Stanley and Yolanda Weisensel

The Camp Grant Museum and Command Post Restaurant was a treasure trove of interesting history, told through actual artifacts of the men and women who served at Camp Grant. The museum owned by Stanley and Yolanda Weisensel was open for nearly twenty years. Yolanda kept the business open for a few years after Stanley’s passing in 2017, but finally closed the museum and restaurant in 2020. Yolanda died in April of 2024.

The Weisensels spent many years scouring the area on a quest to build a memorial to the people who spent time training at the Rockford camp before heading off to serve our country in World Wars I and II.

The Camp Grant Museum was housed in a building that was originally one of three fire stations that made up the fire department for the Camp. The fire protection for the “military city” included two hundred and sixty-two fire hydrants throughout the camp and 18,000 fire extinguishers placed in the various buildings for emergency use.

The museum was fascinating enough on its own, but the Weisensels were gems themselves. Yolanda was quite a storyteller and spent uncounted hours over many years researching the whole area that once was Camp Grant. Yolanda and Haunted Rockford operator Kathi Kresol shared a passion for history and they co-sponsored many events at the location.

Construction for Camp Grant began in July 1917, and by November of that year, 1,100 buildings had been constructed. It was designed to be a training site for infantry, engineers, machine gunners and artillery, and both enlisted men and officers were trained there.

It was virtually a small city, and even had its own fire department and police force. It also included a base hospital, a photography studio, a movie theater, and a parade ground. It totaled more than 5,000 acres. In its peak time, July of 1918, Camp Grant supported a total of 50,543 officers and enlisted men.

In the fall of 1918, the devastating Spanish flu hit the Rockford area. This was a worldwide epidemic that killed millions. Hundreds of thousands of people died in the United States, and Camp Grant was hit very hard. The first case was reported on Sept. 23, 1918. Three days later, there were more than 700 cases reported, and by the end of the month, more than 4,000 cases were reported.

Not much could be done to help the patients who came down with this dreaded disease. It swept quickly through the camp, and there were some 24-hour periods where more than 100 men died. Within nine days, 1,000 men perished, and within two weeks, the number would swell to more than 2,000 dead. The colonel who was in charge of Camp Grant at the time was so overwhelmed with the loss of his men that he committed suicide.

The camp was re-opened for World War II, and in August 1943, started to house German POWs, most of whom were members of the German Afrika corps or U-Boat sailors. These men were paid to work in the fields and canneries to help ease the shortage of men in the local area. Later, many of these prisoners would claim they were treated very well at the camp. Some of them would actually return to the area to live after the war.

Stanley and Yolanda Weisensel are gone now, and I really miss them, and miss going to their place for lunch. But their work will not be forgotten. In February 2025, Midway Village Museum opened a new permanent exhibit “You’re in the Army Now: Camp Grant, Rockford’s Legacy.” Many of the pieces in the exhibit have come from the Weisensel’s collection of artifacts and memorabilia from the Camp Grant Museum.

Photo Credits

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Climb aboard our luxury bus and listen as local historian and author Kathi Kresol shares the results of her research into documented stories including ghastly crimes, suicides and ghostly encounters.

On each tour, we visit several locations to experience the spots where the stories took place.

Ted and Robyn are hosts for the annual Haunted Galena Conference and owners of The Haunted Galena Tour Company. They also operate The Dowling House Historic Site in Galena as well. They were co-creators of Galena’s first ghost tour back in 2001.

Robyn has an undergrad degree in History and a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology. She blends these two disciplines to study the history of past events that have led to hauntings and interpret the motivation of those involved. Ted has been fascinated (and occasionally confronted) by the paranormal since his arrival in Galena in 1995, He has spent the last 23 years researching Galena history and the paranormal.

Ted enjoys studying esoterica and proposing theoretical solutions to mysteries. Also a writer, Ted was honored to be named Galena’s first Poet Laureate in 2024. Robyn and Ted live in an 1892 restored schoolhouse with their Golden Doodle Winn-Dixie.

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Ted Williams and Robyn Davis are the owners and hosts of the Haunted Galena Tour Company in Northwestern Illinois. They are appearing at the Illinois Paranormal Conference for the first time and will offer a strange collection of haunted stories from three of the most notoriously haunted locations in the Galena area. Galena was founded in 1826 and is one of Illinois’ oldest and most haunted cities. It is said that even in death, no one wants to leave lovely Galena, so the spirits walk amongst you. After all it’s their home too.

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Robyn’s & Ted’s Website: The Haunted Galena Tour Company

Dave Schrader is a seasoned paranormal investigator, bestselling author, and award-winning broadcaster with nearly two decades of experience exploring the strange and unexplained. As the host of The Paranormal 60 Podcast and Paranormal 360 Radio Show, Dave blends insight, curiosity, and humor to uncover the truth behind hauntings, cryptids, UFOs, and supernatural mysteries. Known for his work on The Holzer Files, Ghosts of Devil’s Perch, and The Curse of Lizzie Borden, Dave remains a trusted voice in the world of the weird.

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Dave Schrader’s Facebook Page: The Paranormal 60

Tobias Wayland is a passionate Fortean who has been actively investigating the unusual for over a decade. The first several years of his investigative career were spent as a MUFON field investigator and following that he investigated independently prior to becoming the head writer and editor for The Singular Fortean Society. Tobias is a frequent guest on various podcasts and radio shows, has written several books and contributed articles to periodicals on the paranormal, has appeared on television and in documentaries, and is often invited to speak at paranormal conferences and events.

He was featured in season four of Unsolved Mysteries, the series premiere of Expedition X, and the Small Town Monsters documentaries Terror in the Skies and On the Trail of the Lake Michigan Mothman for his work investigating Mothman sightings in the Midwest. He and his wife Emily have been involved with the Lake Michigan Mothman investigation since its advent in the spring of 2017, and published a book chronicling the experience, The Lake Michigan Mothman: High Strangeness in the Midwest. His second and third books about unusual phenomena, Strange Tales of the Impossible and The Singular Fortean Society’s Yuletide Guide to High Strangeness, continue their work in investigating a variety of seemingly impossible events.

His years as an investigator have served him best by illustrating that when it comes to the anomalous, the preternatural, and the paranormal, any answers he’s found are still hopelessly outnumbered by questions.

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The Singular Fortean Society Website: Click Here

AJ Gutierrez is an experienced paranormal investigator, haunted objects collector, and cemetery explorer with over 265,000 followers, and 20 Million views on TikTok and YouTube. For the past 20 years, he has traveled to some of the world’s most haunted locations, documenting supernatural encounters and attempting to uncover the mysteries of hauntings and the afterlife. While he focuses on paranormal, he also talks about true crime, cryptids, and UFO’s. Through social media and LIVE investigations, he continues to captivate audiences with chilling encounters and unexplained phenomena.

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The Chicago Haunted Museum Facebook: Click Here

As Seen on the 44th Annual Telly Awards winning series, Expedition Entity, from the PARAFLIXX Paranormal+ Network. Larry is an author, filmmaker, and historian who focuses on lesser-known haunted locations in the American Midwest. His current research project focuses on the Black Hawk War of 1832, where he has published his findings in his book “Ghosts of the Black Hawk War,” and the effects artificial intelligence and social media have on the paranormal community.

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Small Town Productions Website: Click Here

Richard Estep is the author of more than 30 books, in genres ranging from ghosts/hauntings to cryptids/UFOs, to military history and true crime. He is a series regular on the TV shows “Paranormal 911,” “Haunted Hospitals,” “Paranormal Night Shift” and “Haunted Case Files.” Richard has guested on the shows “Destination Fear” and “A Haunting.” He is a regular columnist for Haunted Magazine, and regularly presents at conferences and public events across the United States and in the UK. English by birth, Richard lives in his adopted Colorado where he serves as a 911 paramedic. In his free time, he can usually be found reading, writing, or fussing his dog.

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Richard Estep’s Website: Click Here

Kathi Kresol has worked at the Rockford Public Library for years and loves sharing her enthusiasm for reading in any way possible. After working for some time as a Library Branch Manager, Kathi, in 2021 was offered the position of Mobile Library Manager. Kathi loves the new and exciting challenges of bringing Rockford Public Library resources into new and different locations and neighborhoods.

A member of the Rockford Historical Society, Kathi is always digging through Rockford’s past and she gives all the credit for her research skills to local history specialists Jean Lythgoe and Jan Carter of the Rockford Public Library.

Kathi Kresol has been researching the history of Northern Illinois for twenty years. She has published two solo books: “Murder & Mystery in Rockford, Illinois,” (2015); and “Haunted Rockford, Illinois,” (2017). Kathi has also collaborated with other local authors and shared articles in three books featuring compilations of Rockford authors.

Kathi shares the stories she researches in presentations for local organizations and in events sponsored by the Rockford Public Library and her business Haunted Rockford events. The local newspaper, Rock River Times has shared Kathi’s stories for several years. He column “Voices From The Grave” has allowed Kathi to share her passion for history with a larger part of Rockford’s community. She is always honored when someone mentions reading one of her stories.

Kathi’s main goal in sharing her stories, whether they are true crime, ghost stories, or local history, is to honor the lives of the men, women and children who came before. Some of the stories reflect a tragic moment in these people’s lives; but Kathi also tries to show the courage that the survivors displayed as they move forward from what must have been the worst moment in their lives. She also hopes that these stories illuminate the compassion that the folks of Rockford have always displayed for those who are suffering.

Samantha Hochmann is a historian by trade and also a paranormal enthusiast. She is the Executive Director of Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum, a widely known paranormal hotspot in the Rockford community. She also participates with various historical committees and boards in the Rockford area. Sam has been volunteering with the Haunted Rockford team for the past couple of years.

Sam’s love for history started at a very young age, and her interests in the paranormal stem from growing up with a sensitivity to the paranormal realm. When she is not researching in the library or giving tours of the museum, you can find her reading spooky stories and walking through the local cemeteries.