AMERICAN HAUNTINGS GHOST HUNT
NIGHT AT CAMBRE HOUSE AND FARM
NAUVOO, ILLINOIS
NEXT AVAILABLE DATE: MARCH 29, 2025
7:00 PM TO 1:00 AM
$52 PER PERSON
CLICK HERE FOR RESERVATIONS!
Doors that open and close.
Footsteps that run down the stairs and out the front door.
The spirit of a young girl has often been seen.
Phantom voices are heard in the house, barn, and woods.
Join American Hauntings as we travel down the narrow country roads outside of Nauvoo, Illinois, and travel back in time to the gates of Cambre House and Farm. For more than a century and a half, the saltbox Cambre House has been the center of the farm. Though the fields and orchards are gone now, the farmhouse remains – as does the 20 surrounding acres of woods and fields and Mormon Springs, a natural spring.
And, the stories say, so do the ghosts.
With its wedding venue overlooking the Mississippi River, Cambre Farm has built a reputation for its picturesque views and open, sprawling fields but it’s also become known as one of the region’s most haunted places. From phantom footsteps to apparitions, the hauntings have become another reason why visitors seek out this carefully hidden spot along the river.
The history of Cambre Home and Farm began in 1860 when the land was purchased by Adolphe Cambre and his family. They had come to Nauvoo with a utopian society called the Icarians. While most of them later moved on, the Cambre family remained behind in Nauvoo. Adolphe was a woodworker, and he completed building the house in 1867.
Four generations of the Cambre family lived on the farm over the course of the next century. Adolphe had eventually found work as a cabinetmaker, but later members of the family used the land for an apple orchard. The last member of the family left the farm in 1978, and it was put up for auction the following year.
The farm was purchased by Lelly and Lois Fowler, but they didn’t live in the house at first. Instead, they filled it with relics and antiques. The problem was that it had an outhouse and no running water. They solved the issue, though, by turning small spaces and closets into bathrooms.
In 1993, the house hosted its first wedding, but it didn’t become a venue for many more years. Eventually, Lelly and Lois passed on the farm to their granddaughter, Rebecca Williamson, and she turned it into a popular wedding spot in 2018.
The weddings have become an important part of the farm since then – as have the hauntings. Ghostly activity has been reported around the house since the late 1970s. Many of the stories revolve around the doors inside the house. The owners of the house have experienced a basement door that will not remain closed. Another, the door to the upstairs attic, has acted the same way for decades.
While some of the ghosts like to open and close doors, others manipulate the door locks. The front door will often be mysteriously locked. The key that worked just fine moments before suddenly did nothing. The lock has been replaced numerous times, but it continued to happen.
There is also the frequent sound of disembodied footsteps – reported in the house and around the farm. One reports states that an unseen spirit is heard rushing down the stairs and out the front door of the home. However, the front door is on the opposite side of the house from the bottom of the stairs. So, those who hear this spirit’s footsteps have been able to trace them through the entire house.
There have also been reports of the spirits of children around Cambre Farm. Child-like voices have sometimes been heard and at least one small ghost has been seen. Many believe this child ghost to be Eglantine Cambre, Adolphe’s daughter, who died young and is buried on the property.
The house isn’t the only area of Cambre Farm that’s known for its shadowy figures and apparitions. The property around the home is also known for many strange sightings and encounters. Haunted happenings are also reported in the old barn near the property. Now used for events, the barn is said to be the site of disembodied voices and even more ghostly footsteps.
Don’t miss your chance to check out this eerie location and find out if it’s as haunted as the decades of stories claim that it is.