excavating the former site of h.h. holmes late 19th century "glass bending factory" revisited

a recent excavation presented an unusually eerie opportunity -- to visit and later dig at the site of a former "glass bending factory" that was built there by notorious american serial killer h.h. holmes.

i was aware of this history from having taken a "ghost tour" with chicago historian adam selzer, and quickly invited him to join the excursion. the stretch of seeley road (formerly sobieski street) is known to have contained the glass bending factory somewhere, a business which no doubt doubled as a body dump in 1895. though the exact location remains somewhat mysterious (covered up by shady bookkeeping), it's location has been fairly well surmised by following old maps and investigating the area in person. the empty lot suspected to be the factory location would now be upturned by the wrecker's backhoe, and i couldn't help but imagine the morbid possibility of unearthing a body or other evidence of holmes' presence there.

h.h. holmes is best known for his "murder castle" in the englewood neighborhood, a massive nightmarish structure that facilitated the murder of dozens of tourists visiting the world's fair in 1893. before his more gory crimes were committed, holmes was born herman mudgett in new hampshire. he attended medical school and notably used his profession to begin grave-robbing. mudgett changed his name to holmes on arriving in chicago in 1885. within two years in the city, holmes took over a drugstore (the owner mysteriously vanishing) and began constructing an elaborate hotel of his own design at 63rd and wallace streets. the "castle" as it was known, took several years, and was finally completed in 1892. it contained a maze-like structure which only holmes understood (as it concealed trap doors, torture devices, and a dungeon for disposal of bodies).

still unbeknownst to many is the fact that holmes' murdering enterprises extended beyond the southside residence. historians generally agree that he used the alias frank wilde, and owned a business called frank wilde's fruit and candy store in wicker park (at 1151 n. milwaukee). he also ran a business in the loop called the a.b.c. copier company. in fact, according to adam selzer's blog, holmes is documented at around a hundred different businesses and residences in the city, often running scams and ostensibly using the businesses as fronts for other activity.

when police visited the glass bending factory on sobieski street, they found a furnace large enough to be used for cremation, ephemera from the a.b.c. copier company, and personal effects of minnie williams (one of holmes' wives who mysteriously disappeared).

in the end, our visit to the site was somewhat anti-climactic, yielding only a marble, a pile of bricks that were once a part of the factory (since demolished) a chicken bone, and a piece of old pipe (the latter two found by adam).