Rumored Hauntings of the Infamous Cuba Rd.
📷: Marlin
history:
A long windy, and rural road that is full of as many legends as it is scenic views, Cuba road stretches from Buffalo Grove, Lake Zurich and also into Barrington. Gangsters used to frequent this road back during the prohibition era, and used the area as a vacation spot. Al Capone was rumored to vacation here along Cuba Road and Lake County. The most frequently reported paranormal occurrences here are the ghost cars.
spirit activity:
Phantom Limo/Sedan & Old Farmhouse
An old black phantom limousine or sedan manifests nearby in White Cemetery and drives a few blocks down Cuba road before disappearing. It has even been seen next to a vanishing farmhouse. If you go out on the night of a full moon and turn your headlights off, or are walking without a flashlight, it is said the house will then appear. If you stay inside until sunrise you will vanish with the house forever. Occasionally it is said to even seem to move, and appear in different places.
There are conflicting stories on if the home actually ever existed, but after talking to a few credible sources we can confirm some kind of structure indeed used to stand along the road many years ago. It’s believed to have mysteriously burned down, possibly with the owner inside. According to Author Richard T. Crowe, evidence of this house existed in the form of debris that could be seen up until sometime in the early 1980s. It stood between the intersection of Route 59 and White Cemetery, about one block west of the cemetery. After digging through old historical documents local Library staff were able to confirm that a home used to stand in the location before it was lost to a fire many years ago.
Those driving by have supposedly seen the old simple farmhouse. Occasionally motorists report as saying the house was on fire and engulfed in flames. Other times there are no flames, but simply waves of heat emitting from the property suggesting a great temperature difference. When they would return on their drive back the house had always vanished. Some have spotted an elderly woman carrying a lantern and wandering the yard of the property. But when you try and get closer and walk down the path, both the woman and farmhouse will be gone.
A Ghost Car Try’s to Get Visitors off Cuba Road
Near where Cuba intersects with Rainbow Road, a car has been known to suddenly appear behind you and speed up quickly, very closely behind you, only to disappear. A few people have claimed this particular spirit is actually trying to protect people from another entity in the area, trying urgently to get them off Cuba Road. Smells of sulfur have been known to sometimes occur. According to a couple frequent visitors some of the energy in the area supposedly feeds off of fear.
Ghost of an Old Gangster
People driving along the road have seen the apparition of a burly gangster in their rear-view mirror, who is said to be dressed in 1920s attire, chewing or puffing on a Cuban cigar. Sometimes strange cigar smoke is smelled when otherwise alone. One thing to be mindful of is that Cuba Road has rolling hills, and twists and turns. This could explain some people’s claims of the ‘ghost cars’. However it certainly doesn’t explain everything.
Female Hitchhiker
There have been many reports over the years of a female spirit who is seen carrying a lantern and trying to hitchhike on the side of the road by the cemetery. She will try to flag down passing motorists. Rumored to be the ghost of a young woman who was raped, and killed nearby in the woods on her prom night. A few people have stopped their car and offered her a ride at which point she will suddenly vanish. Rarer accounts state she has even entered peoples cars only to disappear immediately after.
The Spectral Strollers
A more positive story is of a pair of spectral strollers which can be seen across the street from the cemetery walking hand in hand. They are a rare sight to see, but are often spotted around sunset in the summertime or autumn, sometimes well into November. They walk towards the sunset and vanish into the horizon. You will only see their shadows, no actual people will be in sight.
Legend says that a woman was killed on horseback and that her ghost can be seen, horse and all. Also the ghost of a boy dressed in a red shirt and overalls has sometimes been spotted on the road. He is rumored to be a boy who grew up nearby on Rainbow road and died in a tragic accident. We were able to confirm his death and the tragic accident as happening sometime in the 1960s.
On foggy nights near the curve between Route 59 and Rainbow Road the figure of a man will suddenly step out in the road. Drivers report feeling like they hit something, but when they go to check the damage there is none and zero debris in the street.
Near the intersection of the Northwest Highway are the railroad tracks. Supposedly a ghost train will approach the crossing and the train light can be seen, and a whistle heard in the distance. When the gates don’t come down, motorists eventually drive by only to see there isn’t a train.
Many people have seen an old, abandoned home. Outside the home in the field people report seeing a large number of individuals standing around a large white flame. Suddenly the flame disappears, and so do the people even though they looked so real.
The bridge is said to be another spot of interest for paranormal activity. A boy is rumored to have killed himself in the woods next to the bridge. The legend goes if you park on the bridge, roll down the windows, and turn off the car. You should start to hear footsteps and whistles followed by the eventual sounds of choking. If you turn your car off shortly before midnight, it will fail to start at 12:01am.
We couldn’t find any information on his death, or any death at or immediately near this location. This sounds like an urban legend to us, and a recently fabricated one too. All other activity here has been going on since at least the 1970s and has been documented by more reliable sources such as respected ghost investigators and authors in articles dating back to the 1990s. Feel free to investigate this claim if you wish, but we have much more faith in the other stories that have happened along Cuba Road.
A white orb has been seen following passing cars near the cemetery. Possibly debunked as headlights reflecting off the metal fence along the cemetery, or the small lights installed near several graves.
People have died from car accidents, a known spot for people to speed in their cars. A few murders have occurred in nearby homes over the years. Orbs have been captured in photos, other unexplainable noises have been heard in the woods where they shouldn’t or wouldn’t make sense to be, including the sound of mysterious whistling.
Location: W Cuba Rd Illinois (Google Maps)
Type of Haunting: mostly intelligent + some possible residual
Type of Spirit(s): human + ghost cars + ghost train
Nature of Spirit(s): mostly benevolent + possibly malevolent
Number of Spirits: several to very many
Notoriety of Haunting: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 5/5
HauntedChicagoland.com Editor Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 stars