her face was black nothingness. Background: It is believed Resurrection Mary is the restless spirit of a young woman named Mary Bregovy. She had been killed in a car accident in 1934, a month before her 21st birthday and was laid to rest in Resurrection Cemetery in her favorite white gown. Her remains were relocated in the cemetery after the area was restructured, and according to legend, her ghost now wanders looking for her grave. Over the years, she has been seen time and time again at dance clubs, in taxis, and walking outside the cemetery, looking for someone to take her home. Investigations: None Extra Notes: This case first aired on the February 9, 1994 episode. It was the inspiration for a "Fact" segment on Beyond Belief . Richard Crowe died in 2012 and was buried in Resurrection Cemetery. Results: Unsolved Links:

  • Resurrection Cemetery on Unsolved.com
  • Resurrection Cemetery on Wikipedia
  • Meet Resurrection Mary, the ghost of Archer Avenue
  • Richard Crowe on Find a Grave
  • 1 Jessyca Mullenberg
  • 2 John Vogel
  • 3 Steven Oliver

The Legend of La Mala Hora

The legend of creve coeur lake, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤, chicago’s resurrection mary.

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Resurrection Mary, Chicago’s renowned hitchhiking ghost, weaves a haunting tale along Archer Avenue. Legends surrounding Mary’s demise vary, with tales of a fatal car crash or a tragic hit-and-run during a rainy night in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Clad in a white ball gown, Mary, an eternally young blonde, lingers on the outskirts of dance halls, seeking a ride home.

Reports consistently depict Mary as a spectral passenger guiding unsuspecting drivers, often men, up Archer Avenue. Yet, her ephemeral presence evaporates near Resurrection Cemetery, leaving only a chilling memory. Her final resting place, according to lore, lies in this cemetery in Justice, Illinois, linking her to the name Resurrection Mary.

The stretch between Resurrection Cemetery and the now Willowbrook Ballroom witnesses Mary’s ghostly appearances. Researchers have attempted to unveil her true identity, but the mystery persists, shrouding Mary in an eternal enigma. Resurrection Cemetery, a 30-minute drive southwest of Chicago, remains her haunting ground, and Archer Avenue bears witness to her spectral journeys.

Chet’s Melody Lounge, a classic roadside tavern on Archer Avenue near Resurrection Cemetery, contributes to the ghostly lore. Every Sunday, a Bloody Mary is left at the end of the bar, an offering to Resurrection Mary. This ritual dates back to the 1930s when she was said to pick up young men dancing at the Oh Henry Ballroom, later renamed Willowbrook Ballroom. The enduring tradition at Chet’s reflects the lasting impact of Resurrection Mary’s ghostly presence on this eerie stretch of road.

Chicago’s Resurrection Mary, with her tragic past and spectral wanderings, continues to captivate the imagination, leaving an indelible mark on the city’s rich tapestry of ghost stories and urban legends.

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The Midnight Society

Ghost month: the tale of resurrection mary.

But first…a little bit about the setting.

Resurrection Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in North America. It was consecrated in 1904.

Resurrection Cemetery is located at 7201 Archer Ave., Justice, IL 60458 and is said to encompass over 540 acres with over 152,000 graves (which don’t include the crypts, which number over 5,000).

Here’s a screenshot from Google maps for reference.

I’ve heard the residents in the area have a nickname for it… They call it “The Resurrection Triangle” because of the strange events that seem to take place there and in the areas surrounding.

This Resurrection Triangle is home to a famous Chicago ghost, one that has been coined, “Resurrection Mary.” She has been seen by more people than any other ghost in the Chicagoland area. The lore around Resurrection Mary may be one that you are familiar with in your own neighborhood, as some of the stories are similar to classic hitchhiker ghost lore.

Most commonly, eye witnesses have spotted a blond, blue-eyed girl dressed in all white. She is so beautiful, they can’t resist the urge to offer her a ride when they see her walking on the stretch of road near Resurrection Cemetery. Sometimes she is seen with her thumb in the air or trying to wave down a car. Each time, she gives directions or the address to the cemetery. Each time, when they arrive at her destination, she vanishes into thin air.

Mary is said to appear along Archer Avenue and has also been known to appear in dance halls in the nearby area.

Have you seen Mary?

The first report I could find of this apparition, is from 1939. A man named Jerry Palus claimed that he’d met a beautiful blond woman one night in a dance hall. They danced for hours and he noted that she was cold to the touch and didn’t talk much. At the end of the night, she asked for a ride home down Archer Avenue.

He stopped in front of the cemetery and let her out and there, in front of his eyes, she vanished.

The next day, Jerry drove to the house where Mary had said  that she lived. The woman who answered the door admitted to being Mary’s mother. When Jerry asked if he could see her daughter, the woman said no. The reason? Mary had been dead for five years.

Bill Geist, a columnist for Suburban Trib interviewed a cab driver named Ralph in January 31, 1979. The man claimed that he picked up a young woman in a white party dress and matching shoes at a small shopping center on Archer Avenue. He said she was, “a looker. A blonde. . .she was young enough to be my daughter – 21 tops.” He drove her down Archer Road until she asked him to stop the car. Here is his account.

“A couple miles up Archer there, she jumped with a start like a horse and said ‘Here! Here!’ I hit the brakes. I looked around and didn’t see no kind of house. ‘Where?’ I said. And then she sticks out her arm and points across the road to my left and says ‘There!’. And that’s when it happened. I looked to my left, like this, at this little shack. And when I turned she was gone. Vanished! And the car door never opened. May the good Lord strike me dead, it never opened.”

Geist said that Ralph was “neither an idiot nor a maniac, but rather [in Ralph’s own words] ‘a typical 52-year-old working guy, a veteran, father, Little League baseball coach, churchgoer, the whole shot.”

In 1980, a woman named Clare Rudnicki and her husband Mark were driving along Resurrection Cemetery, when she spotted Mary.

“I really didn’t think there was any ghost.  You hear these stories and these old ghost tales but it’s never happened to me.  But now I must say I think I’m changing my mind.  I was just looking out the window as we were going down the street.  And on the right hand-side of the road there was a girl walking.  She was bright, very bright, like illuminating.  She was just walking very slowly.  I remember thinking oh my god it’s Resurrection Mary.  And I can feel my stomach starting to turn.  I was very frightened, I have to admit.  It did scare me.”

In October of 1989, a woman named Janet Kalal was out for an evening drive with a friend. Soon, they found themselves at Resurrection Cemetery where suddenly, a pale young woman step out in front of their car.

“There was no impact, there was no… bump to say that you know I had hit something.  But I know she ran out… and I hit her.  She was all in white and her hair and the dress were… flowing back.  It was like a stream backwards, you know away from her.  And I just saw this profile of a young woman.”

There’s a fabulous log of sightings found here .

Burned Gates

Patrolman Pat Homa responded to the call at 10:30 p.m. He looked for the girl with his spotlight and called to her with his loudspeaker, but no one revealed themselves. The cemetery groundskeeper was alerted. He opened the gates for the officer. A search of the cemetery grounds was conducted but it turned up nothing but gravestones, the sleeping dead undisturbed.

However, in the officer’s search, he discovered something unnerving. When he shined his flashlight at the front cemetery gates, Pat discovered that two of the bars had been pulled apart. Embedded in the front gate were the impressions of hand prints, burned into the metal.  The scorch burns had such clear marks in the green patina of the bronze, one could actually see the skin texture seared in to the bars. The marked appeared to be made by human hands. He was astonished. Had this been the ghost of Resurrection Mary, trying to escape from her final resting place? Officer Pat Homa told his story on the paranormal television show “That’s Incredible” and lost his job over it.

People flocked to see the hand prints of Resurrection Mary. The cemetery claimed that the damage to the gate was not done by a restless spirit, but by a tractor, that had accidentally backed into the gates. With Halloween approaching and in an effort to curb the crowds, the cemetery sawed off the bars and installed a wire mesh until the bars were straightened and replaced.

What’s even more strange, on August 12, 1976, just two days after the bars were discovered to be sent, a CB radio emergency call was received by a Cook County law enforcement. There was an apparent hit and run near the intersection of 76th St. and Roberts Road, two corners of the Resurrection Triangle.

The dispatched squad car investigating the call discovered a distraught girl in her 1965 Ford Mustang, the CB microphone was still in her hands.

Where was the body that she reported? The officer saw no bodies nearby.

The girl pointed to an area on the wet grass nearby. There was a depression in the soft greenery, appearing to be in the shape of a human body. The girl, between sobs, explained that just as the squad car turned off 79 th Street and advanced in her direction, the body on the side of the road disappeared from sight.

Who is Mary?

There are many theories to the identity of Mary.

Some say that Resurrection Mary is the spirit of Mary Bregovy, a woman killed in a traffic accident in 1934 at Wacker and Lake, just before her 21st birthday. She was laid to rest in Resurrection Cemetery in her favorite white gown. A newspaper clipping of the accident is below. The article lists her name as Marie, with an ie.

Mary was buried at Resurrection Cemetery in an orchid colored dress and as you can see in the newspaper clipping above, her hair was dark brown. Which leads many people to believe that Mary Bregovy is not Resurrection Mary.

There is also speculation that Resurrection Mary is the ghost of Mary Miskowski, a young woman who was killed crossing the street on her way to a Halloween party in October 1930.

Some people believe that Resurrection Mary is a young girl who was killed while hitchhiking down Archer Avenue in the early 1930’s. Rumor is that she spent the evening dancing with her boyfriend at the nearby Oh Henry Ballroom (which is now the The Willowbrook Ballroom). During the night, the lovers fought, causing Mary to storm out of the dance hall. She decided to walk home in the cold. Soon after her walk began, it abruptly ended. Mary was hit and killed by an automobile, whose driver fled the scene. Reports say this girl was buried in Resurrection Cemetery in a white dress and her dancing shoes and since that day, people have seen Mary in and around the Resurrection triangle.

Chicago author Ursula Bielski, in 1999 documented a possible connection to Anna “Marija” Norkus, who died in a 1927 auto accident while on her way home from the Oh Henry Ballroom.

Is Mary one of these women or none of these women? Some people think Mary does not and has not ever existed.

With so many eyewitness accounts, especially from credible sources, it’s hard to ignore the possibility that the ghost of a young woman does exist, reaching out in desperation to the living, refusing to accept her death.

Have you seen Mary? Do you have hitchhiker lore in your city? Tell us below!

I’ll leave you now with a few songs inspired by Resurrection Mary.

Oh, and if you want to do a drive through of the area, I found one on Youtube from TheMostAwesomeMan242 . He drives the path that most spot Mary on. Thanks man!

Sources: here , here , here , here , here , here , here , here , here , here , here , here , and here .

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This is a lot of information to take in. Ok, going back to read again. o.O WILLIES INDEED.

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Chicago's Haunted Cemeteries

by J. M. Pressley First published: May 18, 2011

Chicago has a rich history of ghost stories. Several of the city's most notable hauntings emanate directly from its historic cemeteries.

An old cemetery can quickly make anyone feel ill at ease. Surrounded by the dead, often secluded, passing the stone memorials to lives long since fled, a person doesn't need much imagination at times to feel an eerie sensation come over them. This is even more true once the sun sets. Add to all this our natural fear of death and generations of tales about residents who may not lay so quietly in their final resting places, and it seems a wonder when a cemetery doesn't harbor some sort of ghostly spirit roaming about. Chicago's cemeteries are no different. Several of the city's most notable hauntings emanate directly from its graveyards.

Archer Woods Cemetery

Just south of Archer Avenue in suburban Justice, IL is the Archer Woods Cemetery. It's known now as Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens West, but its eerie reputation ensures that people still keep the name Archer Woods alive. The worn monuments and gravestones are nestled among old trees, lending an atmosphere that is at once rustic and mildly unsettling.

There are two reported ghost sightings associated with Archer Woods. One is the spectral Weeping Woman, a ghostly figure shrouded in white who walks among the graves sobbing with her hands over her face. Even more disturbing is an alleged phantom hearse that hurtles down Archer Avenue driverless, pulled by a team of mad horses and—according to some—bears the luminous casket of a child. * View Map

Bachelor's Grove Cemetery

Located in south suburban Midlothian, Bachelor's Grove has maintained a reputation as the most haunted acre of graveyard in northern Illinois. It has been incorporated into the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve, accessible off the old Midlothian Turnpike only by a small dirt path that cuts a quarter mile through trees and undergrowth. Years and vandalism have taken their toll on this small cemetery. Of approximately 200 original grave markers, only 20 remain, and some of the graves themselves have been desecrated.

The hauntings associated with the cemetery include eerie lights, a vanishing ghost house, a phantom car, and several apparitions of which the most famous is the Madonna of Bachelor's Grove, who reportedly wanders through the woods carrying a baby in her arms. Perhaps the most controversial apparition is the subject of a 1991 photograph, which shows a woman clad in white sitting on a gravestone. The photograph is generally explained as a double exposure; if authentic, it certainly would be one of the most detailed snapshots ever taken of a ghost. View Map

Graceland Cemetery

Graceland is a beautiful garden cemetery located at Clark Street and Irving Park Road. It was established in 1860 as one of the replacements for the first Chicago City Cemetery (which became Lincoln Park after hundreds of bodies were exhumed and moved). Many Chicago icons are interred within the cemetery's 119 meticulously landscaped acres. And any cemetery with as many tales to tell as Graceland is bound to include a few ghost stories.

The most prominent legend is that of Inez Clark, a six-year-old girl who allegedly died in 1880 when struck by lightning while on a family picnic. The family buried her in Graceland and erected a magnificent life-size statue of her over the grave. It's said that the statue occasionally vanishes on stormy nights, only to appear the next morning, and that her small ghost has at times been seen strolling about the grounds. However, if Inez Clark even existed—which is very much in doubt according to researchers—there is absolutely no record of her having been buried in Graceland Cemetery. The statue said to be of Inez actually stands over the grave of an eight-year-old boy, Amos Briggs.

Graceland's other famous legend concerns a robed, eight-foot statue at the monument of Dexter Graves. The sculpture is named Eternal Silence but more popularly known as the Statue of Death. It's said that those who look directly into the statue's face will see a vision of their own death. View Map

Holy Sepulchre Cemetery

Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip, IL was consecrated in 1923. Occupying a large tract of land between 111th and 115th streets, the cemetery is home to the magnificent Mausoleum of the Archangels and the grave of "Hizzoner," former mayor Richard J. Daley. But the cemetery is also home to the legend of Mary Alice Quinn, known as Chicago's Miracle Child.

Mary Alice was a mystically religious child who was known locally as a healer. She died when she was fourteen, and the family buried her in their Reilly family plot. Soon after, pilgrims began to visit her grave, leaving gifts and praying for healing. Visitors have occasionally reported seeing her apparition at the gravesite. Many others have detected the strong scent of roses at the grave, even in winter. To this day, people continue to leave candles, religious items, and prayer requests at the Reilly headstone. View Map

Mt. Carmel Cemetery

The predominantly Italian Catholic cemetery of Mount Carmel in suburban Hillside is an interesting study in contrasts. On the one hand, it houses the Bishops' Mausoleum, final resting place for the heads of the Chicago Archdiocese, such as Cardinal Bernadin. On the other hand, the cemetery holds the remains of some of Chicago's most notorious crime figures, including Al Capone, Frank Nitti, and Sam Giancana.

Among the burials there is Julia Petta, a young housewife that came to be known as the Italian Bride. She died in childbirth and was buried in Mount Carmel. Her mother, however, kept having vivid dreams over the next six years in which her daughter would plead with her that she was still alive. The mother finally had the grave exhumed, at which point it was discovered that although the coffin had completely decomposed, Julia's body was perfectly preserved. Some visitors to the cemetery report witnessing Julia's ghostly presence near the grave, clad in the white wedding gown in which she was laid to rest. View Map

Resurrection Cemetery

Resurrection was first consecrated in 1904 in Justice, IL to serve the burgeoning southwest-side Polish population of Chicago. Located on 400 acres of land adjacent to Archer Avenue, the cemetery is noted for its striking shrines and mausoleums. For many years, it has also been the haunting ground of Chicago's favorite ghost legend, Resurrection Mary.

The basic story is that a young woman who went dancing with her boyfriend at the O Henry Ballroom (now the Willowbrook Ballroom) on Archer Avenue. Following an argument, the woman stormed off into the night to walk home down Archer. A hit-and-run driver struck and killed her, and she was buried in Resurrection Cemetery. Although researchers disagree on a historical basis for the legend, ever since the 1930s, drivers on Archer have reported strange encounters on cold winter nights.

Some have met a mysterious young woman at the ballroom or picked her up as she walked along the avenue, only to have her disappear from their car once near the gates of Resurrection Cemetery. Others have told tales of striking or nearly avoiding a woman who darts out in front of their cars near the cemetery and then vanishes. One witness encountered her late one night standing behind the closed gates, her hands gripping the bars; when police were alerted, they found the cemetery deserted—but two of the gate's bars were scorched, bent apart, and reportedly had two small handprints seared into them. Although sightings may have tailed off over the past couple of decades, Resurrection Mary remains an enduring Chicago legend. View Map

Rosehill Cemetery

Rosehill Cemetery, located in the 5800 block of North Ravenswood Avenue, is the largest and oldest cemetery within Chicago's city limits. Consecrated in 1859, the cemetery was established (along with Graceland) to replace the old Chicago City Cemetery. Like Graceland, many prominent Chicagoans are interred within Rosehill's 350 acres. The cemetery also has a number of ghost stories attached to it.

The mausoleum of real estate tycoon Charles Hopkins reportedly comes alive at night on the anniversary of his death with an eerie moaning and the rattling of chains. Within the Rosehill Mausoleum, some say that the ghost of Richard Warren Sears can be seen in top hat and tails leaving his crypt to visit that of his business rival, Aaron Montgomery Ward. And then there is the legend concerning the white marble sculpture of Frances Pearce and her infant daughter.

Frances died aged 20 in 1864; tragically, her daughter died a mere four months later. Her grief-stricken husband commissioned the monument for the grave at the old city cemetery. It was later moved to Rosehill, and at some point, the entire sculpture was encased in glass to protect it from the elements. It's said that on the anniversary of her death, the enclosure fills with an unearthly mist. View Map

St. James of the Sag Church Cemetery

St. James, Sag Bridge in suburban Lemont is the endcap of the haunted Archer Avenue corridor. The church stands atop a small rise in the southwestern corner of the Red Gate Woods Forest Preserve near the intersection of Archer and 107th Street. The church graveyard, consecrated in 1837, has the distinction of being the oldest Catholic cemetery in the Chicago Archdiocese.

Almost since its inception, the cemetery has harbored a reputation for eerie happenings. Legend has it that a young couple who worked at St. James planned to elope but were crushed beneath their carriage when their horses bolted. Some say that their ghosts re-enact the event long after their burials in an unmarked grave on the premises. St. James's most enduring ghosts are phantom monks that are reported to wander in a group amidst the tombstones and into the surrounding forest, sometimes even chanting in Latin. Curiously, no monks have ever resided at the church, so the appearance of these apparitions is all the more mysterious. View Map

* The phantom hearse has also been associated with St. James of the Sag and Resurrection cemeteries due to its appearance between those two burial grounds. One variant of the legend even has it that the body in the hearse is that of the young girl who became Resurrection Mary.

Chicago Haunts: Ghostlore of the Windy City (Ursula Bielski, 2009), Chicago Tribune , Find a Grave , GhostVillage , Legends and Lore of Illinois

The Rosehill Cemetery entrance, designed by Water Tower architect William W. Boyington.

The Rosehill Cemetery entrance, designed by Water Tower architect William W. Boyington. ( Richie Diesterheft/Wikimedia Commons )

Additional Resources

  • Chicago Hauntings
  • Graveyards.com: Graveyards of Illinois
  • Weird and Haunted Chicago

Did You Know?

The first two public cemeteries in Chicago were established in 1835. The northern one was on Chicago Avenue and the southern one was on Twelfth Street.

Back to History Home

Copyright © J. M. Pressley. All rights reserved.

resurrection cemetery ghost

The Resurrection Mary 4-Hour Bus Tour and Pub Stop

What to expect, tour details, from $69 per person.

Duration: 4 hours

Instant confirmation

Veterans memorial at commissioners park in justice, illinois.

resurrection cemetery ghost

  • Few roads in the world can rival the haunting reputation of Archer Avenue, an ancient Indian trail now known as one of the most haunted roads on Earth. Its ghosts include banshees, werewolves, phantom monks, and Chicago’s most famous ghost, the vanishing hitchhiker known as “Resurrection Mary,” who is said to have burned her ghostly hands into the cemetery gate. 
  • Get a drink at The Irish Legend which was called O'Henry's Roadhouse in the 1920s when Al Capone used to have a drink there. This famed haunted location with its past ties to organized crimes and bootlegging during Prohibition, has been the site of many paranormal investigations where ghost hunters have experienced activity they can't explain. 
  • Have a pint at Chet's Melody Lounge right across the street from Resurrection Cemetery. It's also the place where many of the people who have picked up the tragic phantom of the young woman have first run into after she disappeared on them. Be right where the stories actually happened and experience the location for yourself.

Expert paranormal guide

Easy/Moderate

Important Info 

  • You can find plenty of street parking on Cork Ave, Oak Grove Road or 76th Place across from the  Justice Public Library.  
  • Walking is minimal and includes a pub stop
  • Drinks and food not included, but will be available for purchase at the haunted pub stops
  • Due to bus availability, sometimes the bus will not have a bathroom onboard, so please go before the tour or you will have an opportunity to use a restroom at a pub stop
  • Feel free to bring your ghost hunting equipment, but please don't distract the group from the guide's stories.
  • The buses are not wheelchair-friendly, but we have plenty of tours that are wheelchair-accessible, including in Lincoln Park and Prairie Avenue.

List of Services

Who is the "Weeping Lady of Archer Woods Cemetery"? Some hear a woman crying and some see a strange mist in this cemetery.

Who is the "Grey Haired Baby" that is rumored to haunt the woods near the cemetery? Is it a feral man running about or something weirder, like a werewolf?

Even the Chicago Tribune talked about the "phantom manifestations" at this location to make it one of the city's most haunted sites. Known as "Monk's Castle" to thel locals, learn about the ghost stories, but also the history which traces back to Father Marquette visiting the site all the way back in 1673.

Maple Lake is known for will-o’-the-wisps, mysterious lights that dance above the water. Original Chicago tour guide Richard Crowe even told a story of two Chicago police officers that came on a tour, saw the strange red light, and were so freaked out they prepared to shoot their service revolvers at it until he talked them down!

What is that mysterious music coming from the clock tower of this cemetery? What else is coming from beyond the grave?

The famous Willowbrook Ballroom was the spot that many of Resurrection Mary's dance partners would be shaking a leg with her all night, only to drive her back to discover her missing when they pass the cemetery later on. While the ballroom itself burnt down in 2016, who knows what ghostly energies still inhabit this site of parties and banquets for eight decades.

At Chet's, Resurrection Mary is a fact of life, as real as the beer in your glass. It's the place where many of the men who drove Mary home, only to have her disappear in their car or to get out at the cemetery and fun inside, immediately came to report their sighting. Experience this fascinating piece of Chicagoland history for yourself. 

Gangsters, girls, ghosts, and Irish beer? Sounds like the perfect combination to us!

See the cemetery gates where Mary is said to disappear, along with the pried open bars exactly at the spot where a driver saw a young woman standing and trying to escape. Resurrection Cemetery is where Mary earned her name.

Find Your Next Paranormal Experience

Testimonials, frequently asked questions, how do i buy a gift card for this tour.

Click here to purchase a gift card specifically for this activity.

Do you go inside any of the haunted buildings?

On this tour, we focus on building exteriors and outdoor spaces. Businesses and public places are open for you to visit during regular business hours. Otherwise we respect the privacy of individuals and organizations and expect that our guests do the same.

Can I bring my pet?

Service animals are welcome. However, for liability issues, please leave your furry friends at home if you don’t require their assistance.

Do guests really see ghosts on this tour?

We can never guarantee a supernatural encounter, but we will explain paranormal phenomena such as cold spots and residual hauntings. What we do guarantee: Our local connections and dedication to research means you'll get authentic accounts — in all their shocking detail.

Is this ghost tour kid-friendly?

While our tours do not contain anything too graphic or inappropriate, we find that kids that enjoy history have the best time. You know your children and that's left up to you. We do not recommend bringing children in strollers because sometimes that can be difficult with larger walking groups.

What if I'm late or cannot find my guide?

What if i need to cancel.

All sales are final, but we can help you with a reschedule or ticket credit. We love ghosts, not monsters!

Copyright 2024 Huberty LLC DBA American Ghost Walks

World's Most Haunted Cemeteries

Image:  Pexels

Cemeteries are the final resting place for people who have died 

People visit cemeteries to honour their loved ones, but many people avoid them because of the unsettling atmosphere they can exude, here's a list of most haunted cemeteries in the world.

Image: Unsplash

St. Louis Cemetery, Orleans, is the resting place of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau and is the most haunted cemeteries. Visitors can access it via guided and licensed tour 

Image: cemeterytourneworleans.com

People believe that Stull Cemetery in Kansas serves as one of hell's gates. For hundreds of years, people have told ghost stories about this location

Image: American Hauntings

​Old Western Burial Ground, Baltimore, is the resting place of American writer Edgar Allan Poe. It is said that spirits roam this area once the sun goes down

Image: Baltimore Hauntings

Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney, is the largest Victorian cemetery in operation. It has the graves of Davenport Brothers, the spiritualists who displayed illusions that some thought were supernatural

Image: Rookwood Cemetry/Facebook

Resurrection Mary is a popular legend in Chicago. The narrative revolves around a vanished hitchhiker, whose spirit is said to reside inside the Resurrection Cemetery since the 1930s

Image: Resurrection Mary /Facebook

The Catacombs of Paris are underground tombs and one of the world's most famous cemeteries. They were built in the 18th century and contain between six and seven million corpses 

Image: Catacombs de Paris

Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles is the final resting place of Hollywood stars including Clifton Webb, Rudolph Valentino and Virginia Rappe 

Image:  Hollywood Forever/Facebook

Check More Stories

IMAGES

  1. Resurrection Cemetery Chicago

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  2. Meet Chicago's most famous ghost: Resurrection Mary

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  3. 'Resurrection Mary' and Chicago's haunted Resurrection Cemetery

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  4. Photo from Resurrection (Mary) Cemetery

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  5. Resurrection Mary: The Eerie Tale of Chicago's Most Famous Ghost

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  6. November Obscura: Resurrection Cemetery and Chicago's most famous Ghost

    resurrection cemetery ghost

VIDEO

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  2. incredible Responses from Spirits 👏 at this Haunted 👻 Cemetery #shorts

  3. ✝️ Resurrection Mary: The Haunting Tale of Chicago's Ghostly Hitchhiker ✝️ #shorts #creepymysteries

  4. Creepy Cemetery #haunted #ghost #graveyard #spirit #cemetery #atlanta #scary

  5. I Asked A Ghost At A Haunted Cemetery

  6. MediEvil: Resurrection (Cemetery Hill) Parte 3

COMMENTS

  1. Resurrection Mary

    Coordinates: 41°45′35″N 87°49′39″W The main gate of Resurrection Cemetery on Archer Avenue in Justice, Illinois Resurrection Mary is a well-known Chicago area ghost story, or urban legend, of the "vanishing hitchhiker" type, a type of folklore that is known in many cultures.

  2. Resurrection Mary: The Eerie Tale of Chicago's Most Famous Ghost

    Vanished! And the door never opened. May the good Lord strike me dead, it never opened." Throughout the years, dozens of other men came forward with eerily similar stories. They all involved an attractive blonde wearing a white party dress who would dance--and ultimately disappear near the cemetery.

  3. Resurrection Mary, The Hitchhiking Ghost of Archer Avenue

    Mary is supposedly buried at Resurrection Cemetery, in Justice, Illinois, about a 30-minute drive southwest of Chicago. This burial ground gives Mary her stomping grounds, as well as her iconic name.

  4. Meet Resurrection Mary, the ghost of Archer Avenue

    Just southwest of Chicago, on Archer Avenue in Justice, Illinois, across the street from Resurrection Cemetery, is a bar called Chet's Melody Lounge. Chet's is a classic roadside tavern, with a...

  5. Resurrection Mary: the Queen of Chicago's Haunted Archer Avenue

    Some researchers speculate that this mystery woman heads for one grave among thousands at the 475-acre burial ground known as Resurrection Cemetery: site number 9819, section MM, that of a young Polish woman, Mary Bregovy. Records indicate that Bregovy was killed in a car accident in 1934, allegedly on her way home from a dance at the Oh Henry.

  6. The Legend of Resurrection Mary

    One of Chicago's most famous ghosts stories is that of Resurrection Mary. The legend goes that she was killed in a hit-and-run while walking home from a ball sometime in the 1920s. Ever since, the ghost of a young woman in a white gown has been seen by dozens of people along Archer Avenue.

  7. In search of Resurrection Mary, Chicago's 'most famous ghost'

    Thanks to its infamous spectral hitchhiker, Resurrection Cemetery, the Catholic burial ground in Justice, has earned a reputation as one of the most haunted cemeteries in the U.S. and even the world. "Unsolved Mysteries," numerous Travel Channel programs and countless online lists have featured the story first reported in 1939.

  8. Resurrection Mary

    The damsel's a ghost, one of Chicago's most famous. Dating from the 1930s, she even has a nickname—"Resurrection Mary"—for the cemetery at 7200 S. Archer Rd., Justice, where she invariably leaps out of the car and disappears.

  9. Resurrection Cemetery

    Resurrection Cemetery on Archer Avenue, Justice, IL, is a haunted cemetery that's the focus of a continuing mystery. Resurrection Mary is a popular Chicago ghost story. It is about a vanishing hitchhiker and takes place near the Resurrection Cemetery. There have been many hitchhiker ghost stories but Resurrection Mary is still the most famous.

  10. We Ain't Afraid Of No (Chicago) Ghosts!

    Resurrection Cemetery is the resting place of Resurrection Mary, Chicago's most legitimate ghost story. Flickr/pkize

  11. Resurrection Mary: The Eerie Tale of Chicago's Most Famous Ghost

    Cryptozoology enthusiast. Paranormal investigator. Storyteller. In this article... In the realm of urban legends and ghostly tales, few stories capture the imagination quite like the legend of the Resurrection Mary. This spectral figure, often described as a beautiful young woman in a white dress, has been a staple of Chicago folklore for decades.

  12. Chicago's favorite ghost: Resurrection Mary

    Researchers have nominated a number of candidates. My vote goes to Anna Norkus. Anna was born in Cicero in 1914, and later lived in Chicago near Archer and Harlem. On her 13th birthday—July 20,...

  13. Resurrection Mary, Chicago's Ghostly Hitchhiker

    1934 - First reports of a hitchhiker ghost at Resurrection Cemetery. 1939 - Jerry Palus dances with Mary at a ballroom. While driving her home, she asks to get out at Resurrection Cemetery and disappears. 1973 - A cab driver enters Chet's Melody Lounge to find the young lady that stiffed him for her ride to Resurrection Cemetery.

  14. Resurrection Mary: Mary Bregovy?

    She was buried at Resurrection Cemetery (though the Mary Bregovy grave that people see there now is a whole different person), and, unlike others, her ghost has specifically been named as haunting the cemetery. Her ghost was reportedly seen by the caretaker wandering among the graves shortly after she was buried.

  15. Resurrection Mary

    The generally accepted first account of Resurrection Mary was by that of Jerry Palus. Veteran ghost hunter and historian, Richard Crowe, had an opportunity to interview Mr. Palus in 1986 before he passed away in September of 1992. Excerpts from that interview can be seen in a late 1980's episode of Unsolved Mysteries, hosted by Robert Stack. Mr.

  16. Resurrection Cemetery

    Description: Resurrection Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 150,000 souls on Archer Avenue in Justice, Illinois on the southwest side of Chicago. Case History: Resurrection Cemetery is one of the most famous haunted locations in the United States. Unusual and unexplained phenomena has been reported here as far back as January 1979.

  17. Chicago's Resurrection Mary

    Resurrection Cemetery, a 30-minute drive southwest of Chicago, remains her haunting ground, and Archer Avenue bears witness to her spectral journeys. Chet's Melody Lounge, a classic roadside tavern on Archer Avenue near Resurrection Cemetery, contributes to the ghostly lore.

  18. Ghost Month: The Tale of Resurrection Mary

    Resurrection Cemetery is located at 7201 Archer Ave., Justice, IL 60458 and is said to encompass over 540 acres with over 152,000 graves (which don't include the crypts, which number over 5,000). ... There is also speculation that Resurrection Mary is the ghost of Mary Miskowski, a young woman who was killed crossing the street on her way to ...

  19. Chicago's Haunted Cemeteries

    Resurrection was first consecrated in 1904 in Justice, IL to serve the burgeoning southwest-side Polish population of Chicago. Located on 400 acres of land adjacent to Archer Avenue, the cemetery is noted for its striking shrines and mausoleums. For many years, it has also been the haunting ground of Chicago's favorite ghost legend ...

  20. Resurrection Cemetery

    708-767-4644 Resurrection Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in North America. It encompasses over 540 acres and is shaped like a huge isosceles triangle. With over 152,000 graves, not counting the 5,300 crypts in the mausoleum, it is truly a mammoth burial ground.

  21. Resurrection Mary

    Join us as we search for Resurrection Mary...Chicago's Most Famous Ghost Story.#resurrectionmary #chicago #ghost Want a personalized VIDEO MESSAGE from us? ...

  22. The Resurrection Mary 4-Hour Bus Tour and Pub Stop

    Its ghosts include banshees, werewolves, phantom monks, and Chicago's most famous ghost, the vanishing hitchhiker known as "Resurrection Mary," who is said to have burned her ghostly hands into the cemetery gate. Get a drink at The Irish Legend which was called O'Henry's Roadhouse in the 1920s when Al Capone used to have a drink there.

  23. Resurrection Mary

    The famous Resurrection Mary, known to be roaming the grounds of Resurrection Cemetery and Archer Avenue in Justice Illinois.

  24. World's Most Haunted Cemeteries

    For hundreds of years, people have told ghost stories about this location. Image: American Hauntings ... whose spirit is said to reside inside the Resurrection Cemetery since the 1930s. Image ...