Kemper Center

Senator Charles Durkee's 1861 private home became an Episcopal girls' boarding school in 1865 and is now a historic arts and events center on the Lake Michigan shore.

Kemper Center occupies 17.5 acres of Lake Michigan shoreline property at 6501 Third Avenue in Kenosha, anchored by a cream-brick, ten-room Italianate Victorian mansion built in 1861 for Charles Durkee. Durkee was a Vermont-born merchant who founded the town of Southport (later Kenosha) in 1836, served as a Free Soil congressman from 1849 to 1853, and became the first Republican U.S. Senator from Wisconsin in 1855, aligning himself with the abolitionist faction. After completing his Senate term, he built the mansion and subsequently sold it to St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in 1865. The church converted it into an Episcopal Female Seminary, later renamed Kemper Hall in 1870 to honor Jackson Kemper, the first Episcopal missionary bishop in the United States and Wisconsin's first Episcopal bishop. The Gothic Revival Kemper Chapel was added in 1875, with the first graduating class holding its ceremony there in 1876. A chemistry laboratory was built that became the first lab for women in Wisconsin. Over 105 years, the school educated girls from wealthy Chicago-area families, some sent there for behavioral reform. The school closed in 1975, and a preservation coalition purchased the complex, donating it to Kenosha County. The National Register of Historic Places listed Kemper Hall in 1976.

Three deaths form the foundation of the haunting. The most documented occurred on January 2, 1900, when a young nun on sabbatical who had arrived at the school in 1899 disappeared. She left behind only her handbag and crucifix. Two young girls reported seeing her walking the beach that day. Authorities received a false message claiming she was safe in Missouri. On January 8, 1900, two children found her body floating in Lake Michigan. She had thrown herself from the rocky shoreline into the icy waters, her black robes dragging her under. Whether driven by madness or despair, her death has never been fully explained.

The second death involves Sister Margaret Clare, a stern nun who administered severe punishments to the students in her charge. One version of the legend says she tripped on her robes and fell down the long spiral staircase leading to the mansion's observatory. A darker version, passed down among former students, holds that multiple girls stationed themselves along the spiral staircase and pushed her sequentially as she fell, each girl continuing the momentum. She died from the injuries. The third death is that of a teenage student, distraught at being separated from her boyfriend by her parents' decision to send her to the school, who leapt from the roof of the building. None of these incidents beyond the drowned nun have been verified through historical records.

The phenomena reported over the following century are consistent and persistent. Human-shaped shadows gather in corners and gaze out from the windows. Dark figures cloaked in blackness stroll the grounds and disappear when approached. A young girl's ghost has been seen standing on the staircase. Creaking footsteps follow visitors through hallways where no one walks. Staff members report discomfort and the sensation of being watched, though the presences cause no harm. The free-standing foyer staircase, original to Durkee's 1861 construction, remains in place, and the spiral observatory staircase where Sister Margaret Clare allegedly fell still ascends through the building.

In 1997, fiction writer David Schmickel photographed the scenic grounds and mansion. When he developed the images, he found unnatural shapes in the windows, figures that appeared to be staring back at him. He claimed to have captured ghosts looking out. The photographs were subsequently archived in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ghost tours began during the 2012 Halloween season, marking the first professional paranormal tours ever given at the facility. Today, Kemper Center serves as a historic site, arts center, and event venue, its 17.5 acres of lakefront property hosting weddings, community events, and an annual Halloween haunted house tour. The combination of verified tragedy, unverified legend, and over a century of consistent witness accounts makes Kemper Hall one of southeastern Wisconsin's most compelling haunted locations.