The Haunted History of Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo

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Happy Zoo Lovers' Day!  That's right---according to Holiday Insights, a website devoted to cataloging the smaller, and often pretty bizarre, holidays throughout the year, today is a day dedicated to zoos and the people who love them. Here at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State, that means today is the perfect opportunity to talk about HAUNTED zoos!

Previously, I've featured the Phantom Lioness at the Cincinnati Zoo and the ghost of a murdered zookeeper at the Houston Zoo. Personally, I find these tales fascinating and lately, have been on a quest to read about as many haunted zoos as I could find. There are a lot of them throughout the United States, but today I want to focus on Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. Not only does it have a huge range of paranormal activity and reported sightings of spooky things, but it has a pretty dark history to back them up.

The Lincoln Park Zoo is an old one. It was established between 1868 and 1869 when the land was turned over to the zoo from the city of Chicago. The reason why the city had this land to give was because it was removing the city burial grounds!  According to Chicago Quirk, the cemetery dates back to around 1837 when the state of Illinois set aside the land for a burial ground in Chicago. Between 1843 and 1859, the location was the site of tens of thousands of burials of Chicago citizens. However, around the time of the Civil War, people began to favor the more beautiful, expansive rural memorial gardens over small, crowded city cemeteries.  Not to mention, the citizens of Chicago were getting sick of having a burial ground right in their city. Not only do cemeteries take up valuable real estate that could be used by the living, but at the time, a doctor named John H. Rauch, warned that the close proximity of the graveyard to local water sources could be a major health hazard.

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So, they began the laborious process of removing the bodies, but for various reasons, not ALL the bodies were removed.

However, the park and the zoo continued to grow and flourish. And, as you can imagine, has picked up quite a reputation for being haunted!  It is not usual for a visitor or member of the zoo staff to see people in Victorian dress, simply walking around the property, oblivious to the fact that over 100 years have passed since they've died. One woman in particular is seen in a white dress, and prefers to manifest in and around the Lion House.  She also is seen in the Ladies' Room mirrors (located in the basement of the Lion House)---but as soon as the witness turns around, no one is there.

Phantom footsteps, disembodied voices, slamming doors, photographic anomalies, and flickering lights are all the norm as well, and can be experienced throughout the zoo. There also seems to be a floating pocket of negative energy that makes people physically ill when they encounter it in various locations throughout the park.

Another hot spot for activity is a fairly recent addition to the zoo.  In 1962, ground broke for the zoo's Barn, a location featuring farm animals and demonstrations on farming. When ground broke for the building, a body was unearthed.  After not much help from authorities, zoo director, Dr. Lester Fisher made the decision to simply return the body and build the barn over top it. Various EVPs have been captured here, along with plenty of reports of other spooky happenings. (A short excerpt from a ghost tour explaining the Barn's hauntings can be found on YouTube.)  What's even weirder is that Dr. Lester himself seems to be haunting the zoo, even though he's very much still alive!  His voice has been captured on EVP as well, near the primate exhibit.

It seems obvious that the majority of paranormal activity (minus Dr. Fisher) stems from the fact that the zoo was built atop a cemetery, where bodies are still occasionally being found.  However, the paranormal activity has had a LONG history at this location, and some people believe that the ghosts are the lost souls from nearby suicides. Between 1894 and 1919 a bridge was located across the lagoon, just past the zoo's parking lot. It is estimated that between 50 and 100 people managed to kill themselves by jumping off or hanging themselves from the bridge. It was such a popular place to commit suicide, that the bridge was actually called 'Suicide Bridge' on postcards!

If you'd like to experience the ghosts of the Lincoln Park Zoo for yourself, you're in luck!  The zoo is open year-round and offers FREE admission!  There aren't too many places throughout the zoo that are free from activity, but you might want to spend some extra time at the Lion House, the Barn, and the cafe. If you're interested in a more in-depth paranormal experience, paranormal investigator and author, Ursula Bielski offers tours throughout October. Just keep an eye on the zoo's website for more info!

Sources:
Brent Swancer:  High Strangeness at Haunted Zoos (March 29, 2017)
Dave Fuentes: Ursula Bielski and the Ghosts of Lincoln Park Zoo (November 5, 2014)
Chicago Quirk: Guess What? There are thousands of bodies under Lincoln Park (10/29/12)

Houston's Haunted Zoo

Ever since I wrote the blog post on the phantom lioness of the Cincinnati Zoo, I've been intrigued with the idea of haunted zoos.   You wouldn't believe how many zoos throughout the United States have ghost stories attached to them, but none seem as mysterious as the haunting of the Houston Zoo.

The Houston Zoo is located on the grounds of Hermann Park, and has been at this location since 1922 after the need for a larger facility to house additional animals was decided upon.  With this new location came a new employee:  Hans Nagel.  It is believed that Nagel was born in Germany in 1892.  As the son of a military officer, he was sent at a young age to Officer Training School.  However, the military life was not in the cards for Nagel; he went AWOL and literally jumped off a ship, only to be rescued by an animal collector working with Hagenback Gardens.  Nagel had found his calling and quickly learned the animal training trade.

His journey to America and specifically to Texas is a shady one, but the important this is, he made it and was quickly given employment with the Houston Zoo.  Nagel was a showman; his lion-taming feats, among other amazing shows, were constantly featured in newsreels and publications of the day, bringing in numerous guests to the now-thriving zoo.

Before long, Nagel was made head keeper/director of the facility, and it was a job he took very seriously.  He was known to patrol the grounds of the zoo with his 9mm Luger pistol, keeping it safe from intruders...and the occasional rogue animal.  The city of Houston once awarded Nagel a gold medal for shooting to death a Bengal tiger that was attacking one of the zoo officials.  The city also awarded Nagel a commissions as a special police for the zoo.

That distinction was pulled from Nagel in 1929 by Mayor Walter Monteith on the recommendation of the City Park Commission over issues that Nagel was abusing his authority.  But, a lack of title wasn't going to stop Nagel from protecting his beloved zoo.  Unfortunately, six bullets would.

Hans is on the left

On a Monday afternoon in November of 1941, a police officer patrolling the area of the zoo noticed Nagel hiding in some bushes, spying on a car of teenagers.  The officer asked the teens if they knew they were being watched, which was an obvious 'no.'  The officer then attempted to handcuff Nagel and bring him to the station to discuss the matter of jurisdiction.  At this point, things get a little sketchy.  Nagel apparently resisted arrest, and the officer claims he went for that famous Luger pistol he always kept at his side.  Before he could reach the pistol, the officer shot Nagel six times, killing him.  The officer was acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.

Those six bullets may have stopped Nagel's body, but even they couldn't stop his spirit.  Many believe he is still keeping a watchful eye over his zoo.  Unexplained occurrences have been noted in the Denton A. Cooley Animal Hospital, but the majority of ghostly activity is associated with the Commissary building.  The Commissary is where all the food for the animals is stored and prepared.  Staff reporting to work in the building between 5 and 6 am have reported hearing voices and seeing the shadowy figure of a man walking around.  The ghost stories are such an integral part of the zoo's history that they are extensively covered in the zoo's official blog.  Further, amateur ghost hunters on staff at the zoo routinely take turns spending the night in the building in hopes of collecting evidence of Nagel's presence.  So far, a couple of really good EVPs have been caught (which can be heard on the link below) but I personally think they sound like a woman's voice.

But why would Hans choose the haunt the Commissary, a building that wasn't even built at the time of his death?  Zoo staff believe they have solved that mystery; according to police reports, Nagel was shot "about 300 feet from the Outer Belt Road and on a gravel road leading West to East."  When they compared old maps of the zoo, they found that this area coincides with the current location of the Commissary building.

Sources:

Official Houston Zoo Blog

Houston Chronicle article by Craig Hlavaty

Houston Museum District