Witches and history of mystery in Whitewater
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October 23, 2009 • April Schultz
Filed under Uncategorized
Those who visit Whitewater, Wisconsin may never realize the dark secrets that lie beneath the friendly exterior. A web of whispered secrets and spooky rumors twists its way throughout the city’s history. From witches to ghosts and from deadly books to lake monsters, Whitewater, Wisconsin seems to be the epitome of spooky ghost towns.
Legends of spooky goings-on in Whitewater may have begun in 1889 when the Morris Pratt Institute was built. Nicknamed “Spook Temple,” the Morris Pratt Institute was a school built for the study of Spiritualism (the belief that spirits of the living can be contacted after death). This school offered such classes as Psychic Culture Studies and featured regular lectures on topics such as Mediumship (a way for humans to connect with the spirit world). It is also rumored that the third floor of the Institute had an all white room dedicated specifically for spiritual seances (a meeting that focuses around communicating with the dead), but that didn’t stop students from performing wild public seances outside of the Pratt Institute. The school even had a spiritual connection before it was founded when Morris Pratt himself found iron ore in Wisconsin after he had been advised where to dig by a psychic named Mrs. Mary Hayes. Although the Morris Pratt Institute in Whitewater was torn down during the Great Depression, another Pratt Institute still remains standing in Wauwatosa, WI.
In Whitewater it is fairly well known that there is an intricate series of winding tunnels underneath the city. Many believe they were used as part of the Underground Railroad for slaves to use as an escape, but rumor has it that these tunnels may have been used for a darker purpose. It is said that these tunnels were used by a clan of witches as a means of getting around the city without exposing their use of the dark arts. Rumors indicate that there was an active coven of witches in the late nineteenth century and there are quite a few sights around Whitewater associated with them, specifically on the University campus. Supposedly these witches maintained a sacrificial altar in the field behind what is now Wells Hall dormitory (or Oak Grove Cemetery) where many spiritual rituals were practiced. It is said that this alter, as well as many of the clan members, are buried somewhere underneath Wells Hall where the altar once stood. Since the 1960s, when Wells Hall was built, the dormitory has been haunted a number of times. The ghosts are normally in the form of young adults who have been killed in tragic accidents.
It is also myth-ed that the old water tower still standing in Starin Park has dark secrets of its own. Known in town as “Witches Tower,” this spot is said to be a hot-spot for calls to police about various groups performing strange rituals. One Halloween many students reportedly claimed they saw a group of cloaked people performing a ceremony by candlelight in the park around the tower. It is said that performing these rituals attracted evil spirits to surface from the dead. Supporting these rumors is the fact that, until 2004, the park was surrounded by an iron fence with pointed spikes facing inward, as if to keep things from getting out rather than getting in. Rumors of witches became so prominent in the area that some even went as far as to refer to Whitewater as the “Second Salem.”
Witches may be practicing their magic outside on campus grounds but secrets have been spread regarding a dark and mysterious book lying within the walls of the University’s library. The contents of this book have been said to be so intense and dark that four different people have killed themselves after reading it. Three of them were University students and one of them was a resident who was found with slashed wrists lying lifeless on a gas station floor. The library now keeps this powerful book under lock and key; the contents still remain unknown.
Along with the city of Whitewater, Whitewater Lake has some spooky rumors of its own. In 1923 many fishermen claimed that when their boat had incidentally tipped over, they were pulled underwater by a creature with long tentacles. The fishermen struggled to the surface and discovered small bite marks covering their bodies. In 1992 it was reported by three people renting a house on Whitewater Lake that they noticed a group of cloaked figures dancing and chanting on the beach. They said they heard a loud gurgling noise and saw something rise out of the lake. The next morning the police found small bones and rocks arranged into symbols where the incident had occurred.
Some say these strange events in Whitewater occur because of the many Native American burial sights destroyed during the building of the city. Indian Mounds Park still exists on the west side of town and many Native American tribes once occupied the areas around what is now Whitewater Lake. Whatever the cause may be, Whitewater, Wisconsin is definitely a city haunted by strange and dark legends, most of them holding at least a small inkling of evidence to support them.
i actually live in whitewater and can account for some of the things that have been said, actually catching the witch trapped in the tower in a picture when my cousins were visting and I was telling them the story. Though as for the book, i’m sorry but actually part of what was said is uncorrect, one of the univeristy students that read it is still alive, forever trapped in a mental hospital.
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