10/14/2026
It's the spooky season ๐ ๐งโโ๏ธ ๐ป , so it's time for a good ghost story. This one is called the Ghost of Lake Johanna...
We spend many wonderful summer nights at Lake Johanna in Arden Hills, where we meet for Wednesdays on the Water. The bell tower of the University of Northwestern is a familiar landmark on the lake, sticking up above the trees directly across the lake from where we launch our kayaks.
When kayaking on Lake Johanna, it's fun to paddle behind the little island ๐๏ธ on the Northwestern campus, even though the water is low and murky and thick with lily pads. Turtles ๐ข and green herons are common sights, and it adds a mini-adventure to paddle under the pedestrian bridge that connects the school with the little island. The island is private property of the University, so we discourage disembarking here. For most of the kayaking season, trees obscure the view of a little chapel there on the island. But go out paddling in the fall, as the leaves are falling, and you'll see it come into view. It's a beautiful little building with limestone walls and a tile roof. And local lake legend tells of a ghost ๐ป that haunts it.
The Island Chapel, formerly called Mater Dei Shrine, was built on the property in 1929 as a crypt for benefactor Wilhelmine Frances Coolbaugh, who donated the money for its construction. Coolbaugh was the daughter and heiress of wealthy Chicago banker William F. Coolbaugh.
The current site of the University of Northwestern was originally Nazareth Hall Preparatory Seminary, founded in 1923 by Archbishop Austin Dowling. Here on Lake Johanna, Dowling envisioned a secluded, rural institution for high school students preparing for the priesthood, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The building was designed to be grand and Romanesque in style, attractive to students and donors alike. The property included a picturesque little island, which was created when a narrow part of the lake was dredged to improve flow.
Wilhelmine Coolbaugh began corresponding with Archbishop Dowling during the construction of Nazareth Hall. She envisioned the creation of a smaller chapel on the little island. Architects Maginnis and Walsh, who also designed Nazareth Hall, characterized the design of the island chapel as a "little gothic scheme." Coolbaugh put up the money for the chapel and requested to be buried in a tomb beneath, to which Dowling agreed.
A generous patron of the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul during Dowling's tenure, Wilhelmine Coolbaugh also donated the organ at Annunciation Chapel at Nazareth Hall. And in 1927, she gave Dowling the money to found St. Wilhelmina's Home in St. Paul, a supervised home for women who came to work in the city. A convert to Roman Catholicism and never married, Wilhelmine had a sister and niece who lived in Germany.
Tragically, Wilhelmine Coolbaugh was found drowned in Lake Michigan off of Chicago's Navy Pier on November 13th, just following the last day of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair and on the eve of the anniversary of her father's death. (In 1877, William F. Coolbaugh shot himself in Chicago, at the base of the monument to his friend Senator Stephen A. Douglas, who ran against Abraham Lincoln in the presidential election of 1860.)
Wilhelmine Coolbaugh's funeral service was held November 17th, 1933 in the Annunciation Chapel at Nazareth Hall. At the end of the service, a procession followed to the island chapel where she was laid to rest in the tomb beneath the chapel.
But not forever.
In 1970, the Archdiocese closed Nazareth Hall and sold the land and buildings to Northwestern College, now the University of Northwestern. Eventually, Wilhelmine Coolbaugh's coffin was removed and reinterred at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights. The little Island Chapel has been preserved by the University, but no reference to Coolbaugh and the Catholic Church remains.
Ever since Wilhelmine's disinterment, stories have floated about, from University faculty and staff who saw Wilhelmine in Nazareth Hall to students who felt her presence while telling ghost stories at the Island Chapel. When a cold wind ๐จ blows in unexpectedly or a strange light ๐ก flickers out there, of course our minds jump to Wilhelmine and questions about whether or not her spirit is at rest.
We canโt help but think that she didn't get what she paid for. Even the date of death engraved on the simple gravestone at Resurrection Cemetery is wrong. It's a peaceful setting, but itโs a far cry from the little gothic chapel she had envisioned as her final resting place.
We will be at Lake Johanna tomorrow night (October 14th, 4:30-6:30 PM) for our last Wednesday on the Water of the 2026 season. Join us if you dare...๐๐ป๐
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