Ghosts of Milwaukee's Irish Cultural & Heritage Center

On Saturday, October 14th spooky speakers and paranormal peddlers of all manner of ghostly goods will once again haunt the halls of the Irish Cultural & Heritage Center (ICHC) for the 2023 Milwaukee Paranormal Conference. The eye-catching former church has its own surprising history and ghost stories as do many of the neighboring buildings on what was once Milwaukee's premier residential thoroughfare. Today, Wisconsin Avenue, the street which is home to many famous local haunts, including the Pfister Hotel and the Pabst Mansion, is better-known as Milwaukee's haunted Main Street. Although not as well-known, the ICHC, at 2133 West Wisconsin Avenue, certainly deserves a place on the historic and haunted list.

Grand Avenue Congregational Church

Built in 1888, the dramatic Romanesque Revival structure originally housed the Grand Avenue Congregational Church. The interior provided the largest public auditorium for over 60 years. In 1910, the massive Kimball Pipe Organ was added. 

The congregation of the church split off from First Presbyterian and First Congregational in 1847, originally calling itself Free Congregational. For the parishioners, unconditional support for the abolition of slavery and the education of women was non-negotiable. The new congregation welcomed traveling abolitionist speakers to their pulpit and would go on to found many colleges and educational organizations.

First and foremost, the church community supported unity and social justice. In 1902, they hosted a joint Thanksgiving service for Christians and Jews. In 1914, famous activist Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan took to their stage and astounded an enthusiastic crowd with a lecture entitled, "The Heart and the Hand: The Proper Use of the Senses." In 1945, parishioners welcomed the congregants of St. Mark's African Methodist Church for a shared service. In 1957, Martin Luther King Jr. preached to a packed house of over 1,200 people, promoting racial inequality and the end of segregation.

In 1986, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1996, the church transferred ownership to the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center for the price of one dollar. Although after the sale the plan had been to continue religious services as usual, sadly, the congregation disbanded the following year. Yet perhaps some echoes of the past still persist.



Just recently, when Corey Webster, president of the ICHC, left his office for a moment, he heard pots and pans banging in the nearby kitchen, talking, and footsteps. He was actually alone in the building. Fortunately, this strange disturbance immediately ceased after called out, "Knock it off! You know it's me."

Corey is seldom bothered, but admits that he will frequently hear the distinctive sound of the heavy front door opening, along with talking, and footsteps, as if someone has entered the building. Often when he goes to greet the visitor, the door is still locked and no one is there.

On the stage area, now called the Hallamor (which means "grand hall" in Gaelic), Jeff who runs the sound and lights for concerts, generally encounters some trouble with the maintenance door for the giant pipe organ. When he's working, this door, which leads to the service ladders, often flies open. When Jeff had words with the ghost about engaging in this behavior during concerts, the power to the sound booth abruptly cut out. He's discovered barricading the door shut with a bench to avoid this nuisance works best.



Harry, the building manager, has had issues in this area as well. While vacuuming behind the pipe organ, he sometimes hears a deep growl and feels as if someone is tugging on his shirt or touching his elbow or back.

When Corey and the former building manager, Tim, were showing Harry around the building for the first time, they all had quite a fright in the basement. Without warning, the table saw, which was about 5 feet away, switched on by itself. As they stood there dumbfounded, it quickly turned itself off. Thankfully, this only happened once.

An even more dramatic incident occurred to Tim, as he was downstairs cleaning the men's bathroom. He suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck rise and turned around to see the apparition of a leg-less young girl in Victorian attire floating in the air. Before disappearing, she look confused, asking him, "What are you doing here?"

If they'd rather avoid paranormal activity, Corey advises his fellow volunteers to announce themselves to the spirits as they enter the building. He finds, "If you come in the door, you tell them that you're here right away and . . . you'll be fine." Or, at least, when you remember this step, according to Corey, the ghostly hi-jinx occurs less often.

We hope the ghosts will be in good spirits this October and join us in celebration during the upcoming Milwaukee Paracon 2024. For more information about speakers and vendors, please visit https://milwaukeeparacon.com.

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