San Haven Sanatorium, ND: History, Ghost Stories and What Remains

San Haven stood on the southern slope of the Turtle Mountains, a few miles northeast of Dunseith in Rolette County and only a short drive from the Canadian border. The state chose the spot in 1911 for its height, its light snowfall and its dry air, which doctors of the time believed would help people with tuberculosis. It opened to patients in November 1912 as the North Dakota Tuberculosis Sanitarium and grew into a campus of brick buildings on a site of about 600 acres.

For 75 years it was a working hospital, first for tuberculosis and later for people with developmental disabilities. After it closed in 1987 the empty buildings were stripped, vandalized and explored, and San Haven picked up a reputation as the most haunted place in North Dakota. That story is part of its history now, but so are the patients and staff who lived and worked here, and the tribe that is turning the land into something new.

History of San Haven

The North Dakota Tuberculosis Sanitarium was created by state law in 1909, at a time when tuberculosis was one of the leading causes of death in the country and the main treatment was rest, fresh air and good food. After a search, the governing board picked the Turtle Mountains site near Dunseith in 1911. The first building took just 18 patients when the doors opened in November 1912, but the sanatorium kept growing: an infirmary added 60 beds in 1920 and 80 more in 1927, and the campus filled out with wards, staff housing and service buildings.

Funding came from the legislature, from counties and from patients who could pay. As new drugs brought tuberculosis under control after the Second World War, the state found new uses for the buildings. From 1957 San Haven also cared for people with developmental disabilities and elderly residents, many of them moved from the crowded Grafton State School, and a 1961 law allowed more transfers. In the 1960s Grafton and San Haven together served about 1,300 people a day. The sanatorium was renamed San Haven State Hospital in 1971, and in 1973 it became a division of the Grafton State School as tuberculosis care was phased out.

The end came through the courts. In 1980 the North Dakota Association for Retarded Citizens won a lawsuit that led to court-ordered changes, so residents could move into community living rather than large institutions. San Haven closed in December 1987, its remaining residents moved to community services or to Grafton, and the state had left the buildings by 1989.

In 1991 the legislature allowed the property to be sold, leased or transferred, and in 1992 the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians bought it. The buildings stayed largely empty. Over the next three decades vandals and scrappers stripped them, roofs and floors failed, and the site became a magnet for people looking for a scare. A 17-year-old died in 2001 after falling down an elevator shaft while exploring.

The tribe worked with the US Environmental Protection Agency to clean the land. A 1998 grant paid for an assessment of the contamination, a 2021 grant of $500,000 targeted eight buildings, and in 2023 the EPA awarded $1 million for the main hospital, on 14 acres of the 600-acre complex, where asbestos, lead and PCBs were mixed into the debris. Demolition of the main hospital began in 2024 and was nearly finished by October 2025. Because the nearest landfill is more than 100 miles away, much of the debris has been handled at an approved disposal area on the site. The tribe has talked about housing, an RV park and campground, and a heritage park with recreation, a memorial area and an events center.

The ghost stories of San Haven

Faces in the windows and a crying baby

The best-known San Haven stories are the ones repeated in almost every list: faces looking out of upper windows in buildings that had no floors left to stand on, the sound of a baby crying somewhere inside, and dark figures moving through the wards. The Minot Daily News gathered them in 2017, along with orbs and apparitions reported by people who had been inside.

None of these accounts comes with names, dates or a record we could check. They are the stories of a place that was empty, dark and dangerous for more than 30 years, and they should be read that way.

Voices behind you

A writer for a Minot radio station described her brother, a self-described skeptic, walking through the building and hearing his friends talking behind him, only to turn and find nobody there. It is a typical San Haven story: something heard, never seen, by someone who did not expect it.

The death toll question

You will often read that 1,000 people died at San Haven. The figure comes from the author of a North Dakota ghost book, quoted in the Minot Daily News, and not from hospital records. Any hospital that treated tuberculosis for 60 years before modern drugs would have seen many deaths, but we have not found a reliable count, and we do not repeat the number as fact.

Tunnels and a town of its own

Like many large institutions, San Haven had underground tunnels linking its buildings, and it was big enough to have its own ZIP code. The tunnels became part of the legend, with stories of noises and cold spots underground. They were also among the most dangerous parts of the ruin, which is one reason the tribe and the EPA prioritized the cleanup.

Where to look

• The main hospital: the large brick block that appears in most photographs of San Haven, and the focus of most ghost stories. It was the main target of the 2023 cleanup grant and has been demolished.
• The infirmary wings: added in 1920 and 1927 as the sanatorium grew. Stories of faces at the windows usually point here.
• The tunnels: the passages that linked the buildings, said to carry sounds and cold air. They were never safe to enter.
• The grounds: 600 acres on the slope of the Turtle Mountains, which the Turtle Mountain Band plans to turn into a heritage park.

Can you visit San Haven?

No. San Haven is private tribal land, not a park, and it is an active demolition and environmental cleanup site. The buildings that made it famous have almost all been taken down, and the remaining ground has been full of debris, open pits and hazardous materials. There are no tours, no viewing area and no paranormal investigations.

What you can do: learn the story from the sources below, and watch for news of the heritage park the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa has planned. If a memorial or public space opens, it will be the right way to see the site.

What you should not do: do not drive onto the property, climb fences or try to reach any remaining foundations or tunnels. Trespassers and nature together wrecked these buildings, and a teenager died here in 2001.

• Visiting Closed. Private tribal land under demolition and cleanup
• Ghost hunting No. Trespassing is not allowed

Tips for your visit

• Treat San Haven as history, not an adventure: there is nothing left to explore safely.
• Respect the landowner. This is Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa land, and the tribe decides who can visit.
• Remember the people. Patients and residents lived here for 75 years, many of them for years at a time.
• For a haunted place you can actually visit in this part of the state, head to Fort Totten State Historic Site and the Totten Trail Historic Inn, about two hours southeast.
• Check with the Turtle Mountain Band or local news before planning any trip to the area for updates on the heritage park.

More haunted places nearby

• Fort Totten State Historic Site: a frontier fort and former boarding school near Devils Lake, open in summer
• Totten Trail Historic Inn: a haunted inn where you can stay inside Fort Totten
• Haunted hotels in North Dakota: for a haunted place to stay on your trip
• Haunted places in North Dakota

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.

• Wikipedia: San Haven State Hospital
• Asylum Projects: San Haven State Hospital
• US EPA: $1 million for cleanup of the abandoned hospital in Dunseith (2023)
• Prairie Public: San Haven site cleanup continues (2025)
• Cool 98.7: Grant will be used to demolish San Haven (2021)
• Minot Daily News: Ghost stories of North Dakota (2017)
• Ghosts of North Dakota: San Haven Sanatorium