Sighting of sea creature lurking in Geneva Lake

October 23, 2009 • Jessica Cravens  
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Rumor has it in the 152 foot deep (at its deepest point) Geneva Lake lives a deadly creature. It is said to be 65 feet long and scaly.  It has razor sharp teeth, and its name is Jenny.

The sea monster, according to the myth, is a dinosaur survivor from the Cretaceous period. The freezing cold lake is referred to by Native Americans as a “door-way into the spirit world” and would tell stories of monster serpents. “Spirit Mounds” once present near the shore in Flat Iron Park, were demolished to build the city’s downtown and it’s many attractions. Bad juju? That’s what Elkhorn local, Linda Godfrey seems to believe.

“Every summer my family and I go to Lake Geneva to swim and camp. But every time I swim, there is a certain eeriness about the lake that I just can’t quite explain. I just feel like something is there and… watching me,” Sophomore Kaylee Burhans said.

Over the past century or so, there has been so-called sightings of this Lochness serpent-type monster told in the Chicago Tribune in 1892 and the Milwaukee Sentinel in 1902. Both articles told a similar tale of tourists and locals who proclaimed to witness Jenny.   A couple of the sightings have been in Reid’s Park: one where two women spotted the creature while camping, and another, a group of three men, said they saw a reptile-like creature while fishing. Both aforementioned mishaps happened around the time of the late 1800’s. The Milwaukee Sentinel said that in 1902 there were at least six witnesses indicating the same description.

The crystal clear water of Geneva Lake gives cause to many for reservations on if Jenny is indeed chilling at the bottom of the lake. With all the tourists from Illinois and Wisconsin who camp and have lake homes there, wouldn’t there be more present day specters of this approximately 65 foot long monster? Skeptics also point out that there would not be enough forage to sustain this huge scaly being. The lake itself is about 9 miles long and 8.6 square acres, which would a be spacious enough home for Jenny.

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