Northwest Quarterly: The Ghosts That Haunt Us

Kathi Kresol, and others, were featured in an article on the Northwest Quarterly Live website. The article “The Ghosts That Haunt Us,” by Jim Taylor was published October 23, 2023.

“It was 1862, and Robert Hall Tinker was enthralled. The future Rockford mayor was visiting Switzerland and had fallen in love with the country’s architecture. Three years later he began to create a little piece of Switzerland of his own, on a bluff overlooking Kent Creek in Rockford.

“The completed cottage, known today as the Tinker Swiss Cottage, is an architectural gem that combines Swiss, Gothic and Victorian styles. Tinker carried his first wife, Mary, over the threshold in April 1870, then mourned at her funeral in the parlor 31 years later. In 1904 he married Jessie and, four years after that, became a father at 71 to an adopted son. Tinker lived a long and prosperous life, serving as Rockford’s mayor, ushering in the city’s first public library, perfecting his sketches and paintings, and creating a lush landscape around his 27-acre estate. In 1924, at 88 years old, Robert Hall Tinker died in his beloved cottage.

“Some say he never quite left.

“Paranormal places abound in our region. They’re filled with fun stories of spectral sightings that continue to entice our curiosities. Whether or not you believe in ghosts, these spirits still like to make their stories known.”

Read the complete article on Northwest Quarterly Live: Ghosts