(Photo Courtesy of American Ghost Walks)
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — More than a century of Milwaukee ghost stories — including alleged hauntings at some of the city’s best-known landmarks and a bizarre 1897 mystery that once had residents staring into the night sky — will be featured in a new book debuting later this month at the Milwaukee Paranormal Conference. Milwaukee historian and paranormal researcher Allison Jornlin will unveil In the Shadow of City Hall, a collection built from more than 20 years of research into Milwaukee’s haunted history. Jornlin is scheduled to speak Saturday, Oct. 17, at MKE Paracon at Kochanski’s Beer Garden, 1920 S. 37th St. The conference is free and open to the public, and Jornlin will sign copies of the book following her presentation.
The collection takes readers through some of Milwaukee’s most recognizable locations, including City Hall, the Pfister Hotel, Riverside Theater, Marquette University, the Rave/Eagles Club, Ambassador Hotel, Milwaukee Public Museum, Central Library, Milwaukee County Courthouse, Pabst Mansion and Calvary Cemetery. Other stories are connected to the Hilton Garden Inn, built on the site of the deadly 1883 Newhall House fire, along with the Miller Caves and Inn, Milwaukee Press Club, Safe House, Mader’s Restaurant, the former Grand Avenue Mall and Miller High Life Theatre.
One of the strangest stories in the collection, however, does not involve a haunted hotel, cemetery or courthouse. In 1897, Milwaukee residents reported seeing a mysterious “airship” moving through the skies above the city. The sightings became a sensation, with residents reportedly gathering outside and scanning the sky in an attempt to determine exactly what they were seeing.
“The 1897 airship story is the one that got me,” Jornlin said. “It’s easy to think Milwaukee’s hauntings all live in grand old hotels and hushed courthouses, but for a few nights that year, half the city stood in the street looking up, certain something impossible was flying over downtown. That’s the story I most want people at Paracon to leave with — history here is stranger, and closer, than we give it credit for.”
The book grew out of Jornlin’s Shadow of City Hall ghost walk. Jornlin launched Milwaukee’s first haunted history tour in 2008 and later co-founded American Ghost Walks with her brother, Mike Huberty. What began with a Milwaukee walking tour has since grown into a company operating haunted-history tours in more than 25 cities across eight states and two U.S. territories, including tours in Milwaukee, Chicago, Madison, New Orleans, San Juan, Ketchikan and Juneau.
Jornlin has spent more than two decades investigating unusual and allegedly paranormal events in and around Milwaukee. She received the Milwaukee Paranormal Conference’s Wisconsin Researcher of the Year award in 2016, speaks around the country and continues developing haunted-history tours. American Ghost Walks is also a longtime sponsor of the Milwaukee Paranormal Conference and has previously been featured on ABC’s Shark Tank, the Travel Channel and in USA Today.
During her Oct. 17 appearance at MKE Paracon, Jornlin is expected to walk attendees through several of the stories featured in the book before holding a book signing. Copies will be available for purchase at the conference, which organizers say remains free and open to the public.
In the Shadow of City Hall will sell for $14.99 in paperback at MKE Paracon beginning Oct. 17 and is scheduled to become available online the following day.
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