Haunted Places in Benton County, Minnesota

Pioneer Place on Fifth

Saint Cloud, Minnesota

Pioneer Place on Fifth is a former Elks Lodge, currently a venue for theater and concerts, and it's haunted. The 1913 building has a ghostly elderly man who likes the area near the men's room. Unexplained noises, electrical anomalies, moving objects and other ghost sightings also have been reported.

St. Cloud State University

Saint Cloud, Minnesota

Four spots at St. Cloud State University are said to be haunted. One is Shoemaker Hall, where a pregnant student hanged herself in a basement meat locker after having an affair with a janitor. The ghost moves objects, makes clocks flash the wrong numbers, and floats over students' beds. At ...

St. Cloud Times

Saint Cloud, Minnesota

At the St. Cloud Times newspaper office, staff have been visited by an apparition of a man in the basement. He sometimes wears a printer's shirt and other times a white shirt and bow tie. The ghost has been known to tinker with the electricity and play banjo music from ...

Skatin' Place

Saint Cloud, Minnesota

Skatin’ Place, according to local legend, is home to a ghost named Gilbert who used to live in a farmhouse on this property. Poor Gilbert became trapped and met his demise in the swampy land, but his spirit lingers in the Skatin' Place, turning on and off arcade games and ...

College of Saint Benedict - Benedicta Arts Center

St. Joseph, Minnesota

The Benedicta Arts Center at the College of Saint Benedict was built in 1964 and is rumored to be home to a tall, ghostly shadow figure. Local legend says it's the spirit of a man named Steve who fell to his death during the building's construction. Steve has shattered lights ...

Thayer's Bed and Breakfast

Annandale, Minnesota

This 1895 Old West Victorian hotel is a full house. It is the home of a ghostly little girl, a spirit bride, and two ghost cats. The owner's husband is also said to reside here in spirit, as well as the place's two original owners. Many other ghosts are said ...

Sturges Park

Buffalo, Minnesota

Local legends say the park's old bathroom is haunted. Witnesses have seen names written in blood on the mirror. Also reported on the premises have been floating orbs and the apparition of Old man Sturges, an 1880s businessman who lived next to the park.

660th Ave - Gravity Hill

Watkins, Minnesota

One of those mysterious gravity-defying sites, legend has it that if you go there and put your car in neutral on the level road, you will be pulled backward. Some witnesses say they have suffered from headaches while on this road.

Anoka State Hospital

Anoka, Minnesota

Anoka State Hospital has been known by many names in its past, including First State Asylum for the Insane, Anoka State Asylum, Anoka State Hospital and most recently Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center. It was originally opened in 1900 and is said to be haunted by spirits of those who have ...

Lake Rebecca Park Reserve

Rockford, Minnesota

Lake Rebecca Park Reserve is full of maple and basswood forests and hiking, biking and nature trails. A bench along one of the trails is alleged to be haunted by the ghost of a man who committed suicide there.

Billy's Bar and Grill

Anoka, Minnesota

Housed in a building that was a former brothel, the restaurant is said to be home to the spirits of some of the former brothel's staff. As local legends go, either some brothel patrons killed madam Mrs. Jackson and stole the women's money, or Mrs. Jackson hanged herself from a ...

Fountain Lake

Delano, Minnesota

At Fountain Lake, witnesses say, the ghost of a Native American woman who drowned here can be heard screaming late at night.

Palmer House Hotel

Sauk Centre, Minnesota

Reportedly haunted by numerous resident ghosts, from a young boy who is often seen bouncing his ball to a possible former prostitute to a tall, lanky man who appears over your bed. Rooms 11 and 17 are apparently the rooms to rent if you are into a ghostly encounter. ...

Last Turn Saloon

Brainerd, Minnesota

Full-bodied apparitions and EVPs have been reported here.

Grant House Hotel and Eatery

Rush City, Minnesota

The 1880's historic hotel burnt to the ground just a decade after its construction, but phoenix-like rose from the ashes to form the successful establishment it is today. The building, however, has had a darker past, with tales being told of the days where the hotel operated as a ...

Ness Church

Litchfield, Minnesota

Legends of ghostly Sioux Indians and a little girl named Annie surround this church. Some say the church lights come on and apparitions can be seen around the grounds.

Holy Name Cemetery

Wayzata, Minnesota

A white apparition, phantom disappearing headlights, footsteps, voices, and unexplained wind have all been reported at the Holy Name Cemetery across from a brick church.

Holbrook Park

Long Lake, Minnesota

Locals may tell you that around 2 a.m. on Sunday nights, a ghstly little girl is seen walking around the park. If you get close, she disappears. When she comes back later she is with the apparition of her father and she is carrying apples in her apron. Some say ...

Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts

Fridley, Minnesota

The building was built in 1847 and is on the MIssissippi River. It was a rooming house for those on the Red River Ox Cart Trail. There have been numerous reports of smells, sightings, and sounds by a variety of visitors. Personally I have seen a woman ...

St. Joseph of the Lakes Catholic Church

Lino Lakes, Minnesota

St. Joesph's Catholic Church, formerly a Catholic school, is home to a ghost nun. Her apparition has been seen around the church and has been blamed for slamming doors, playing the piano, knocking a Bible off a shelf, and footsteps.

Milford Mine Disaster Site

Crosby, Minnesota

On Feb. 5, 1924, Milford Mine, a manganese mine, was flooded when Foley Lake rose, killing 41 miners. The site is rumored to be haunted by the spirits of the miners who were killed or who witnessed the tragedy.

Harrington-Merrill House

Hutchinson, Minnesota

Built around 1820, the house is said to be haunted by a Native American Sioux named Little Crow and his son, who were both shot by a farmer while spending the night in the house. Some reports say the son was not killed.

40 Club Sports Bar and Grill

Aitkin, Minnesota

The 40 Club Restaurant has a lot of strange happenings going on in it after a man committed suicide in an upstairs apartment in 1999. The man was named Tom who also worked at the restaurant. He was known as a reliable employee and one day, Tom didn't show up ...

40 Club Restaurant and Bar

Aitkin, Minnesota

An upstairs apartment was the unfortunate setting for a 40 Club employee's suicide in 1999, and since then, folks say, strange things have happened at the restaurant. Tom's body was found after he failed to show up for work one day. Now, the jukebox plays songs buy itself(including one that ...

Cuzzy's Bar and Grill

Minneapolis, Minnesota

In 1890, this building was a brothel where a young girl named Betsy worked as an entertainer, with her true love being a soldier at war. He promised to take her away, but she was murdered before this happened. Today, it is a bar in the Minneapolis warehouse district, minus ...

Dairy Queen

St. Anthony, Minnesota

Who else would haunt a Dairy Queen but ice-cream-loving kids? Children's laughter and the sounds of employees' names being called have been heard after closing, and mysterious orders print up that were not ordered by anyone in the realm of the living. Items also have been known to disappear or ...

First Avenue

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Rumor has it that the upstairs dance lounge is haunted, and deejays report growls and other noises in the headphones. And according to local legend, when the site was a bus station long ago, a distraught woman hanged herself in the restroom. She was going to meet her boyfriend who ...

Minneapolis City Hall

Minneapolis, Minnesota

The turn-of-the-century Minneapolis City Hall building is said to be haunted by John Moshik. In 1898, he was convicted of murder and his hanging was botched, forcing him to endure 3 minutes of slow strangulation. As a result, no more hangings occurred here. Now, folks have seen his apparition or ...

Chanhassen Water Tower

Chaska, Minnesota

Folks say strange noises and a ghostly dancing figure around and atop the water tower prove that it's haunted.

The Soap Factory

Minneapolis, Minnesota

The old 1880s soap factory, now an experimental art venue, is said to be a doozy of a haunted site, based partly on the reality that soap was made from animal fat (allegedly from thousands of strangled stray dogs and the like). Not only that, but before it was a ...

The Buckingham

Minneapolis, Minnesota

I don't go around seeing ghosts everywhere. The last ghost I saw was in 1983 when I lived in an apartment building called The Buckingham. I was in my bedroom when I saw a shadowy silhouette of a man enter, stand and stare at me, and proceed to ...

Minnesota Institute of the Arts

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Some say the spirit of a student who was raped and murdered haunts the Minnesota Institute of the Arts. The Connecticut Room is reported to have unexplained cold spots, and some students say they have awoken in the night freezing cold to the sound of screaming.

Chanhassen Dinner Theatre

Benton County,

According to local lore, the theater was built on the site of a home that burned down, killing the woman who was inside. Her spirit was said to haunt the theater, along with the ghost of a former actor who was bicycling home when she was hit and killed by ...

Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Minneapolis, Minnesota

At the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, legend has it that the ghost of someone who was murdered in a campus building's basement terrifies the students. Some have awoken in the night to screaming inside their heads, unable to move.

Ferguson’s Cemetery

Norwood Young America, Minnesota

According to local legend, Ferguson’s Cemetery is the home of a ghostly little boy who peeks out over a tombstone. Reports say his grave is the one in the southwest corner, separated from the other graves. Orbs, eerie feelings and the sound of a phantom dog barking also have been ...

Washington Avenue Bridge

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Washington Avenue Bridge at the University of Minnesota is the stuff of local haunted legend, especially among students. Witnesses have heard footsteps along the bridge that seem to follow them, stopping when they stop and resuming when they do. The haunting is said to be a result of the many ...

Gibbs Museum Farmhouse

Falcon Heights, Minnesota

At the 1800s Gibbs Museum Farmhouse, spirits are a regular occurrence, some say. Doors and cupboards are known to open and close, a chair rocks with no one in it, toys are moved around in the night, footsteps are heard in the halls, and the apparition of a little boy ...

Minnesota State Fairgrounds

Falcon Heights, Minnesota

The Minnesota State Fairgrounds, according to some, is haunted by a ghost pig, or half-human, half-pig called the Pigman. Other reports say a small brown bird that nests here is believed to be a reincarnation of Wayne Murray, a maintenance man who died here in 1986. Also, the ghost of ...

Rudy's Redeye Grill and Hotel

White Bear Lake, Minnesota

Local legends claim that the wardrobe on the second level of the hotel is haunted by an unknown spirit that was cursed to the wardrobe a long time ago after it was made. Other reports claim seeing shadowy apparitions in the 3rd and 4th hotel halls in between the ...

Roselawn Cemetery

Roseville, Minnesota

A ghost called Smiling Jack resides at the lovely Roselawn Cemetery. According to local tales, the police got several calls about a person who was trapped inside a mausoleum. When they responded, the police never found anyone, so the locals decided they had a ghost on their hands. He was ...

Matoska Park

White Bear Lake, Minnesota

Several reports claim that an apparition can be seen standing in the shallow marsh to the left of the bridge to Manitou Island (private area). The ghostly figure is said to be a younger female, wearing casual clothing from circa 1920. The figure has yet to be identified. Others have claimed ...

Hamline University

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Hamline University has a few haunted halls, say the students. One building said to see the most ghostly activity is the Manor Hall, where apparitions, moving objects and strange noises abound. The third floor is the most active. Old Main and Drew Hall are no slouches either, as far as ...

College of St. Catherine

Saint Paul, Minnesota

At College of St. Catherine's St. Mary’s Hall, a gray lady appears in doorways of the second floor rooms. Students also have reported something poking them awake right before their alarms go off or cold fingers on the backs of their necks. Some have heard the sound of someone running ...

Oakland Cemetery

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Witnesses who have seen the ghost believed to haunt this cemetery have given a thorough description of her apparition. She is in her mid twenties and has shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes, and wears a turn-of-the-century lace dress.

Minnesota State Capitol

Saint Paul, Minnesota

The Minnesota State Capitol was completed in 1905, replacing an older building that had burned down. Witnesses have described unexplained noises that come from the second story, cold gusts of air, and apparitions of deceased senators and governors in the halls and stairways. Something may be strange about Room 217 ...

Griggs Mansion

Saint Paul, Minnesota

The 1883 Griggs Mansion was turned into apartments, and then an art school in 1939. It has many ghosts, including a maid who hanged herself on the fourth floor landing in 1915; gardener Charles Wade, who has been heard flipping through books in the library; a thin man in a ...

Fitzgerald Theater

Saint Paul, Minnesota

The 1910 Fitzgerald Theater is reportedly haunted by Ben, thought to be a former stagehand, and Veronica, a former actress. During a restoration in 1985, workers removed a false ceiling and discovered a second balcony, on which was a note written to Ben. Since then, a male apparition has been ...

Marie Schmidt-Bremer House

Saint Paul, Minnesota

This house is known in these parts because it belonged to Marie Schmidt-Bremer, the daughter of Schmidt Brewing Company founder Jacob Schmidt. She and her husband Adolf Bremer had a son, Edward, who was kidnapped in 1934 by the Karpis-Barker gang. The house is haunted by an apparition of a ...

William Hamm Mansion

Saint Paul, Minnesota

This historic mansion seems to harbour a spirit determined to protect owners from peril. The ghost has been known to wake up tenants during the night to forewarn them of impending disasters, and is believed to be a former resident dating back to when the house was built for ...

Landmark Center

Saint Paul, Minnesota

This beautiful castle-like location is said to be haunted by Jack Pfeiffer, a former bellhop who got in with gangsters and began laudering money. He was arrested and, fearful of going to prison, killed himself by poisoning in his jail cell. Jack's ghost enjoys ladies, drinking and partying, and can ...

Forepaugh's Restaurant

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Forepaugh's Restaurant serves French cuisine in an 1800s Victorian mansion. It is believed to be haunted by Molly, a young maid who had an affair with Joseph Lybrandt Forepaugh. When Joseph's wife Mary caught them in bed, pregnant Molly hanged herself from a chandelier and threw herself out a third-story ...

Schmidt Brewery

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Allegedly haunted by a variety of employees who died there in various ways. Details on the actual haunted activity are scarce but seem to fall primarily into the "eerie feeling" and "random sound" categories.

St. Paul City Hall - Ramsey County Courthouse

Saint Paul, Minnesota

The Ramsey County Courthouse is haunted, say witnesses who have seen apparitions in old-style clothes and heard laughter in empty rooms and high heels walking down empty halls. The apparition of a shoeshine man has been seen in the lobby, and another man has been seen hanging from a noose, ...

The Moonshine Saloon

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Previously known as the Noose Bar, Moonshine Saloon definitely has some ghosts, witnesses say. For one thing, a beer glass flew across the room and shattered against the wall, and for another, a jukebox started up on its own. A neon sign swung and fell despite a lack of wind, ...

The Jonathan Padelford

Saint Paul, Minnesota

The Jonathan Padelford is a Mississippi River steamboat that's believed to be haunted by a man who drowned after climbing to the top of the pilothouse and then falling from it into the river. Both employees and passengers have heard this phantom scene replay, complete with footsteps and a large ...

Wabasha Street Caves

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Wabasha Street Caves are sandstone underground caves available for tours. They are decorated with brick walls, stucco ceilings and carpet or tile floors. Apparitions seen here include a man in a panama hat, another man who meets a woman in the bar area around 3 a.m., a man who sits ...

Mounds Theatre

Saint Paul, Minnesota

At this 1922 playhouse building, folks have reported being grabbed physically while working late at night. An obscenity-shouting ghost named Red sometimes even throws objects at women, and a little girl in a pink dress may bounce a ball on the stage. But beware: Stories say some investigators didn't leave ...

Lake Elmo Park Reserve

Lake Elmo, Minnesota

The forest all around Lake Elmo (lake) is rumoured to be haunted by a middle-aged man who walks the trails in the early evening hours. Visitors who approach or greet the apparition get a surprise when the man disappears into thin air, no-where to be seen. People who walk ...

Andy's Market Hill - Scott Park

Apple Valley, Minnesota

At the popular sledding spot called Andy's Market Hill, aka Dead Man's Hill in Scott Park, legend has it that a little boy named Dameon was sledding in 1998 when he was killed accidentally by an archer who shot him in the eye. Now, Dameon's sledding apparition is seen here ...

Grey Cloud Island

St. Paul Park, Minnesota

Hamlet Park - Dead Man's Pond

Cottage Grove, Minnesota

Legend has it that the little swampy, algae-covered pond in Hamlet Park claimed a victim long ago, and today it is haunted... and lies in wait for its next victim.