“I only wanted to build a home that would give Rockford a name.”
Robert Hall Tinker spoke those words decades ago. He built the famous Tinker Swiss
Cottage (now known as the Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens) in 1865. It sits above Kent Creek, surrounded by 27 acres of land, and has, in fact, given Rockford a name.
It just may not be for the reason Tinker intended. “Our parking lot has seen a lot of license plates from all over the place,” said Steve Litteral, the executive director of Tinker Swiss Cottage, in an interview with the Beloit Daily News in 2012. “Some people have driven hundreds of miles to meet us.”
So, what is it about this historic building that attracts so many people, and even got it
featured on television? The answer is simple.
Tinker Swiss Cottage is haunted.
A quick Google search reveals hundreds of articles, videos, reviews, and testimonials that
agree. Tinker Swiss Cottage itself has capitalized on his offering paranormal nights throughout the year that give both tourists and Rockford natives the opportunity to get first hand spooky experiences. One of the groups that conduct these spook filled nights – the Ghost Research Society – has investigated Tinker Swiss seven times over the last seven years. During one visit in September of 2016, they found twenty different samples of voices that couldn’t be explained.
So, what is it that makes Tinker Swiss Cottage so haunted? I talked with Kathi Kresol,
author of Haunted Rockford, Illinois and Voices from the Grave, a column in the Rock River Times. In Haunted Rockford, Illinois, she talks about the Tinker Swiss ghosts and their ties to their beloved family home.
“I think that the history of Tinker Swiss Cottage s vital to the hauntings there,” Kathi
said, and with its long, interesting history, it reigns true. The hauntings could be explained by one of Rockford’s first cemeteries, which was disturbed when the Tinkers sold the land that contained it to the railroad. Rockford was founded just across the creek from Tinker Swiss, after all. The most popular theory, though, is that the Tinkers haunt their family home.
Nearly every member of the Tinker family who had lived in the house, died there. Mary
Tinker, Robert Tinker’s first wife, died in 1901, so did her niece, Marcia Dorr. Before them, Mary’s father, Josephus, died of illness in the cottage. Robert married Mary’s other niece, Jesse, and adopted a son, Theodore. Both Robert and Jesse would die in the home, Robert in 1926, and Jesse in 1942. After this, the cottage and everything in it was donated to the Rockford Park District (which Robert helped to found).
Everything the Tinker family left in the home in 1942 is still in the home today, which is
what makes the cottage so unique (and, possibly, haunted). Tinker Swiss Cottage prides itself in having almost all its decorations and furniture not only true to the period, but true to the family as well.
So, is it possible that the Tinker family loved their home so much, they never actually
wanted to leave? That seems to be the running theory, and there’s plenty of evidence to back it up. Along with the droves of paranormal evidence found online, Kathi Kresol also has had first hand experience in the cottage. She outlines one particularly strange even in her book, Haunted Rockford, Illinois.
“…There was a ghostly servant girl, apparently trying to serve dinner.” Kathi says. “I was
standing at the bottom of the stairs that went between the basement and the upstairs kitchen, and I saw movement from the corner of my eye. I turned to look up the stairs and saw the back portion of a lady in a long blue-patterned dress.”
The hauntings, the history, and all of the evidence makes for a great ghost story. Good
enough to attract attention nationwide, especially after an episode of Ghost Hunters was filmed at Tinker Swiss. Plus, in March of this year, a documentary about Tinker Swiss, its history, and its hauntings, was released. It’s free to watch on Amazon. If you’re curious to hear or see some spooks yourself this Halloween, Tinker Swiss is hosting three paranormal tours this October, and you can find them all on their website.
Editor’s Note: First photo was taken by Cheri Holtz and is under license CC BY 2.0 on Flikr. The second and third photo was taken by IvoShandor and is under license CC BY 2.5.
