General Discussion Forgotten Chicago Forum
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The Englewood Post Office
Posted by:
liz
(---.dsl.okcyok.swbell.net)
Date: February 07, 2010 09:54PM
This is from a review I found on yelp.com
Next to train tracks, on the fairly busy 63rd Street, this looks like your basic post office.
But.
The site has a pretty impressive history as the location of some of the most horrific murders in US History. This post office is built in the exact spot where H H Holmes, aka "The Monster of 63rd Street," aka "The Beast of Chicago," built his "murder castle."
Holmes wasn't your garden variety serial killer. A con artist with a medical background, Holmes parlayed his pharmaceutical knowledge and willingness to kill total strangers into an empire. He built his three-story "castle" to house his pharmacy and tenant businesses, as well as a large hotel that he ran to take advantage of the tourists visiting the 1893 World's Fair.
Because he used teams of construction laborers who only worked on part of the building before being fired, Holmes made sure no one but he knew the overall plan of the building. This was essential because hidden in between rooms were secret chambers for torturing victims to death and processing their bodies.
Many of Holmes' victims were tourists intending to visit the World's Fair. Some of the Castle's rooms looked like normal hotel rooms but were equipped with gas jets to render guests unconscious.
Holmes solicited female victims with a variety of newspaper ads. In some cases they were job seekers who were encouraged to bring their own money to invest as Holmes' business partner. Other victims were solicited by marriage advertisements published by Holmes in various papers. Once arrived, Holmes would torture the women until they told him the location of valuables, after which he would toy with them until he tired of them. Holmes' prisoners were held in special sound-proof "prison rooms" wired with alarms to prevent their escape.
In the name of science, Holmes experimented on his victims. One room held a medieval torture rack, designed to stretch captives and thus produce a "race of giants." Some victims were dissected while still alive. Occaisionally, skeletons of victims would be sold as medical models. Eventually victims' bodies would be disposed of via a convenient on-site lime pit or the crematorium that Holmes had built into the basement.
Next to train tracks, on the fairly busy 63rd Street, this looks like your basic post office.
But.
The site has a pretty impressive history as the location of some of the most horrific murders in US History. This post office is built in the exact spot where H H Holmes, aka "The Monster of 63rd Street," aka "The Beast of Chicago," built his "murder castle."
Holmes wasn't your garden variety serial killer. A con artist with a medical background, Holmes parlayed his pharmaceutical knowledge and willingness to kill total strangers into an empire. He built his three-story "castle" to house his pharmacy and tenant businesses, as well as a large hotel that he ran to take advantage of the tourists visiting the 1893 World's Fair.
Because he used teams of construction laborers who only worked on part of the building before being fired, Holmes made sure no one but he knew the overall plan of the building. This was essential because hidden in between rooms were secret chambers for torturing victims to death and processing their bodies.
Many of Holmes' victims were tourists intending to visit the World's Fair. Some of the Castle's rooms looked like normal hotel rooms but were equipped with gas jets to render guests unconscious.
Holmes solicited female victims with a variety of newspaper ads. In some cases they were job seekers who were encouraged to bring their own money to invest as Holmes' business partner. Other victims were solicited by marriage advertisements published by Holmes in various papers. Once arrived, Holmes would torture the women until they told him the location of valuables, after which he would toy with them until he tired of them. Holmes' prisoners were held in special sound-proof "prison rooms" wired with alarms to prevent their escape.
In the name of science, Holmes experimented on his victims. One room held a medieval torture rack, designed to stretch captives and thus produce a "race of giants." Some victims were dissected while still alive. Occaisionally, skeletons of victims would be sold as medical models. Eventually victims' bodies would be disposed of via a convenient on-site lime pit or the crematorium that Holmes had built into the basement.
