Entry No. 96 — the Chicago file — filed under: haunted

Read-Dunning Memorial Park

This quiet 3-acre park sits on top of roughly 38,000 unmarked dead -- 19th-century Cook County poorhouse residents, insane-asylum patients, Great Chicago Fire victims, and Civil War veterans -- a potter's field that vanished from public memory until 1989, when construction crews digging nearby hit bone and uncovered three separate burial grounds.

The move: Walk the seven concrete memorial circles and read the eight historic markers, each naming a different group buried here, then grab dinner nearby and talk about how this was one of Chicago's best-kept dark secrets for eighty years.

• 📍 Dunning, Northwest Side
• 💸 $$
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: W Belle Plaine Ave & N Neenah Ave, Chicago, IL

Hours: Added 2026-07-19 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: Wikipedia

last checked: 2026-07-19