Eagle Hotel Investigation

The land on which the hotel stands was purchased by David Lizer in 1836. The hotel was built in 1837 of Mid-19^th century Revival by Henry Brown. An addition was added in the 1840s which connected the hotel to the warehouse. The building was first used to house goods for the mills in the area and might have once served as a trading post.

When the more luxurious Exchange Hotel was built across the street from the Eagle in 1844, it never saw an increase in business. The Eagle managed to stay afloat by offering very inexpensive rooms to families who recently moved to the region. Eventually, however, the building was converted to a boarding house in order to stay in business.

It was then converted to apartments in the 1940s, while housing small businesses in the storefront until 1982. Later, the Wilmington Historical Society purchased the building that year and it became a museum. There was devastating fire that badly damaged the hotel in 1990. It was added to the Natural Register of Historic Places in 1994. As of 2023, the hotel is owned by Mark Nielsen. It was once known as Willard’s Drug Store.

Address: 100 N. Water Street, Wilmington, Illinois 60481

Owner: Mark Nielsen

Website: (There is a Wikpedia page online.)

Hauntings: Because of its age, use as a stagecoach stop and ties to the Underground Railroad, local ghost lore and online discussions often mention the property as a site of lingering spirts or mysterious noises.

The building is a private historic landmark undergoing slow preservation efforts and is not open as an active haunted house attraction or functioning hotel.

The Ghost Research Society investigated The Eagle Hotel on April 29, 2026. Team members included: Paul Adams, Charles Williams, Diane Oksanen and Dale Kaczmarek.

Equipment setup: Mostly hand-held equipment such as digital recorders, camcorders, Tri-Field Natural EM Meter, REM Epod, Melmeter and K-II Meters were used.

Experiments performed: A Phasma Box session was conducted in the Basement while and Ovilus V session was conducted on the Main Floor, using both Dictionary and Phonetic modes.

Personal experiences:

Dale Kaczmarek: the building was in a state of renovation and repair but I personally did not feel, see or hear anything out of the ordinary whilst in the hotel. Basements are always a bit creepier however it was very well lit and had a dirt floor. Several pictures of the various stairways were taken because ghosts seem to have an affinity for staircases. So many great ghost photographs were taken near or on stairways.

Evidence collected:

A lot of them eagle.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Basement, a question was asked, “Are there any bodies buried in the building?” The device replied with, “A lot of them.”

Words or phrases spoken by the Phasma Box: I’m damaged, I love you, a lot of them, oops you caught me and championship.

Words spoken by the Ovilus V in Dictionary Mode: numb, we, ago, equal, congruism, oi & spoon. Phonetic Mode: air and oi.

Conclusions: This was a location that a lot of members wanted to investigate for a long time. We were given exclusive access to the building by the owner and were given all the time that we required.

It is a little unusual that while we were talking about Al Capone and prohibition in the Basement, we got the one and only EVP of “a lot of them.” There are several buildings and locations in the Chicagoland area that might have had some connection to buried mob victims including; the pond at Bachelor’s Grove, the site of Capone’s headquarters The Lexington Hotel, The Irish Legend and Widow McCleary’s Restaurant.

Seems like George Washington who slept almost everywhere, Capone figures prominently in Chicagoland area locations as well.

This was a very interesting building and I would like to come back one year to investigate both the Eagle Hotel and the Wilmington Area Historical Society after dark.