Crow, if you mean the statue that is on Archer, just west of Willow Springs Rd on the south side of the street - that is a memorial to the CCC workers. There was a camp close to that spot, I believe. At any rate, I remember going to see the statue the day it was dedicated, although I missed the ceremony as I had the times wrong.

Very interesting. I didn't know that was a dance hall at one time.

I walked up behind the old Tarnow's grove just this last summer and there was nothing there, no sign of any graveyard, or an air shaft or any other anomaly. I asked two of the local historians, both men are natives and in their 70's and they both said no, there was no small grave plot back there. There is a continuous issue with the Spaitis's Grove and subsequent old Shady Tree Inn building (was O'Henry's Roadhouse, Manions, now that Irish pub). It was built by Mr. Joseph J. Spaitis, and his daughter still survives. She was very very PO'd over all of this mob talk. She was threatening to sue over the damage to the family name created by Dean Stump when he opened that bar in the late 80's early 90's and started telling the press that it was a mob hangout in the 20's. This was done to get business, that is it. The beer runner McErlane was not shot and buried in the back of the place. It is all BS. The place was built in the late 20's, like 28 or 29. The rooms upstairs primarily housed the Spaitis family, and in fact Mr.s Spaitis's mother lived upstairs as well as the rest of the family until it was sold. There is no tunnel under Archer to the Willowbrook, and there is no tunnel behind the Spaitis building either. Sure there was some stuff going on there as there is a hdden room in the basement, but what else is new - it's Willow Springs. I have read every issue of the Desplaines Valey News from 1914 until 1929, and I have never seen any raids or other news generated out of Spaitis' grove. Dinty Moore's yes, Spaitis - no.

The statue across from Tim's hotdogs is of a CCC worker, as there was once a CCC camp (Camp Chicago-Lemont Company #612) at the top of that hill, and that entrance was the parking area and pathway to get up there (one of the entrances anyway).

Yes, Tarnow's Grove was a dance pavilion in the old days.

Bruce

Here's another relevant link:

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/sep/24/news/chi-obit-moskal-24sep24

Also, from http://legacy.southtownstar.com/obituaries/southtownstar/obituary.aspx?n=lorraine-c-moskal&pid=133274081

Lorraine C. Moskal
MOSKAL Lorraine C. Moskal, (nee Holy), 86, formerly of Western Springs, Owner of The Hall of 1000 Bargains for 47 years. Beloved wife of the late Bruno M. Moskal; loving mother of Lynda Finnan; cherished grandmother of Shawn (Andrea) Finnan; dear sister of the late Ed Holy, late Dorothy Golem-Bieski and the late Jim Holy; fond aunt of many nieces and nephews. Visitation Friday, 2 - 9 p.m. at the Markiewicz Funeral Home, P.C., 108 Illinois St., Lemont. Funeral services Saturday, September 26, 2009, 9:30 a.m. to SS. Cyril & Methodius Church, Lemont, for Mass at 10 a.m. Interment Resurrection Cemetery. Info: 630-257-6363 or www.markiewiczfh.com.

Might be worth contacting the family if you really want to find out more.

I remember Lorraine's Variety well. It was in a two story, white, clapboard building that stood on the south side of Archer at Mobile. When Lorraine moved to Willow Springs the Hall of 1000 Bargains became a popular "road trip" for many from Garfield Ridge. Bruno ran a tavern next to the store, popular with the husbands who drove Ma to see Lorraine.

I wonder who bought the fine wooden fittings from that old bar. The funeral home owner and I were speaking of it, and I forgot if she mentioned that it was sold off before the property changed hands.

I remember responding to the old place on a number of occassions for burglaries when I was on the Willow Springs Police Force. Searching the prememsis allowed me the opportunity to see some of the rooms that the public couldn't go in. That old bar area was used for storage when I was on the force. Mrs. Moskal was a nice lady.

Didn't The Hall of 1000 Bargains burn down after it closed? Seem to remember seeing pictures of it.

Funny coincidence. Just watched the show on A&E called "Paranormal Cops." It was about sightings at the new "Stag's Head." Guess what that is - the old Spaitis Shady Tree Inn on Archer. The new owners have mentioned hearing weird sounds, etc. so they called in the "cops." You can view the show at:

http://www.aetv.com/paranormal-cops/video/index.jsp?bcpid=60097418001&bclid=64422087001&bctid=64539226001

They mentioned that they thought the place was a former brothel up on the second floor, and showed a hallway with rooms and a couple of bullet holes. They also showed some book or document and zoomed in on Spaitis' name as a former owner. No mention though, of tunnels across the street or Capone involvement or a body buried in the basement, as they usually say with this location.

Alan

I saw the second half of that and I'm glad to see they didn't follow up on the gangster thing with McErlane. I and I my friend from the historical society talked to the producer over a year ago on that (he is actually a Willow Springs resident. The brothel upstairs is likely in my opinion though my friend doesn't agree. Anything back then that had "hotel" or "Inn" over the door was fair game for brothels. The woman's washroom they were in was not there originally. It was a later addition. There was a staircase there. As for the bullet holes they found, he he, I wouldn't doubt it but don't look for any prohibition era beer runners being responsible. In fact if it is the door to that washroom (and I think it was), that is also newer. Maybe after everything cools down a bit, I'll stop in there.

Bruce

I watched the whole special on the Stag's Head. The place wasn't built until 28 or 29. The BS that owner was throwing out was shameful. I was going to burn it on DVD and give it to my Willow Springs Historical Society friends but now that I saw the beginning - forget it.

Bruce

I got "The History of Willow Springs 1892 - 1992" from the library. Very interesting anecdotes, pictures, maps and sketches of WS history. Includes Hall of 1000 Bargains and Spaitis, but nothing on the mystery cemetery.

[b]I would like to take a climb up there and see if there are any traces of the tomb stones or the fence that was around it.[/b]

i would, too. at least wait'll the snow melts, rich.

Hello all. I can attest to at least some of what occurred at the Shady Tree In as I am a direct decendant of "Uncle Joe" Spaitis. Uncle Joe was my grandfather's brother. I have fond memories of visiting when I was a child, including climbing the hill behind it that overlooked the hall of bargains. The building was built and owned by my grandfather's brother, "Uncle Joe" Spaitis. He owned it for about 60 years. Uncle Joe passed in the 80's, at which time it passed through his brother's kids. They owned and operated it for years, and did eventually sell it.

As far as Joe Spaitis' daughter still alive, it was actually my aunt, or Joes brother's daughter. The talk about mafia/Al Capone is pure bunk. It was strictly to drive business, and the place was never owned by mafia.

I never heard about any stories of a brothel, but since anything that may have occurred would have been well before my time. As far as being haunted, I can check with my relatives who lived there when they ran the place through the 80's. If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them or look for the answers.

I was just through Willow Springs and was saddened to see the building shuttered. I actually was on the way to attend my mother's wake and noticed the building was for lease and looked in a state of disrepair. I have some fond memories of visiting my Uncle Joe Spaitis there.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2010 02:37AM by NateSpaitis.

Nate,

Shuttered? I thought it just opened? Is it still under restoration? Joe's brother's daughter is married to a Mroch I believe, and that family has always been close to mine. I don't want to get too personal on a public forum, so let me just say glad to see you here.

Bruce

Like I said, I was just passing through on a way to a wake, but I saw boarded windows and a 'For lease' sign. This was November of 2009. Perhaps something has happened since then.

You are right about the family ties. Barb is my cousin.

To answer the original poster, I believe he was thinking of Bachelor's Grove, which definitely had a small cemetary, reportedly haunted, and it was fenced.

Can anyone verify the current state of the Shady Tree Inn?

Not bachelors grove. I mentioned that to my 83year old sister just yesterday and she varified that it was up that hill behind the resturant where we ate often. They had family type meals served on the table to help yourself.

I spent every Sunday afternoon at Tarnow's from 1957-1960ish. Great memories. During that time, the hall was being rented to "Eddie's Auction". I believe "Steve" was the name of the property owner at the time, but Tarnow was probably not his last name since that is the name of a city in Poland. My parents would drink beer and take part in bidding on low-end imported trinkets that "Eddie" would hawk from one end of the hall.
I spent most of my time exploring the grounds and forest preserve up the hill. I made friends with the owner's son who lived in a two-story house on the grounds, and he showed me the abandon ski slope at the north end of the property, pointing out the car wheel rims bolted to trees that was used in a motorized pull-rope to get back up the hill. There were two covered horse structures. At one time picnic-goers would rent horses to ride in the area. There was a wooden hitching post in front of the bar that I used to climb on. There was also an outdoor bar next to the dance hall. There were three paths leading up the hill and into the preserves, but the further you walked into the forest, the less distinct they would become and I always feared getting lost.
The hall had a tin ceiling, so I would guess it dated to the early 1900s. The indoor bar area was quite large with an L-shaped bar and tables & chairs all around. I would order a hamburger for 25 cents and watch it be delivered on a paper plate from the kitchen through a small sliding wood door. There was also a female maniquin dressed in sexy underwear sitting in one of the stalls in the men's bathroom!
The grounds had many picnic tables, but by the late 50-s, I never seen anyone using them. I assume this was a popular picnic grove in the years prior to the late 50s. All the trees had a whitewash coating part way up the trunk to keep the insects from causing damage. On the front of the dance hall, there was a large metal Drewrys Beer sign that I used to throw rocks at since it made a lot of noise.
Sorry for the rambling, but all these memories just came out at random!

[b]Steve: I'm surprised nobody saw the graves on top of the hill except my 82yr old sister her husband and myself.[/b]

Richard: I never seen any graves at the top of the hill. The owner's son never mentioned anything about graves on the property, and I'm sure he would have showed them to me if there were - unless he didn't know they were there. Possible. I used the steep south path most often to climb the hill, in line with the horse stables. If the graves were on the north side of the hill where the slope was more gradual, I could have missed seeing them since I didn't go there much. The terrain was rather boring on that side - not much to see or do.
I do remember a small open garbage dump on the very south side of the property in line with the parking lot. It looked like the owners used it to throw their garbage on occasion, but not on a regular basis since it didn't change much from week to week. It was down at the bottom of a small hill where there was also a creek that only held water after a heavy rain.
One of the summers I was there was the 17 year cicada emergence. They were everywhere!