15 Most Haunted Places in Minnesota: North Star State Ghosts
Are you fascinated by the most haunted places in Minnesota?
Beyond its stunning lakes, dense forests, and iconic Twin Cities, the North Star State conceals numerous paranormal hauntings and apparitions.
Explore the 15 most haunted places in Minnesota:
Mounds Theatre
St. Paul
In the heart of St. Paul lies the Mounds Theatre, a former silent movie house and vaudeville theater that was left desolate for 35 years until it sprang back to life in the 2000s.
Today, it stands as one of the most haunted places in Minnesota, notorious for its resident ghosts: a joyful little girl bouncing her ball onstage, a shadowy old man haunting the projection booth, and a melancholy usher wandering the aisles.
During ghost-hunting tours, visitors have seen flickering lights, walked through unexplained cold spots, and, oddly enough, encountered random smells.
The ghosts seem still drawn to the limelight, forever performing in their afterlife theater.
Fitzgerald Theater
Saint Paul
If walls could talk, the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul would have a lot to say.
The top ghost here is named Ben, and he’s a former stagehand who’s still hanging out in the stage’s rafters. Since his mysterious death in the 1940s, Ben has reminded staff of his presence through cold drafts and the sound of dropping beer bottles.
Although mostly harmless, Ben once nearly caused a deadly accident by dropping a chunk of plaster onto the stage.
This theater, Minnesota’s oldest and a filming location for A Prairie Home Companion, remains a haunted landmark.
Wabasha Street Caves
Saint Paul
Beneath the streets of St. Paul, the Wabasha Street Caves hold stories of a darker time.
Once a haven for gangsters, it is now one of the most haunted places in Minnesota, with visitors reporting the ghosts of a man in a Panama hat, a lonely woman searching for something, and even the intimidating ghosts of gangsters.
First Avenue
Minneapolis
Step inside First Avenue, Minneapolis’ iconic “danceteria,” and you enter the stage for a tragic love story that makes this area one of the most haunted places in Minnesota.
The restroom, where a heartbroken woman ended her life after her soldier lover failed to return from World War II, is filled with ghostly activity.
Employees report painful-sounding screams from the fifth stall and legless ghosts dancing in the shadows of the upstairs lounge.
Keep your eyes open for “Slippy,” another spectral resident known for sending a solitary balloon floating eerily up and down the staircase.
Minneapolis City Hall
Minneapolis
Didn’t expect City Hall to be on the list of the most haunted places in Minnesota? The grand Minneapolis City Hall just can’t escape its dark past.
It’s here that John Moshik, convicted of murder and subjected to a gruesomely botched hanging in 1898, lends a ghastly reputation to this building.
His tormented spirit is believed to roam the fifth floor, manifesting through shadowy sightings and unsettling sounds. The echoes of his prolonged agony have left such a deep imprint that no other hangings were ever conducted there again.
Today, footsteps and phantom noises are just part of the City Hall experience.
Washington Street Bridge
Minneapolis
What is it about this bridge that makes people seek it out in their darkest moments?
Spanning the mighty Mississippi, the Washington Street Bridge connects the East and West Bank campuses of the University of Minnesota with a history as rough as the river below.
Known for its tragic association with numerous suicides, including poet John Berryman in 1972, the bridge is a hotspot of hauntings.
If you walk along the bridge at night, you may hear footsteps beside you and feel unseen eyes watching from the darkness.
William A. Irvin
Duluth
The William A. Irvin, once a powerful ship that transported iron ore and coal across the Great Lakes, has now been transformed into a haunted museum.
After a meticulous hull restoration from 2018 to 2019, this storied ship invites visitors to experience the echoes of its paranormal history.
Each October, it transforms into the Duluth Haunted Ship, beckoning the brave from the 5th to the 31st. Visitors are invited to traverse its shadowy engine rooms and corridors in the dead of night to listen for paranormal phenomena.
Several weird occurrences, including shadows that move along the walls and footsteps echoing through empty hallways, have cemented William A. Irvin’s status as one of the most haunted places in Minnesota.
Enger Tower
Duluth
The 82-year-old Enger Tower offers breathtaking views and ghosts.
The story goes that in 1948, an unidentified man died by jumping from its 80-foot height. Since then, visitors have reported a ghost peering from the fifth-floor windows, only to vanish upon closer inspection.
This ghost of Duluth continues to mystify and intrigue those who climb the tower, hoping for a glimpse of the supernatural at one of the most haunted places in Minnesota.
Palmer House Hotel
Sauk Centre
Built on the old Sauk Centre House, The Palmer House Hotel is, without a doubt, one of the most haunted places in Minnesota.
Investigated by paranormal television crews like those from Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters, this hotel houses the restless spirits of its former life as a brothel.
Lucy the Ghostly Prostitute and Badass Kelly Freese
Room 17 of the Palmer House is said to be haunted by Lucy, a ghostly former prostitute from the 1880s who met a tragic end at the hands of her pimp, Raymond. Lucy reportedly has a strong dislike for men and has been known to attack them, even slamming doors in protest.
Meanwhile, Raymond haunts Room 22, where he takes out his frustration on female guests.
Raymond has been especially awful to the hotel’s owner, Kelley Freese.
Despite his aggressive attempts to scare her, Freese refuses to back down, continuing to run the business with no intention of giving in to his old-school chauvinism.
Other Hauntings
In the bar area, full-bodied apparitions have been spotted, with rumors of a man hanging himself there in the 1950s. Room 11, besides being home to Lucy, gives guests sudden chills —and some swear they’ve felt an invisible cat jumping onto the bed and strolling over the covers.
Talk about a purrplexing haunting!
Glensheen Mansion
Duluth
Sitting pretty on the shores of Lake Superior, the Glensheen Mansion is more than just a drop-dead gorgeous building.
On June 27, 1977, Elisabeth Congdon and her nurse, Velma Pietila, were brutally murdered at the Glensheen Mansion. Pietila was beat to death with a candlestick and Congdon was suffocated with a satin pillow.
Suspicion quickly fell on Congdon’s son-in-law, Roger Caldwell, and adopted daughter, Marjorie Congdon. Caldwell was convicted, while Marjorie was acquitted, though she later served time for arson and fraud.
2 years after the murders, the Glensheen Mansion opened for tours, but talk of the infamous crime was strictly forbidden. While the mansion’s doors were open, the family’s dark history stayed under wraps.
These days, the mansion embraces its past, incorporating the restored master bedroom into tours and discussing the murders.
Visitors and staff report creepy stuff, like shadowy figures that dart through the corridors and an intense chill on the staircase where Velma died.
Lakeview Cemetery
Buhl
Lakeview Cemetery, with its deep ties to the neighboring Shaw Hospital, is a sentinel of sorrow and one of the most haunted graveyards in America.
Opening in 1913, this resting place for tuberculosis and mental illness patients is marked by cast-iron crosses and shrouded by thick Northern forests.
Visitors to Lakeview Cemetery often share spine-chilling tales. Ghosts in 1920s attire have been seen among the tombstones. Disembodied voices and footsteps break the stillness, and the eerie sense of being watched never seems to end.
All of this makes Lakeview Cemetery a creepy yet beautiful spot among the most haunted places in Minnesota.
Crazy Annie’s Bridge
Henderson
At 270th Street in Henderson, a seemingly ordinary bridge holds a macabre legend.
Known as Crazy Annie’s Bridge, it is haunted by the spirit of a grief-stricken widow from World War I who met a tragic end by drowning her children and then herself in the nearby creek.
Those who dare to visit after dark report hearing horrifying screams, seeing faces emerge from the darkness, and seeing black figures darting through the trees.
Mysterious handprints on cars (and unexpected visits from local law enforcement) add to the foreboding atmosphere.
Greyhound Bus Museum
Hibbing
At the Greyhound Bus Museum in Hibbing, one particular bus, the Scenic Cruiser 4501, is notorious for its ghosts.
Staff members recount tales of windows and doors that spontaneously slam close, and visitors hear the ghostly voice of a little girl whispering.
Shadows flicker across the ‘Nine Bus,’ and mysterious sounds fill the air —just another adventure on a Greyhound bus!
Kahler Hotel
Rochester
The Kahler Hotel in Rochester is home to the chronically unhappy spirit of Hellen Voorhesse.
The World’s First Hospital/Luxury Hotel Hybrid
This strange building was a one-of-a-kind hybrid.
In 1921, the Kahler Grand Hotel was born. This unique 11-floor hybrid served both as an upscale hotel and a hospital. It truly was the perfect triple threat, with 6 floors dedicated to hotel guests and 5 for hospital services.
Over the years, as the Mayo Clinic expanded, so did the Kahler Hotel. Even during the Great Depression, improvements were made. By 1953, the hotel phased out its hospital services.
Hellen Voorhees
The Kahler Hotel is home to the chronically unhappy spirit of Hellen Voorhesse.
In 1977, candy heiress Helen Vorhees Brach mysteriously vanished after a Mayo Clinic visit, never to be seen again.
Targeted for her wealth from the Brach candy fortune, Helen fell victim to conman Richard Bailey, who sold her overpriced racehorses as part of a larger scam run by the notorious Jayne Gang.
When Helen discovered the fraud, she threatened to expose Bailey. After checking out of The Kahler Hotel, she disappeared, leaving behind a fortune and unanswered questions.
Richard Bailey tied to the Murder
Years later, investigations into the Bailey Horse Fraud Ring tied the gang to Helen’s murder. Though Richard Bailey was convicted in 1994, the full story didn’t appear until 2005, when Joe Plemmons testified that Helen had been abducted, beaten, and shot before her body was disposed of in a steel furnace.
While justice was partially served, with 33 convictions related to the fraud, Helen’s spirit is said to linger in the hotel, unable to come to terms with her death. She’s most active near the elevator.
The Kahler Hotel is a critical stop on the trail of the most haunted places in Minnesota.
Interesting to Note
Boxer Muhammad Ali, evil evangelist Billy Graham, actor Jimmy Stewart, King Hussein of Jordan, and Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan HAve stayed at the Kahler.
Grey Cloud Island
Washington County
Grey Cloud Island, steeped in Native American history and shrouded in dark folklore, is easily one of the most haunted places in Minnesota.
The island is known for the unsettling sightings of a green lantern, sometimes seen carried by the ghostly figure of a former Indian chief, other times moving independently through the cemetery and woods.
Visitors hear phantom drumbeats under full moons and encounter a mysterious motorcycle that vanishes as quickly as it appears.
Other reported hauntings include a white truck that chases away unwelcome visitors and a disorienting phenomenon where the number of tombstones seems to change each time they are counted.
Haunt Us
Don’t let your ghost stories go untold. Have you been to any of the most haunted places in Minnesota? Share your ghost-hunting experiences in the comments below, visit the forums, read others’, and become part of our haunted community.
