The Chicago Post Office With a Gruesome Past You Won’t Believe

Did you know a post office in Chicago was once the site where some of the most brutal serial killings in United States history took place?

The Scariest Post Office in Illinois

This might look like an average post office, but the land it stands on has some terrifying stories to share.

This post office located at 611 W 63rd Street in Chicago was built in 1938 after the building that used to sit on the land burnt down.

The building that was originally built on this piece of land in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood was owned by H.H. Holmes, aka America's first serial killer.

Who Was H.H. Holmes?

In case you aren't a true crime junkie like myself, H.H. Holmes was born Herman Webster Mudgett in New Hampshire in 1861. He moved to Chicago in the late 1800s, changed his name, and worked at a pharmacy in the Jackson Park area.

According to history.com:

Historians believe Holmes, a masterful and charismatic con artist, had swindled money from his drugstore employers. He purchased an empty lot in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, and built a labyrinthine structure with shops on the first floor and small apartments above.

This building eventually became known as the 'Holmes' Murder Castle', and the stories about what happened inside its walls are beyond terrifying.

Holmes' Murder Castle in Chicago

In 1893 over 27 million people came to Jackson Park for the World's Fair, and historians believe Holmes built this 'hotel' simply to lure fair visitors to a gruesome and terrifying end.

On the outside, it looked like a regular hotel, but inside? Reports say it was a twisted maze of secret rooms, trap doors, soundproof chambers, and even a crematorium. There were hallways that led to nowhere, doors that opened to brick walls, and chutes that sent bodies straight to the basement. Holmes would lure in young women looking for work or fair visitors in need of a room, and many of them were never seen again.

In October 1893, after the World's Fair was over, Holmes fled from Chicago, but was soon caught in Boston and arrested. Estimates of his victims vary wildly, but Holmes claimed he killed 200 people at the time of his arrest.

H.H. Holmes 'Murder Castle' may be long gone, but some people say the USPS Post Office that now stands there is haunted by the spirits of Holmes' murder victims. Would you dare to visit? I know I wouldn’t!