Whitewater has been known as the Second Salem for some time now. This past weekend, I went on the Spirit Tour, which was put together by Whitewater’s Chamber of Commerce.
The two-hour long tour brought us through the city of Whitewater to take a look at the city’s most interesting haunted buildings and cemeteries. Spirit Tour participants met at the Fuzzy Pig to load busses. There was also an option to meet earlier for a dinner with other tour goers and the Wisconsin Historical Society. From the Fuzzy Pig, tour participants loaded busses for their designated tour. There were two tours around Whitewater, tour 1.0 and tour 2.0. Those who participated in the Spirit Tour in 2014 were encouraged to go on the 2.0 as that tour saw different locations than the 1.0 tour.
Once the wheels started rolling, the tour made it’s first stop at a local cemetery. It was interesting to hear the alleged hauntings that happened at these locations. As the night went on, the tour drove by other famous haunted locations in Whitewater. The former Morris Pratt Institute, the Starin Park Witches Tour, the Winchester Family home as well as a walk through of the cemetery where the Worth family is buried.
At the Witches Tour, participants gathered around the tower to hear the story of a local witch, played by one of the members of the Wisconsin Historical Society. As she was speaking into the microphone about the story of one of the most famous Whitewater Witches whom accidentally killed her children, the microphone and speaker went out. This was the closest experience the tour had with spirits. Spirits have been known to toy with electricity, and it didn’t seem like the witch was happy to hear us talking about her.
For me, the most interesting part of the tour was the stop outside of my apartment building! That’s right, my apartment building was on the Spirit Tour. I actually had goose bumps as the tour guide spoke about the Winchester Wagon Company that used to be in that building and the haunting that surrounds the family.
I would highly recommend that students go on the Spirit Tour. The fact that Whitewater is known as the Second Salem is intriguing to me. Though $35.00 may be large chunk of a college student’s wallet, it is worth the money.
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