Lake Koshkonog Is Known Today For Water Fun | Haunted Rockford

Lake Koshkonong is known today for water fun, great restaurants and fishing. But there is a rich history here, too. This lake had its beginning as a gathering place for several Native American tribes. They lived off the rich animal life and harvested the wild rice and celery that grew here. These people left amazing mounds behind to tell of their time here.

But after the sun sets and the boats are docked, there are other, darker stories told of this place. Stories that include legends from back when people first settled this area. There are tales of ghosts and strange creatures that roamed and waited just beneath the surface of the water of the shallow lake.

The stories of the serpent that would capsize canoes and eat the passengers probably started because of the large number of drownings in the lake. The indigenous people warned that offerings of tobacco needed to be made before a crossing was attempted. This serpent was seen even after the white man arrived in the area. Newspaper articles tell of farmers seeing a long serpent that would eat their livestock as the animals wandered the shallow lake to eat rice grown there.

Fur trappers and traders were the first Europeans to settle in the area in 1778. One of the later French trappers that came into the region was Joseph Thibeau. Thibeau originally settled down south in what would later become Beloit. It was Thibeau who sold his land to Caleb Blodgett who was the founder of Beloit. It was 1835 and Thibeau could see the writing on the wall. He knew the Natives had basically left the area after the Black Hawk War and his business was on the decline. He packed up his belongings, his two current wives (one was forty years old and the other eighteen), his son by an earlier wife who had passed away and a child by the younger wife and left for the north.

Thibeau settled on the shore of Lake Koshkonong. According to local legend, Thibeau’s young wife and his older son began an affair. They were in love and wanted to be together, so they killed the aging trapper. Thibeau’s body was never found and was thought to have been dropped into. a hole cut into the ice on the frozen lake. Some folks believe that Thibeau’s spirit still haunts the area near the spot that carries his name, Thibeau Point.

One of the oldest houses on the lake was most recently called The Lake House Inn. It stands on a small hill overlooking the lake. But at one time, the property extended 300 acres and hosted an orchard, farmland, and a beautiful, luxurious hotel. The history of this building is fascinating and filled with as many legends as the lake itself.

The first white man to purchase and build on the land was Azor Kinney. He built a farmhouse that still stands on the property. Kinney planted orchards and crops. In 1857, he built a farm storage shed. Later, this would become the main floor of the hotel.

William Taylor purchased the land in 1870 with the intent of creating a hotel. He and his partner Robert Carr added a second and third floor to the building. They would eventually add an observatory to the top of the building, giving it a unique look. Carr took over the running of the hotel until 1899 when the property was sold once again.

It was during this time that the hotel gained some of the darker tales of its history. The hotel was where the bodies of the people drowned in the lake were brought after recovery. Their families would travel to the inn to collect their bodies to transport them home for burial.

One of the earliest documented stories happened on June 12, 1885. A young lady named Mrs. S.J. Humphrey was boating with a niece and another friend when a storm hit. They were working their way to Carr Point when the waves created by the storm overtook the little boat. The niece and friend were rescued but Mrs. Johnson perished. Her body was brought to the inn as the survivors waited for their family.

In 1899, two brothers from Rhode Island purchased the hotel and land. Courtland and Peleg Bliven remodeled every square inch of the hotel. The brothers even added a gas plant to provide hot and cold indoor running water. They upgraded the stables and offered horse racing events. Another two surrounding farms were purchased, bringing the estate to 300 acres. Soon the Lake House gained the reputation of being the most premier place to stay in the area.

The brothers and their families continued to farm the land as well as run the hotel. They were very successful in both endeavors. It must have felt like all their hard work was finally paying off. But then disaster struck the family.

On December 10, 1908, Peleg’s daughter, Fannie, was fifteen. She and Courtland’s thirteen-year-old daughter, Violet, met three other children to go skating for the evening. The other children were thirteen-year-old Harvey Richardson, thirteen-year-old Earl Cooper, and a little girl named Mabel Brown.

The four older children could skate quite well, and they quickly left Mabel behind as they moved around on the ice. Suddenly, Mabel was horrified to hear a cracking noise that was quickly followed by the screams of the other children. Each child fell into the water created by the widening cracks. Mabel was hurrying toward the others when they told her to stay back. They warned her that she would also fall into the freezing water.

Mabel stood crying as one by one the children slipped under the water. After the last child slipped under the water, Mabel began to scream. She made her way to the shore of the lake and was found by Tone Brown who lived next to the Bliven property.

It took an hour for the rescuers to find the children’s bodies and bring them to the surface. All the bodies were taken to the hotel where the families gathered to mourn their children. Mabel was able to share the story of what happened that horrible evening.

The newspapers of the day stated that Fannie’s body was sent back to Rhode Island but I also found a listing for her in the Tomah, Wisconsin Cemetery where Peleg and his wife, Caroline lived and were buried. Violet was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Albion, Wisconsin, not far from the lake where she died. Courtland’s young wife, Katie, went insane after the accident. She was sent back east to live with relatives.

Peleg and his wife continued to work the property for a few years. During the winter months, they took their remaining children and went back home to Tomah, Wisconsin. But the grand days of the Lake House Inn were over. Peleg died in 1912 and was buried next to Fannie. Courtland bought a bowling alley and a horse track in the area. He passed away in 1913 and was buried in the same cemetery as Violet.

It was after this tragedy that the ghost stories started in the inn. Stories were told of a young woman that was dressed in a long white gown. In the beginning, she was spotted on the upper floors of the building. Folks would describe her as a solid, young lady. She had long dark hair that was up in a bun and was dressed in a long white gown. Others claimed to see the woman dressed in the white gown but she appeared to be soaking wet. They reported they thought she was a “real woman” right up to the time she disappeared before their eyes.

The most disturbing stories are about a young girl seen all over the property. She has been seen looking out of the windows on the top floors even after they were no longer used. The horrible tragedy was remembered, and it was thought to be one of the Bliven girls. Some folks claimed she might be Peleg and Carrie’s daughter, Fannie. She was the older of the two girls. They think she might have felt responsible for her younger cousin and is still looking for her. Others claim that it was the younger girl, Violet. They believe the little girl continues to play in the hotel on the property where she once lived.

These hauntings continued through all the changes that the old building went through. It went through many owners, usually operating as a tavern and a supper club. The longest operators, the Axwell family ran their supper club from sometime in the 1960’s until 2016 when they, too, made the decision to close. The building sat empty once again. Then in 2022, Lori McGowan purchased the property. She ran it as a tavern and supper club and turned the original farmhouse into a gift shop. McGowan had made plans for upgrades.

But on January 4, 2026, disaster once again visited the Inn on the hill. This time instead of disaster brought by ice, it came in the form of fire. The fire took its toll and now an empty shell of limestone is all that remains of a building that has been the beginning and ending of so many dreams.

Photograph Credits

Lake House Inn Supperclub History

Wikipedia

Kathi Kresol