Guestbook

I've lived here my whole life and never knew all of this stuff. It's really awesome to have this site. But it would be really awesome if W.I.U would fix the place up again instead of just cleaning up the land. I walk down the hill a lot to look at all the damage and it's pretty depressing. Yet at the same time it's an amazine feeling knowing all the life that has been there before me.

My ex-girlfriend and i spent the night on the 3rd floor a couple years back. Snuck in under the cover of darkness. Really creepy place to spend a night. There was a thunderstorm too, and there are no windows on the 3rd floor so the wind sort of howls through the house. it seems relatively structurally sound, other than all the vandalism. It has a peaceful feeling to it.

What a great story. Spent all morning Googling and reading the history. It all started when I was searching Google Maps for some old fishing spots. I briefly lived in Carthage in the '70's, yet never knew it existed.

The Friends of Vishnu want to thank everyone who came out for the Open House this last weekend. There were over 1500 people in attendance and we received over $1,000 in donations for the Ira and Reatha T. Post Wildlife Sanctuary. We couldn't have asked for any better weather and the day went well - except for some parking issues. I didn't see it personally, but heard many stories about lots of cars parked along the road for a long distance in both directions. I think that the day was enjoyed by all. There was over 2 hours of video shot of people relating personal stories about Vishnu and of the talk which was given. If anyone has stories to relate, the Friends would love to hear them. It's all part of the story of Vishnu Springs and it's inhabitants. Thanks - Marla and Michael, Co-chairs of Friends

My daughter and I were very happy to have the opportunity to see the Vishnu Springs area for ourselves yesterday. It was a fun thing to do on my birthday. We had been very interested in Vishnu and the hotel there because we had heard all the stories. It is a very neat place; I almost had the feeling as if I'd been there before. I'm sure it's because we had heard so much about it over the years. Anyway I hope there will be another open house sometime because we have other family members that would like to see the area. Thanks for all your hard work in restoring a part of the area's history.

I remember back in the 1970's when my then boyfriend and I went to see a band that was living there. It was fasinating then, and with all the curent restorations happening, it can be grand again. I am so pleased this is finally happening.

It's fun hearing that the old Vishnu hotel is being given a level of recognition. I came from Chicago to go to school at Western Ill Univ and during my stay heard stories from locals about Vishnu. After asking around for some time I was given an approximate location of where it stood. So my wife (girlfriend at the time, and Colchester native) and I went out to take a look. "Enchanted" is the only way to put it, and as many people before us we added our names to the walls. With any luck our next visit out to see family around the area will allow us to show this landmark to our young boys (and maybe even add their names near our own). You have done a wonderful job with this website and have helped to fill in some of the mysteries (both good and bad) behind this historical area of Illinois. -The Spear Family