The Haunted Chicago Riverwalk

Posted: 01.10.2025 | Updated: 04.16.2025

Chicago, Illinois, is the so-called ‘Windy City’ because of its blusterous politicians from a time gone by. It is a city synonymous with the age of the Tommy Gun, an industrial past that made it renowned the world over, and celebrated architecture that today defines the cityscape. However, the historic Riverwalk in the Downtown Chicago area can claim infamy for one of the nation’s worst maritime disasters.

Left behind are distressed and stranded spirits, still searching for even the smallest plank of hope amidst the wreckage. If you’re looking for spooky things to do in Chicago, you can chart the unknown waters of these tales on a haunted Chicago tour.

IS THE CHICAGO RIVERWALK HAUNTED?

The early 20th century saw dark moments for water-faring travelers that echo through time today. While names like Titanic and Lusitania are etched in the consciousness of the world, Chicago’s storied Riverwalk was forever made a temple to tragedy with the S.S. Eastland disaster of 1915.

The vessels’ capsizing while leaving the dock shocked a city and saw a loss of life that was eclipsed by neither the doomed Titanic nor the Lusitania. A staggering 844 souls were lost on a damp July morning. 

Some believe that the Chicago Riverwalk is now forever home to the most wayward of those souls. There have been many claims that suggest the Chicago River has given up its dead. 

THE HISTORY OF THE CHICAGO RIVERWALK

Chicago owes its very existence to the river that courses through it. By the early 1600s, Lake Michigan and the Chicago River were already bustling trade routes. The city of  Chicago was incorporated in 1837. The river and its surrounding areas became prime real estate for the city’s aggressive industrial boom. 

The river, however, has been a source of pain for the city in the past—quite literally. In the early 19th century, the Chicago River was all but an open sewer. Appalling sanitation meant that illness and death were constantly upon Chicago. The ingenious feat of reversing the river’s direction in 1900 took sewage and pollution out of the city and away from drinking water. 

This act and more modern sewage systems massively improved sanitation for Chicagoans. Much like after the devastating Chicago fire nearly 30 years prior, Chicago continued to show steely resilience and was on its way to being the fastest-growing city on earth. 

Early Riverwalk plans date back to 1909, but in the Windy City, famed for political bluster, it wouldn’t be until 1972 that the area began to change. It wasn’t until 2001 that the beautiful and amiable modern Riverwalk would bloom.

A memorial to those lost in the Vietnam War also nestles solemnly within the Riverwalk. While such a memorial serves to remind visitors of great loss, the Riverwalk’s great tragedy has struggled through the years to receive the same recognition. 

Today, the Riverwalk, in the downtown Chicago area, is home to businesses, a slew of shops, market stalls, and landscaped public spaces. 

However, many city dwellers have experienced chilling ghostly reminders of the S.S. Eastland disaster and the souls lost beneath the water.

THE HORROR OF THE S.S. EASTLAND

Only three years after the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic was sent to the bottom of the Atlantic, an even greater number of people died. The S.S. Eastland got underway, ferrying an estimated 3,000 people up the Chicago River. 

There were no famous passengers. No titans of industry. There were no political figures and no outcry as to how it all could happen. Only working-class immigrants on their way to a joyous social occasion and respite from the grind of working life. 

The Eastland was the first vessel scheduled to leave the dockside on the morning of July 24th, 1915. The steamship was one of four chartered to carry thousands of Western Electric Company factory employees and their families across Lake Michigan to an annual picnic in Michigan City, Indiana. 

The picnic offered an escape from the long hours and hard work. On that cool, damp July morning, the ship was recorded as reaching its capacity of 2572 passengers. 

Yet, to this day, speculation remains that several more hundred excited people had made their way onto the boat so as not to get left on the dockside.

In a massive twist of irony, the safety regulations brought about by the Titanic’s sinking would be the nail in the Eastlands coffin. 

The addition of so many lifeboats on the vessel meant that shortly after departure, the great ship lurched heavily to port and capsized. Hundreds were trapped below the water line as passengers were crushed and drowned under the weight of water, bodies, and flying furniture.

Eight hundred forty-four lives were lost on that morning. Twenty-two entire families were completely wiped out. Authorities were unprepared for the scale of death. Nearby buildings such as the Reid Murdoch building and the 2nd Regiment Armory were used as vast makeshift morgues.

GHOSTS ON THE RIVER

The buildings that served as makeshift morgues during the awful moments are said to be frequented by poor souls forever connected to their watery graves.

There are many tales of sightings that have left bystanders in fear and confusion. People peering into the river from a restaurant window have panicked at the sight of a body floating in the river. They’ve even someone floundering in the water.

There are several police reports responding to these animated claims. Authorities respond and find no sign of life or even death in the water below. For years, occupants of the Reid Murdoch building have described shadowy figures glimpsed in the halls and walkways.  

Others claim to have seen a hand reaching out in terror, thrust out of the murky water. The 2nd Regiment Armory would later become the famous Harpo Studios, where the Oprah Winfrey Show was filmed and broadcast for many years.

While Oprah herself was unaware of the building’s macabre role in the S.S. Eastland disaster, Winfrey and her staff had both experienced regular encounters with unexplained and spooky phenomena.

Disembodied children’s laughter has carried in empty spaces while doors have been known to slam shut of their own accord. Lights have been seen to flicker on and off while a chilling cold has filled rooms with no explanation.  

Oprah herself even went as far as to name one ghostly figure. She was often sighted in the old building. ‘The Grey Lady’ was known to Oprah as she noted the misty figure wore period clothing, furthering the horrible notion that the site of so much death still holds the victims somehow in its clutches. 

HAUNTED CHICAGO

The Windy City is known the world over for its iconic architecture, colorful past, and compelling tale of how a city was born from the furnace of adversity. It remains a shocking oversight that the S.S. Eastland disaster and the unnerving encounters that have lingered since have both been forced to hide in the shadows. 

The modern and aesthetically striking Chicago Riverwalk refuses to be kept so far out of sight. While meandering the towering buildings and enjoying a trip by the elegant riverside, spare a thought for those working-class people who never made it to the picnic in Indiana. 

Stare long enough, and you may just catch a glimpse of one. Just ask Oprah. If you’re looking for spooky things to do in Chicago, book a Haunted Chicago Ghost Tour. 

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Sources:

1. https://youtu.be/MalaGM2DG2E?si=S9zg4DefgB0d5rw8

2. https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/chicagoriverwalk/home/site-history.html

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OP20CnNFus&t=1075s

4. https://www.architecture.org/online-resources/buildings-of-chicago/chicago-riverwalk

5. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-hauntings-ghosts-eastland-disaster/