Rockford’s Tinker Swiss Cottage to be featured on ‘Ghost Hunters’ Oct. 24

Rockford’s historic Tinker Swiss Cottage will be featured in an Oct. 24 episode of "Ghost Hunters." (File photo)

• Public viewing featuring two guest speakers set for 5:30 p.m., Oct. 24 at Veterans Memorial Hall

Staff Report

Rockford’s historic Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum & Gardens will be the location for an Oct. 24 episode of the popular Syfy reality program Ghost Hunters. The episode will air at 8 p.m. (Central), Wednesday, Oct. 24.

Production Company Pilgrim Studios filmed the episode, titled “Fear Factory,” which features paranormal investigators Jason Hawes, Steve Gonsalves, Dave Tango, Amy Bruni, Britt Griffith and Adam Berry, in July 2012.

A public viewing of the episode will be held at Rockford’s Veterans Memorial Hall, 211 N. Main St., Rockford. Doors to the event open at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 24. Two guest speakers will kick off the event. John Borowski, a Chicago filmmaker, will give a presentation about his award-winning documentaries. Then, Jeff Mudgett, author and great-great grandson of Herman Mudgett (a.k.a. Dr. H.H. Holmes — the serial killer made famous by Erik Larson’s book, The Devil in the White City), will speak about new evidence he has discovered about his infamous ancestor. Mudgett will do a book-signing as well. The episode of Ghost Hunters will be viewed after the presentations.

Founded in 1943, Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum is a Rockford Park District affiliate museum at 411 Kent St., Rockford.

The Tinker Swiss Cottage is a historic house museum and park built as a personal residence by Robert Hall Tinker between 1865 and 1870.

Tinker moved to Rockford in 1856, where he was employed as an accountant by Mary Dorr Manny, the wealthy widow of John H. Manny of the Manny Reaper Works.

Tinker traveled extensively throughout Europe in 1862 and was impressed by the estates and gardens he had seen there. On his return to Rockford, Tinker built himself the 27-room Swiss-style cottage on a limestone bluff overlooking the Kent Creek.

In 1870, Robert and Mary were married, becoming one of Rockford’s most influential couples. Tinker was mayor of Rockford in 1875, a founding member of the Rockford Park District and the CEO of the Northwest and I C Rail lines.

For more about the Oct. 24 Ghost Hunters episode, visit http://www.syfy.com/ghosthunters/.

From the Oct. 17-23, 2012, issue