Haunted Places in St. Paul, MN: 8 to Visit and 1 to Leave Alone
A maid on the third floor, gangsters in a cave nightclub, a stagehand in the balcony and a kidnapper in the courthouse restroom. St. Paul has more ghost stories per block than anywhere else in Minnesota, and you can visit nearly all of them.
St. Paul’s ghost stories grew out of its Gilded Age mansions, its Prohibition reputation and its old theaters. Several of the best places to hear them are open to visitors, from Forepaugh’s dining rooms to the Wabasha Street Caves, the Landmark Center and the Mounds Theatre, which all run October ghost tours. We have checked every story against the records, said where they fall short, and added two places just outside the city, the Warden’s House in Stillwater and Grey Cloud Island.
Where to look The third floor, Molly's chandelier and the basement stairs
Reported ghosts Molly the maid, Joseph Forepaugh
Visiting A working restaurant; reservations recommended
Tours Stops on St. Paul ghost walks
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
Dry goods merchant Joseph Forepaugh built this house on Irvine Park in 1870. He sold it to General John Hammond in 1886 and later built a mansion on Summit Avenue; in July 1892 he took his own life in woods near Selby and Hamline. The house became apartments, was rescued in the 1970s and ran as a restaurant from 1976 to 2019. After a renovation of over a million dollars it reopened in August 2024.
The legend says Forepaugh had an affair with a maid named Molly, who hanged herself from a third-floor chandelier while pregnant with his child. Staff speak of lavender perfume, shaking glasses, a third-floor light left burning and a man in a derby hat on the basement stairs. The author Michael Norman could not find a record of Molly or even her surname, and the Forepaughs had moved out six years before Joseph died.
What investigators report
Past investigators reportedly recorded hours of audio in the mansion, and staff have pointed to the third floor, where a light they call “Molly’s light” was said to be found on after closing. Staff also described glasses shaking at the nearby waiters’ station after a diner joked about the haunting.
Where to look The Fireside Room and its fireplace, the bar and the dance floor
Reported ghosts Three gangsters shot at a card table, a bartender, a madam
Visiting Open for booked tours, Thursday swing nights and private events
Tours Historic Cave Tour, Saint Paul Gangster Tour, Lost Souls Cave Tour and the Ghosts and Graves bus tour
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts; ghost stories are told on the Lost Souls tour
These caves were dug into the St. Peter sandstone on St. Paul’s West Side from the 1840s, mined for silica sand and later used for growing mushrooms. On October 26, 1933, Josie and William Lehmann opened the Castle Royal inside them, billed as the world’s most gorgeous underground nightclub. Stories link it to John Dillinger, Ma Barker and Baby Face Nelson, but there is no evidence any of them came.
The best-known tale says a waitress heard a tommy gun in the Fireside Room, found three card players dead, and returned with police to find no bodies and no blood. Visit Saint Paul notes that police records show nothing ever happened there. Staff and guides still describe footsteps, whistling, flickering chandeliers and men in 1930s suits who walk into the walls, and a former co-owner says everyone who has worked there has had an experience.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book the Lost Souls Cave Tour in October, or the regular Historic Cave Tour, to see the bullet holes guides point out by the fireplace.
Visit on a tourGhost toursParanormal investigations allowed
Address 1029 Hudson Rd, St. Paul, MN 55106
Where to look The stage, the projection booth, the aisles and the basement
Reported ghosts A little girl with a ball, an old man in the projection booth, an usher
Visiting Open for shows, rentals and booked tours
Tours Real Haunted Tours each October, 1-hour guided or 3-hour with the basement (18+, or 16+ with a guardian)
Ghost hunting The longer October tours include time to explore and investigate
The Mounds opened in Dayton’s Bluff in 1922 as a silent movie and vaudeville house. It closed in 1967, spent decades as a warehouse and reopened in the early 2000s after volunteers restored it, finding 1967 candy wrappers and silent-era posters inside. Today it is a 300-seat community arts space run by the volunteer Mounds Theatre Company.
The theater tells its ghost stories itself. Guides describe three spirits: a little girl in a pink dress bouncing a ball on the stage, a cursed old man in the projection booth, and an usher walking the aisles looking for his lost love. Visitors on its October tours report flickering lights, odd smells and cold spots. None of the three has been tied to a named person in any published record.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book one of the October Real Haunted Tours; the three-hour version includes the basement and time to explore on your own.
Where to look The upstairs master bedroom, the cradle and the basement
Reported ghosts Gertrude 'Trudy' Wolfer, a trustee who still tends the horses
Visiting Washington County Historical Society museum
Tours Guided tours at 1, 2, 3 and 4 PM
Hours and season Thursday to Sunday, May to October
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts; paranormal groups have given talks here
This 14-room house was built in 1853 for the wardens of the Minnesota Territorial Prison, which stood next door on Main Street. Thirteen wardens lived here until 1914, when the prison moved to Bayport. The last was Henry Wolfer, who stayed 22 years. The Washington County Historical Society bought the house in 1941 and opened it as one of the first house museums in Minnesota.
The ghost is said to be Wolfer’s daughter Gertrude, known as Trudy. She married, moved to Blue Earth, had a son and died soon after, and her father raised the boy in this house. Visitors and psychics describe a young woman holding her stomach and searching for a baby, and a cradle upstairs that rocks on its own. A former curator told Patch she had never experienced anything in six years.
What investigators report
A Minnesota paranormal group reported a voice that seemed to protest when they moved a child’s potty chair from the master bedroom to the hallway, and their unattended recorders picked up footsteps and rustling. They also report asking questions aloud and leaving infrared video running in the house.
Where to look The second balcony, the catwalks above the stage and the old Wabasha Street entrance
Reported ghosts Ben the stagehand, a singer called Vaudeville Veronica
Visiting A working concert and theater venue run by First Avenue; go inside with a ticket to a show
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
The Fitzgerald opened in 1910 as the Sam S. Shubert Theater, designed by the Chicago firm Marshall and Fox, and it is the oldest active theater in St. Paul. It became the World Theater, a movie house, in 1933. Minnesota Public Radio bought it in 1980 and restored it for A Prairie Home Companion, renamed it for F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1994, and sold it to First Avenue in 2019.
Its ghost is Ben, a stagehand with a red toolbox. Staff told WCCO that he has been seen in the second balcony when the building is closed, and that tools go missing during projects. Older tellings say he froze in the alley after a night of drinking; nobody has published a record of him. A former manager described a blue-green figure drifting toward the old Wabasha entrance, while the longtime facilities manager says he does not believe a word of it.
Haunted Rooms tip: Buy a ticket for a show and sit in the second balcony, where staff say Ben is seen most.
Where to look The third-floor women's restroom, the grand staircase and the old elevator
Reported ghosts Jack Peifer, a Prohibition gangster
Visiting A public cultural center with galleries, a cafe and events
Tours Building tours on Thursdays and Sundays; Gangster Ghost Tour each October
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
Landmark Center opened in 1902 as the Federal Courts Building, post office and custom house for Minnesota, designed by Willoughby J. Edbrooke. In the 1930s Alvin Karpis, Doc Barker and Dillinger’s girlfriend Evelyn Frechette were tried here. Citizens saved it from demolition, and after a 1972 to 1978 restoration it reopened as a cultural center facing Rice Park. Ramsey County owns it and the nonprofit Minnesota Landmarks runs it.
Its ghost story belongs to Jack Peifer, who ran the Hollyhocks speakeasy and was convicted of kidnapping. The story goes that he took his own life in his cell after receiving a 30-year sentence. Visitors and staff place him in the third-floor restrooms, on the grand staircase and at weddings, where drinks are said to go missing. Each October, Landmark Center runs a Gangster Ghost Tour through the old courtrooms.
Haunted Rooms tip: Come for the October Gangster Ghost Tour, or take a building tour on a Thursday or Sunday and look for the old courtrooms on the upper floors.
Visiting a haunted place by day is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through a historic building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and vigils, and gives you time to explore on your own. These are the nearest ones we run.
Address Grey Cloud Island Trail, Grey Cloud Island Township and Cottage Grove, MN 55016
Where to look The island cemetery and Grey Cloud Island Trail
Reported ghosts A green lantern, Grey Cloud Woman, a man in red flannel
Visiting Private homes and farms; view from public roads only, in daylight
Ghost hunting Not allowed: private land, and residents do not welcome ghost hunters
Grey Cloud Island sits in the Mississippi a few miles south of St. Paul, split between Grey Cloud Island Township, home to about 283 people, and Cottage Grove. It is named for Grey Cloud Woman, who lived on the island from 1838 to 1847. Its landmarks are a 35-foot stone lime kiln from around 1850, on the National Register, and a small township cemetery, with burials from 1873, that the township says is private and closed to the public. The land is mostly private homes and farms.
Its ghost stories have grown with every retelling. The best known is a green lantern seen moving through the cemetery and woods, linked to a Dakota chief or to Little Grey Cloud, whose remains were moved from a burial mound. Others describe a man in red flannel, a crying woman and a white truck that chases visitors, though residents say that is just locals turning away trespassers. The township calls the paranormal reports urban legends, and police have had to move on unruly ghost hunters. Visit by day, from the public road only.
Haunted Rooms tip: See the lime kiln from Grey Cloud Island Trail in daylight; please do not enter private land or the cemetery after dark.
Address 2097 W Larpenteur Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55113
Where to look The upstairs rooms, the toy cupboards and the front windows
Reported ghosts Willie Gibbs, a boy who died at nine
Visiting Ramsey County Historical Society museum, open for public tours in summer
Tours Tours every hour on the hour during public hours
Hours and season Summer season; closed for public tours until May 29, 2027
Tickets Adults $10, seniors $7, children 4 to 16 $5
Ghost hunting No ghost hunting; a family history museum
Heman and Jane Gibbs settled this land in 1849, living first in a sod house. Jane had grown up among the Dakota of Cloud Man’s village, and Dakota friends camped on the farm each fall for years. The farmhouse began as one room in 1854 and grew to eight rooms in 1867. The Ramsey County Historical Society opened it as a museum in 1954.
The ghost story rests on a real loss. The Gibbs’ first son, William Wallace ‘Willie’ Gibbs, died in 1867 at the age of nine, from an illness brought on by smoke from a planned burn on the farm. Visitors since have told of a mischievous boy who vanishes, toys found spread on a rug in a locked room, and cupboard doors that open by themselves. The museum itself does not tell it as a ghost story.
Haunted Rooms tip: Visit on a summer weekend for the hourly tour of the farmhouse, schoolhouse and Dakota lodge. The farm reopens for the season on May 29, 2027.
These places appear in older lists of haunted spots. We keep them here so you know the facts before you go, but you cannot (or should not) visit them.
Griggs Mansion, Summit Avenue
Visit Saint Paul calls this 24-room Romanesque house, built for grocer and Civil War veteran Chauncey Griggs, the most haunted house in Minnesota, with stories of a maid who hanged herself on the fourth floor, a gardener, a child and seven entities in all. It was later an art school and apartments, and it is now privately owned. See it from the sidewalk on a Summit Avenue ghost walk; please do not knock or trespass.
Visited one of these places? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from visitors and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your visit. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most haunted place in St. Paul?
Forepaugh’s restaurant and the Wabasha Street Caves are the most famous. Visit Saint Paul calls the private Griggs Mansion on Summit Avenue the most haunted house in the state.
Are there ghost tours in St. Paul?
Yes. The Wabasha Street Caves run the Lost Souls Cave Tour, the Mounds Theatre runs Real Haunted Tours, and Landmark Center runs a Gangster Ghost Tour, all in October, and walking ghost tours run on Summit Avenue.
Is the Forepaugh's ghost story true?
Joseph Forepaugh did take his own life in 1892, but he had sold the house in 1886, and no record of Molly the maid has been found.
Did gangsters really die in the Wabasha Street Caves?
That is the legend, but Visit Saint Paul notes that police records show nothing ever happened there.
Can you go inside the Griggs Mansion?
No. It is private homes. You can see it from Summit Avenue.
Sources and how we research
Every place in this guide is checked against its official website, historic register listings and news coverage, and we confirm whether it is open, closed, private or gone before we list it. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and local historians tell them; we say so where records contradict a story. Each place shows how many independent sources we checked it against; our own Haunted Rooms pages are not counted.
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every place in our guides using official sites, historic registers, local archives and news coverage, and we report ghost stories as the stories they are. We review each guide regularly so you are not sent to a place that has closed, changed hands or banned visitors. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
