Photojournalist Carlee Hackl ventured to some of St. Paul’s most haunted spots, including the Mounds Theatre, Forepaugh’s Restaurant and more.
Mounds Theatre
The Mounds Theatre is St. Paul’s historic movie house located in the Dayton’s Bluff area. The first in Minnesota to show talkies, the theatre is said to be haunted by multiple spirits.
“I can’t guarantee that they’re not going to touch you,” Lisa Lea, a paranormal investigator, told a tour group.
One of the spirits, 6-year-old Mary, was supposedly murdered in the basement of the theatre. Her naked body was found in the parking lot in 1957, Lea said.
“You’ll be surprised what you hear if you say something,” Carol Etl, another paranormal investigator, said. Mary is known to giggle, hold hands and play with shoestrings. For example, Lea said that if one sings “If you’re happy and you know it,” Mary usually sings along or claps her hands.
Bridgman Hall, Hamline University
Hamline University’s historic two-story auditorium, located within the Old Main building, is dedicated to the Rev. George Henry Bridgman, Hamline president from 1883 to 1912. It is said that a portrait of Bridgman hangs on a wall and comes alive at night, wandering the room and playing the grand piano.
“I’ve heard different stories,” Corrinne Clark, Hamline student, said. “I guess a professor went up to the clock tower and hung himself, and now he haunts the building.”
Griggs Mansion
Known for its impressive architecture and castle-like appearance, the privately-owned, four-story mansion is said to give off much unease.
It’s believed that a young maid hung herself from the fourth floor landing after having an affair in 1915. Witnesses reported seeing a noose hanging on the fourth floor, noticed doors opening and closing and light bulbs exploding on their own.
Others claim to have spotted a gardener peering through the pages of books in the library and a thin man dressed in a black suit wandering the halls.
Wabasha Street Caves
In the 1930s, gangsters like John Dillinger and Ma Barker dominated the Wabasha Street Caves. The caves were also used as a restaurant and nightclub known as the Wabasha Street Speakeasy, the Castle Royal in 1933 and the Castle Royal 2 in the 1970s.
Cynthia Smith, a tour guide, said the caves house around 25 to 30 ghosts today.
“The caves were a really popular place for them to party while they were alive, so it’s very popular for them to party here now that they’re dead,” said Smith.
Forepaugh’s Restaurant
Joseph Forepaugh built the Victorian mansion in 1870 for his wife and two daughters. Legend has it that Joseph’s wife Mary caught her husband having an affair with their maid, Molly. Devastated and pregnant, Molly was believed to have hung herself from a light fixture in a third floor bedroom.
Molly is said to show up at formal dining events and play tricks on the workers.
Gibbs Farmhouse
The third child of Jane and Heman Gibbs is said to have died at the family’s farmhouse. Today, it is believed that he can be seen from the second floor window and that he plays with toys in a closed off bedroom, leaving them scattered about the house for someone to pick up the next morning.
Carlee Hackl can be reached at hack9822@stthomas.edu.