Wilmington Library Investigation

The library started out as a simple reading room from a private home by several area resident women. Later on it was located on the second floor of the First National Bank situated on Water Street in the downtown region. Some of the original books at the library were furnished by other libraries with newer books simply bought to fill the voids on the shelves.

In 1914 Wilmington women helped in getting Wilmington Township to levy taxes for library services. This tax helped the library grow and grow circulation and staff even though the current location was very small and cramped. Unable to move due to the costs involved, the library remained in the current location for over 55 years.

With increased city growth, the Board then acquired a large native limestone structure; a Methodist Church in 1969 just a few blocks east on Kankakee Street. They remodeled the old church, circa 1857, to facilitate space for library resources and services. Later in July of 1987 the population service area was increased. An LSCA demonstration grant included residents from Florence and Wesley Townships for whom Wilmington was the town center. At that point it became a district library which it remains to this day.

On August 4, 1862, a very violent storm passed through the town of Wilmington around 9 o’clock. There was large group of parishioners holding a meeting inside when the building was struck by a huge lightning bolt. Even though the building was equipped with a grounded lightning rod on the roof, the electricity passed down the rod until it was opposite the windows. There a severe current of heated air apparently attracted the bolt into the main room of the building.

The electric bolt instantly killed 19-year-old Almon Dunlap, son of Howard and Clarisa Dunlap. About a dozen others were seriously burnt by the bolt. Others injured included Jacob Warner, Robert Tollington, Charles Warner, O.C. Smith, Frank Daniels, John Waters and a son of Leonard Morey. Many of the injured were taken to the nearby home of Mr. Cornelius Jessup and were treated by area doctors. Almon Dunlap was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.

From additional Title II funds additions to the library were added such as a children’s room, meeting rooms, rest rooms and a new entrance. It became handicapped accessible at that time.

Address: 201 S. Kankakee St., Wilmington, IL 60481

Phone: 815-476-2834

Contact person: Kendra Sandstrom – Adult Services Manager

Website: www.wilmingtonlibrary.org

Hauntings: Staff have had their names called by the unseen and even though others were also in the library at the time, nobody called out anyone’s name. Others had unreported events happen to them especially while in the attic where most of the activity seems to take place. Other staff members have had items thrown at them, like poltergeist-like phenomena, while upstairs.

During a ghost tour of the attic, a number of people clearly heard a voice say, “Get out!”

The Ghost Research Society investigated the Wilmington Library on October 29, 2025 and the team members included: Mike Rosario, Charles Williams, Diane Oksanen and Dale Kaczmarek

Equipment setup: K-II Meters, Laser Pointer, Nightshot IR camcorders with supplemental illumination, digital recorders, Phasma Box, Full Spectrum Camera, Melmeter, Ovilus V, SB-11 and REM Epod.

Experiments performed: One single Phasma Box session was conducted in the attic of the library.

Personal experiences:

Michael Rosario: Intro and Equipment Used:  For this investigation, we traveled to the Wilmington Public Library District, located in Wilmington, Illinois at approximately 7:05pm with Dale, Chuck, Diane, and myself after Dale’s paranormal meet & greet and presentation on paranormal phenomena, investigations, and other strange events. The night’s weather was slightly cold, with partly cloudy skies, with a slight breeze. Equipment I used in this investigation were my K-II Meter; a Philips VoiceTracer Digital Voice Recorder; a DVC 4K Ultra HD 48mp Night Shot Digital Video Camcorder with an LED IR Light; and a Green Laser Pointer. Most of the investigation was performed on the second floor (attic) area.

Initial Investigation: For this investigation, I was accompanied primarily by the entire group that attended that night during the second floor level investigations. I first began by doing my usual K-II sweeps in and around the second floor area to get some base readings. Around a steady 0.2-0.4mG reading, nothing too extreme. I believe there were fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling, and that gave it a natural higher reading. I had my IR camera stationed near the front end of the second floor area to capture the rear section of the building for about one hour or so. EVP sessions were conducted on this level with the Phasma Box ITC device as well.

Evidence:  Upon thoroughly reviewing all of my evidence, I did not capture any video or photographic evidence, nor any out of the ordinary audio EVP phenomena. Unfortunately, both my video and audio devices stopped because of battery issues during the investigation, and were not able to retrieve data from much of the investigation. However, the building itself is such a wonder. Perhaps we could come out again and do another investigation, because we truly did have a great all-around experience there, and there might be an opportunity to capture something at that time. Overall, a wonderful experience!

Charles Williams: We worked as a group, Diane & I only stayed for one session. Two library employees stayed with us and answered all our questions.  It took place in the old section of the library, which was being used at storage, and that was where most of their claims were.  This library was in a converted church. 

I used a Zoom Recorder, Melmeter, Tri-Field Meter, REM Epod, Full Spectrum Camera and Diane used her K-II Meter and digital recorder. Neither one of us had any personal experiences while in the attic.

The experiments yielded what appeared to be a quiet evening, with random things caught, getting quieter as the night went on.  Upon evidence review we captured more evidence than we thought we had. 

Dale Kaczmarek: I personally did not have any unusual paranormal experiences during the investigation of the attic, however, there were some strange sounds coming from the main part of the library when, allegedly, all personnel were accounted for in the attic. After library staff checked downstairs, they could find nothing amiss and nobody was in the library as it was closed for the evening.

Evidence collected:

A decision is made wilmington.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, the device blurted out, “A decision is made.”

Abe wilmington.MP4 – while conducting an Ovilus V session in phonetic mode, a question was asked, “Say it real loud. What’s your name?” The device responded with, “Abe.”

Bell wilmington.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, the sound of a “bell” came through. (This sound is interesting considering where we were located and that this building used to be a church.)  

Diane wilmington.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a question was asked, “If you’re up here with us, can you say one of our names?” (Everyone said their name) The device replied with, “Diane.”

Hi wilmington.MP4 – while conducting an Ovilus V session in phonetic mode, a comment was made, “Hi.” Almost immediately the device replied back with, “Hi.”

I do wilmington.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a question was asked, “Do you like to read?” The device responded with, “I do.”

I love you honey wilmington.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box, a female voice said, “I love you honey.”

I’m not sure what it is wilmington.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session a female voice comes through that says, “I’m not sure what it is.”

I’m there wilmington.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a loud somewhat garbled voice comes through that seems to say, “I’m there.”

Out I said go wilmington.MP4 – while conducting an Ovilus V session, a question was asked, “If you want us to leave just say get out.” The device said what sounds like, “Out, I said go.”

Pick me wilmington.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a question was asked, “Anyone here back from the Civil War era? We’d love to meet you.” A gruff voice almost talks over the last part of the interrogatory and seems to say, “Pick me.”

Prayer plant wilmington.MP4 - while conducting an Ovilus V in dictionary mode, the first two words that came through were, “Prayer plant.”

Sharon Wilmington.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a question was asked, “Who threw a book at that young lady?” The device responded with, “Sharon.”

She’ll be there more wilmington.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, the device first says what sounds like, “Listening” and then continues with “She’ll be there more.”

Smile wilmington.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a female voice came through and said, “Smile.”

They ain’t staying wilmington.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, the device said, “They ain’t staying.”

Words or phrases spoken by the Phasma Box: no f*ck, I’m not sure what it is, apparition, (laughing), Sharon, smile, fourteen years, I do, (laughing), you’re cold, Diane, I’ll be there more, pick me, behind, bell sound, (audible bump in the background).

Words spoken by the Ovilus V in dictionary mode: prayer, plant, blaze, wow, threat, funeral, us, power, knife, cloud, sift, surprise, students, congruous, bind, eighty, shaken, console, beg, while, blind, month, faster, before, time, text, Greek, toll, ahead, beer, swim, rent, soul, tremor, guy, providence, pulled, children, milk, none, underline, several, file, slower and describe.  Phonetic mode: hi, Abe, horrible, help here, (noise heard downstairs) there, it hurt, (after checking nobody downstairs), it’s hard, Abe, out, I said go, help, help her and help her.

Conclusions: This was a fascinating location with lots of history and unfortunately a tragic and untimely death. It’s impossible at this point to determine if there is a resident spirit that still lingers. A good bet, of course, would be Almon Dunlap who was probably killed instantly and hopefully not painfully.

It seems that most of the voices that came through the Phasma Box were female and not male. I think it’s always wise to include staff and library members who have had past experiences due to the fact that if there are ghosts, the spirits might feel more comfortable with a person or persons that they frequently see and might have interacted with them in the past.

There were some very interesting responses during the EVP sessions including; prayer and the sound of a bell, calling out Diane’s name during a roll call event, responding with a “hi” to a greeting from us, responding with a name “Abe” and other direct and intelligent responses. A follow-up investigation might be in order in the future, library permitting.