In 1915, a ship everyone knew was dangerous capsized in the Chicago River — killing 844 people on their way to a company picnic. More deaths than the Titanic’s passenger list. 22 entire families, gone. 

No one was ever held accountable. 

And to this day, people standing on Chicago’s Clark Street Bridge report seeing faces in the water below. This is the SS Eastland disaster. And it’s been buried long enough.

References & Resources:
• Britannica: Eastland Disaster

• History.com: Hundreds Drown in Eastland Disaster

• National Archives Chicago: Steamship Eastland Disaster

• Chicagology.com: 1915 Eastland Disaster (primary newspaper accounts)

• Eastland Disaster Historical Society: eastlanddisaster.org

• US Ghost Adventures: Clark Street Bridge haunting

• CBS Chicago: Chicago Hauntings — Ghosts of the Eastland Disaster

• Czech Consulate Chicago: 100-year anniversary article

• Forest Park Historical Society: Eastland Ship Disaster

• Strange Ago: SS Eastland Disaster Survivor Accounts