Haunted Archer Avenue-Fairmount Hills

*From 5-09:

The Archer Avenue gates to Fairmont Hills lie between St James Church and The Willow Brook Ballroom along the farthest, forest draped reaches of that famous stretch of Chicago land roadway. There was no predetermined destination when stumbled into my jeep slopping coffee on my lap at 5 am one morning, but knowing that there was a good chance of finding an open pre dawn gate at either St James or Fairmount was a safe bet and traversing the distance before full sunrise to Archer Woods or Sacred Heart being another two off-hour options I have not been to recently pointed me in that direction…As I passed the enigmatic, landmark sign that read Willow Brook Ballroom no less than a half a block on the left the open gates to Fairmount became visible in the waning morning darkness…the last few visits there are indelibly etched in my mind as the unlikely combination of both scenic foreboding …I have in the past always feel literally sick when I got too close to the “Savage Tower” and that morning was no exception ….