Hull House

Built in 1856 by Charles Hull, the building known as Hull House served as a temporary home for those less-fortunate and, according to legend, a hideous monster known as the Devil Baby.

Originally constructed as a temporary shelter for immigrants, Hull house was converted into a halfway house in the 1880s by Jane Addams, who would later receive the Nobel Prize for her charitable work. Nothing out of the ordinary was reported as Hull House until 1913, when a couple came to Addams with a strange request.

As the story goes, the couple consisted of a deeply religious Catholic woman and her husband, an atheist. It is said that the couple brought with them to Hull House a sign of God’s displeasure over their marriage; a child. This child, however, was cursed and bore all the markings of a devil; pointed ears, cloven hooves, horns, scales, even a tail. The couple begged Addams to take the child in and she eventually agreed.

Word of the devil baby quickly spread throughout the town. Eventually, groups of God-fearing neighbors descended upon Hull House, demanding to see the baby. Addams continually denied the existence of such a child, despite claims of a hideous creature seen peering out of Hull House’s attic windows.

Over the next 50 years, people passing by Hull House continued to report seeing a frightening devil-like face staring at them from the upstairs windows. Some say it is the Devil Baby, while others believe the deformed child died years ago and what they are actually seeing is its ghost.

In 1963, Hull House was turned into a museum and opened to the general public. Not only do visitors still occasionally claim to see the Devil Baby , but others have also encountered strange mists and even several ghostly figures resembling monks on the staircase. Despite all this, museum employees still deny that any ghostly activity did or is occurring at Hull House.

Still, if you decide to visit Hull House, you might want to check the attic windows before you go inside. And don’t be surprised if you find that something is looking back at you.

NOTE: In 1980, Dale Kaczmarek, President of the Ghost Research Society, was able to capture the ghostly monk-like figures in Hull House on film. To view his photo, which is part of the Ghost Reasearch Society's web site, please click here.
(Special thanks to Dale Kaczmarek for allowing the link to his photo).