Question: Hi Scott, Today I was thinking about my childhood and reminiscing on the 4 years I went to St. Francis Camp for Boys (1965-68). I decided to go on the web and see what info I could get and ran into your site. Very interesting!! I had no idea about the “Gate” legend(s) previously. I do remember it very well from both my camp days and occasionally driving past it.(There used to be a ‘St. Francis Camp for Boys’ Sign above it.) I know I have pictures of the camp & gate from my camp days..Finding them is another story! I have always wondered what the final fate of the camp was..I drove by once in the 80′s and noticed the water tower was gone, the gate was closed and everything was overgrown. I have a good memory and believe I could identify most of the buildings just by their foundations, (including the elusive chapel). There were 4 camper cabins named for St. Francis locations in Italy: Greccio (ages 7-8), Siena (9-10), Padua (11-12), Assisi (13-14), a large mess hall, auditorium, arts & crafts building, admissions building, Camp office, staff quarters, chapel, pump house, pool building, canteen building, and several storage buildings. Each cabin held I believe 60 campers. If you or anyone have any questions about the camp/gate, I would be glad to assist. Unfortunately, even though I was there 4 years, I never heard of or experienced anything strange.
Coincidentally, I am a lifelong resident of Lake Zurich and am less than 2 miles from Cuba/Rainbow Rds. I did the Haunted House and White Cemetery and Rainbow Rd. House things as a teenager in the 70′s. Unfortunately I did not experience anything paranormal at any of them..(Abnormal?..Yes!) ( I do have some interesting info about the Cuba Rd. house.) I have also been down Cuba and past the cemetery hundreds of times at night and have never seen anything odd,,,Just unlucky I guess. One last thing, poster Sammy Marsala was looking for a ‘creepy’ large old building behind barbed wire he saw once on Halloween on his way to Cuba Rd. I’m confident he is talking about the old Jewel Tea headquarters in Barrington off Northwest Highway on Lake Zurich Rd. 1 mi. S. of Cuba. It has been leveled and now is a nice park. Keep up the Good Work Scott! –Jerry Cullum
Response from Slim Pictures: I’m so excited to hear from someone who attended the camp! I’d be very interested in walking through the grounds with you this summer or spring. If you find any pictures you’re willing to share, please do keep me posted!
Also, thanks for the additional Lake Zurich information & I am quite curious what information you might have regarding the house formerly at 92 Rainbow Road.
