Kemper Hall

Kemper Hall on Third Avenue in Kenosha became a private seminary for girls in 1871. It is said that some former students and one nun haunt what is now called the Kemper Center.

The former science hall is where most of the supernatural occurrences happen. It was well equipped with everything that a science student would need including a refractor telescope.

It was located in a domed observatory with a sliding panel that opened. The dome was atop a five-story spiral staircase. As the legend says, the dark wooden stairs were the doom of Mother Mary Terese. It is not known when it happened, but the ghost of the cruel nun became tradition and was raised every Halloween by the older students in order to frighten the younger students.

There are different views about Mary Terese. One says that the students pushed her out a window after she had fallen down the stairs. The most common tale is that Mary was a mean taskmistress and was hated by all the students. One night the nun went to the observatory to get some books. There were a group of girls waiting for her and they pushed her down the stairwell. As she fell her head was cut off and came tumbling down and landed on her bloody habit.

There are no records of Mary Terese even being at Kemper but the tales are still told. Kemper is also, so it is said, to be haunted by the ghost of a young student who jumped from the observatory because she was forbidden to see her boyfriend. One more nun allegedly committed suicide by jumping into the frigid water of Lake Michigan.

Kemper was closed in 1975 and was turned into a county park used for social and cultural events.

Durkee Mansion is also located on campus and is said to be haunted by the ghost of a nun that died in a fire there. She is said to haunt the third floor of the mansion which has been made a historical museum.

David Schmickel took photos of Kemper which had spectral shadows and images in the second-story windows of the former science hall. Richard Crowe, the famous Chicago psychic, agreed that something was going on there.

The Kenosha News reported weird sightings of ghosts around Kemper. One told of William Saxby who was taking pictures of the dome when he saw a blurry object fall from the tower. His camera also jammed when he was trying to take pictures of the stairway.

Even though Mary Terese might not have been at Kemper, there are others who are buried near there.