The Wabasha Street Caves, St. Paul: Gangsters, Ghosts and the Castle Royal

The Wabasha Street Caves are a set of man-made caves in the sandstone bluff on St. Paul’s West Side, just across the Mississippi from downtown, behind a castle-like stone front at 215 Wabasha Street South. They have been mines, mushroom farms and storage, and from 1933 they held the Castle Royal, a nightclub that newspapers called the world’s most gorgeous underground nightclub.

Today they host historic and gangster tours, swing dancing every Thursday and weddings, and every October guides lead the Lost Souls Cave Tour through their ghost stories. The most famous is a Prohibition tale of three men shot at cards in the Fireside Room. This guide separates the history from the legend and explains how to visit.

History of the Wabasha Street Caves

St. Paul sits on soft St. Peter sandstone, and Native people used natural caves along this stretch of the Mississippi long before European settlers arrived. From the 1840s settlers enlarged those caves and dug new ones, mining the fine white silica sand for glassmaking. Because they were dug by hand, the Wabasha Street Caves are technically mines.

From the 1880s the cool, damp caves of the West Side became mushroom farms, and more than 50 caves were eventually used for growing. Locals called the area Mushroom Valley. The caves also stored food, and floods left behind debris and belongings, some of which are still inside.

On October 26, 1933, Josie and William Lehmann opened the Castle Royal in the caves, with a dance floor, a bar, big bands and a stone fireplace. Stories have long linked the club to John Dillinger, Ma Barker, the Barker brothers and Baby Face Nelson. Wikipedia notes there is no evidence that any of them actually came; the Minnesota Daily repeats the claims as the caves’ own history.

The Castle Royal closed in the late 1930s, and the caves went back to growing mushrooms. A disco called Castle Royal 2 opened there in the 1970s. Since then the caves have become an event venue and tour site, known for swing dancing on Thursday nights for about 30 years, with live big bands playing the music of Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington.

The caves closed during the COVID-19 pandemic and reopened under a new owner, Faith Pon, who bought them in late September 2021. Note that other caves along the bluffs are not part of the attraction: several people have died in illegal cave visits elsewhere in St. Paul, and the city has sealed and posted those entrances.

The ghosts of the Wabasha Street Caves

The three card players

The caves’ signature story is set in the Fireside Room. Four men believed to be gangsters were playing cards late one night when a man with a briefcase told them to leave. As they went out with their waitress, she stepped away for a moment and heard a tommy gun. She ran back and found three of the men dead. In the most told version she fled to fetch the police, and when officers arrived there were no bodies, no blood and no sign anything had happened. The bodies, the story says, are buried somewhere in the caves.

Guides still point out what they call bullet holes in the fireplace front. Visit Saint Paul, though, notes plainly that St. Paul police records show nothing ever happened there. Treat it as legend; it has been told on the tours for decades.

Men in 1930s suits

The gangsters are said to have stayed. Staff and visitors describe men in 1930s suits who glare, walk past and vanish into the walls, along with whistling, footsteps and chandeliers that flicker. Donna Bremer, a former co-owner, told the Minnesota Daily that everyone who has worked there has had an experience, and that the spirits seem busiest in October. Tour guide Brett Williams said he had never seen ghosts so bold, and described hearing someone tossing stones behind him in a dark corner.

The bartender, the madam and the wedding photo

Older accounts add a ghostly bartender who refills empty wine glasses for invisible guests, and a madam called Nina, named in older accounts as Nina Clifford, in a long period dress. A story told in Ryan Jacobson’s Minnesota Hauntings describes a bride who found a wedding photo that seemed to show her young nephew playing poker with three blurry figures. None of these can be checked, and they are best enjoyed in the caves, by lantern light, on a tour.

Where to look

• The Fireside Room: where the card game legend is set; look for the marks in the fireplace front.
• The bar: home of the bartender who pours wine for nobody.
• The dance floor: where the Castle Royal’s big bands played and swing dancers still do on Thursdays.
• The back passages: the dark, unlit caves beyond the ballroom, where guides report footsteps and whistling.
• The entrance: the castle front on Wabasha Street, best seen at dusk before an evening tour.

Visiting the Wabasha Street Caves

The caves are open for guided tours on a regular weekly schedule. The Historic Cave Tour covers mining, mushrooms and the Castle Royal. The Saint Paul Gangster Tour adds a bus ride to gangster sites around the city. The Lost Souls Cave Tour, focused on the ghost stories, runs in October, and the Ghosts and Graves bus tour takes in other haunted landmarks. A walking tour called Spirits and Shady Ladies has also been added.

Thursday nights are swing nights with a live big band and lessons, open to the public and often drawing hundreds of dancers. The caves can also be booked for weddings and private events. Check the official website for the current calendar and prices, and book October dates early.

Ghost hunting is not offered to the public. Do not explore any other caves along the bluffs: they are sealed for good reason, and people have died in them.

• 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

Tips for your visit

• Book the Lost Souls Cave Tour for October; it is the one built around the ghost stories.
• Go on a Thursday for swing night and see the Castle Royal as it was meant to be used.
• Ask your guide to show you the fireplace in the Fireside Room.
• Bring a light jacket: the caves stay cool all year.
• Combine it with dinner at Forepaugh’s, a short drive away on Irvine Park.

More haunted places nearby

• Forepaugh's: St. Paul’s most famous haunted restaurant, on Irvine Park
• St. James Hotel, Red Wing: a haunted 1875 hotel downriver in Red Wing
• Haunted hotels in Minnesota: places to stay with ghost stories of their own
• Haunted places in Minnesota
• Haunted places in St. Paul

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: Wabasha Street Caves
• Clio: Wabasha Street Caves
• Minnesota Daily: Ghosts, gangsters and more at the Wabasha Street Caves (2021)
• Visit Saint Paul: Haunted Saint Paul
• Minnesota Monthly: The most haunted places in Minnesota
• KARE 11: 11 haunted places near the Twin Cities
• Star Tribune: Where to rub shoulders with Minnesota ghosts (2024)
• Twin Cities Business: Spirited outings (2017)