Vishnu Revisited
10/23/2007

The McDonough County Historical Society celebrated their 40th anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 20 by touring Vishnu Springs with Macomb author John Hallwas

By NATHAN WOODSIDE

Eagle Staff Writer

Concealed by what appears to be nothing more than a line of timber stretched across the flat plains of northwest McDonough County, the old hotel still stands at the bottom of the 80-foot basin.

Over the past 80 years, Vishnu Springs has become the area’s folklore machine, fueling countless ghostly campfire tales and romantic mob-related yarns from the young and old alike, mostly because of the mystery that shrouds such a geographic and historical oddity.

The fog of Vishnu Springs’ past is quickly burning off as WIU received the 220 acres as a gift from the granddaughter of the early 20th century owner, Ira Post. Brush has been cleared, the hotel has been inspected, trails have been made and plans are being forged to restore the ghost town into a site of natural and archaeological studies.

With better access to the site, the McDonough County Historical Society took the opportunity to visit Vishnu Springs in celebration of the society’s 40th anniversary Saturday, Oct. 20.

The former 18th century health resort was the site of the society’s first meeting in 1967.

For historical society president Gil Belles, it was an opportunity to visit a site he’d only previously heard about.

“When I first came to the university as a teacher, some of my students lived here and they would spin stories of both the fact and the myth,” he said. “I became really fascinated by it and just sort of lived vicariously through (students’ stories).”

Belles said he doesn’t buy into the stories of paranormal activity at Vishnu Springs but is excited for what could be a valuable learning resource.

“I just think it’s gorgeous,” he said. “If the university does exploit the opportunities for various academic departments and the friends of the community, it’s got a lot of potential to be a laboratory for biology.”

John Hallwas, local historian and author, stood in front of the old hotel and talked to the audience of 30 people about the life of Vishnu Springs.

“We were beginning, in America, to find the value of going out in the natural world for health reasons,” Hallwas said. “Many people were fascinated with the idea that certain kinds of water could have health benefits for you.”

According the Hallwas, the springs were purchased by cattle baron Ebenezer Hicks in the middle to late 1800s. His son, Darius, developed the springs as a health resort, sold plots along the stream and built horse stables and stores.

Hallwas said at one time, there were as many as 20 buildings on the site.

The resort met its demise in the early 1900s when Darius Hicks married his 19-year-old stepdaughter and was forced to move to the Blandinsville area amid negative publicity.

According to Hallwas, the resort and most of the buildings were gone by the 1920s.

The original hotel, built in 1889, still stands. Wrought with vandalism from night visitors looking for a ghostly adventure, the facility is on the cusp of gaining a new life with the research of Vishnu Springs’ past and as a future educational facility.

“There’s still lots more research to be done,” Hallwas said. “We need to determine how many lots were sold and a lot of things that will tell us how the population changed over time. A lot more historical research will turn up a lot more interesting things, I’m sure.”

Like Belles, Hallwas said he doesn’t believe there is any paranormal activity to be found at Vishnu Springs.

“The factor that leads to the rise of paranormal stories is usually the fact that people don’t know a lot about a location,” he said. “If you were to ask someone who had lived in Vishnu Springs back at the turn of the century or the early 20th century about ghosts out here, they would have thought you were crazy.”

Hallwas is scheduled to give a presentation on the history of the McDonough County Historical Society at 7 p.m., Monday, Nov. 12 at the Western Illinois Museum, 201 S. Lafayette. The event is free and open to the public.

Keep reading the Macomb Eagle for coverage of the historical society’s 40th anniversary.