Chicago Archdiocese's Largest Southside Catholic Cemetery
87th and Hamlin Avenue, Evergreen Park, IL 60805
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public visitation during posted hours.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved drives and walkways throughout a large active cemetery
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1888 · Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Cemeteries · Chicago Prohibition Era History
St. Mary Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum sits at 87th Street and Hamlin Avenue in Evergreen Park, a southwest Cook County suburb of Chicago. The cemetery was consecrated in 1888 by the German Angel Guardian Orphanage Society as the second of two cemeteries the order established, and it has served generations of Catholic families from the south side of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.
The cemetery is now operated by the Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Chicago and is the largest Catholic cemetery serving the southern reaches of the archdiocese. Its grounds include traditional in-ground burial sections, a substantial mausoleum complex, and dedicated areas for veterans and infants.
The property's proximity to the historic 87th Street rail corridor places it adjacent to a sequence of locally documented twentieth-century incidents. Regional histories note a 1927 murder of one of the Westside O'Bannion brothers near the cemetery during Prohibition-era gang violence in Chicago, attributed to the Capone organization. A 1933 train robbery on the tracks approximately thirty yards south of 87th Street resulted in the death of one robber whose identity was never established. In the 1990s, two men were shot at the cemetery while visiting the grave of a rival street-gang member on the anniversary of his death.
These incidents are documented in regional crime history rather than being part of cemetery operations. The cemetery itself functions as a quiet, well-maintained Catholic burial ground in active use.
Sources
Compared to other Chicago-area cemeteries with active ghost-story traditions, St. Mary Cemetery in Evergreen Park has a relatively modest paranormal record. The most frequently repeated account comes from late-night drivers on 87th Street, who have described a figure leaning against a fence post along the boundary with the railroad tracks, arms folded across his chest. In one account, the figure appeared to react to the passing car by crouching as if to peer beneath the branches of a tree between the road and the fence, then vanished.
Regional folklore writers note that the cemetery's neighborhood has been the site of several documented twentieth-century violent incidents, including the Prohibition-era murder of one of the O'Bannion brothers, the 1933 train robbery in which a robber was killed, and a 1990s shooting on the cemetery grounds during a gang-anniversary visit. Despite this documented history, sustained paranormal reports specific to the cemetery's interior are uncommon, and the cemetery is generally documented as a quiet active burial ground rather than as a busy paranormal site.
Visitors should treat St. Mary as the active Catholic cemetery it is: a contemplative daytime destination, suitable for genealogical research and architectural appreciation of the mausoleum complex, but not appropriate for after-hours legend-tripping. Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Chicago publishes visiting hours and visitor guidelines on the cemetery's official page.
Walk or drive the largest Catholic cemetery serving the southern Archdiocese of Chicago. Consecrated in 1888, the cemetery sits along 87th Street and the rail tracks that have anchored decades of local folklore including Prohibition-era incidents documented in regional histories.
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