McPike Mansion
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Built in 1869, the McPike Mansion is known quite well throughout southwestern Illinois. It is still one of the more elegant homes in Alton. Henry McPike named it Mount Lookout. It sits on fifteen acres with rare trees and shrubs, orchards, flowers and large vineyards.
In 1925, Paul Laichinger bought the estate and lived there until his death in 1945. It is said that he died from an illness caused by his heavy smoking. It remained empty for many years and started to fall apart.
It was bought in 1994 by Sharyn and George Luedke with plans to restore it. Although it was rough going they kept up with their hope to bring it back to it's elegant appearance.
McPike Mansion has long been thought to be haunted, many reputable people have had reported unusual experiences while in the mansion. Sharon Luedke thinks that it was haunted by Paul Laichinger. It is not unusual, even today, for visitors to comment about smelling smoke even though smoking is not allowed in the building. Once a group said that they even saw a cloud of smoke appear.
Sharyn said she first noticed the ghost six weeks after they bought the building. She was outside doing some gardening when she saw a man at the window staring at her. Even though she was startled by the incident, she still noticed that the man was wearing a striped shirt and a tie. She got a photo of Mr. Laichinger and in it he was wearing the same clothing as the man she saw in the window. She believes that it was Mr. Laichinger's ghost that she saw.
There have been many accounts of strange occurrences in the mansion witnessed by ordinary people who didn't expect anything like that to happen.
