Haunted Minnesota Southern Region
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The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where one ends, and where the other begins... - Edgar Allan Poe |
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Borland House [1] - It was the summer of 1893 and James Jensen was building his home on the south side of Albert Lea when he began to notice the presence of a restless ghost in the upstairs south bedroom. He felt someone or something peering over his shoulder when he worked in that room. In 1946 Jensen moved out of the house. In the 53 years that he lived there, he rarely used the south bedroom. Over the years, the house has changed owners 14 times. Each time they were driven away by some unspeakable problem. For several years the home stood vacant until 1964, when Dick and Anita Borland and their 9 children bought the home. Within weeks of moving in, the figure of a tall, thin woman in a flowered pink dress started appearing near the upstairs south bedroom. She was also seen on a small balcony outside the room, in the second floor hallway and, most often, near a closet inside the south bedroom. Before long, none of the Borlands would sleep in this room with the presence who has haunted this house for over 100 years.
Holy Trinity Church Cemetery [1] - Tunis Parkin, a house painter was the first to see a tall figure shrouded in mist following people near the cemetery. T. W. Taylor, the town's marshal, set up trap to capture the ghost. The plan was simple, he and Parkin would hide in the woods near the cemetery and nab the ghost as it passed, but they never succeeded.
Loon Lake Cemetery - Updated [2] fThis has been pretty much put to rest. Despite the tone of pages and blogs building a dramatic setting. The cemetery is not located on bluff or in swampy area. It is located between Pearl and Loon Lakes just north of the Brown County Park in Jackson, MN. Mary Jane Twilegar (of various spellings) is reported to have died of diptheria. Her tombstone has been reportedly moved to the Jackson County Historical Society in Lakefield, MN to prevent vandalism. No names of the other to supposed witches are known and it is believed they were created to enhance the story. A variety of webpages and blogs report deaths associated with violating or stepping on her grave but they do not provide the names of victims. This too, is believed to be more lore than fact.
This cemetery is probably no more haunted than any other cemetery.
Le Sueur County Museum [1] - Employees say they have heard many voices talking. When they checked, they found no one around. In one event, a typewriter started typing by itself. Another time, a very old record player started playing by itself. And another time after hours, all 3 employees were in the staff room on the second floor, and heard the small service bell ring. They all went downstairs and no one was there. NOTHING could have fallen on the bell, or have made it ring. There’s a toilet in the basement that nobody uses, and one day 2 employees were upstairs and heard a loud crash. When investigating downstairs, they realized the toilet seat was down, when it was left up. All these events occurred over much time, and not very often. The employees wonder what happens during the 5 months the museum is closed.
Brewery Hill Ghost Light [1] - The area south of town was known as Old Brewery Hill for the brewery that was started there around 1875 by George Kienzli. He constructed a small building on the hill and beneath it dug two deep cellars into the earth. Large wooden casks were brought in to store the beer while it aged and to hold ice that would keep the earthen chambers cool in the summer. The beer that was brewed there was hauled to nearby towns and it was fairly successful for a number of years. Eventually, it was sold twice more and closed down. The buildings later burned down but it is said that visitors along the east side of Ottawa road can still see the remains of the cellars if they can find the right side of the hill.
While the brewery is long since gone, the story of a ghost remains. It is to be a man who once lived in one of the brewery caves and people claimed to see him walking along and carrying a red lantern. It was said that if you tried to approach him, he and the lantern would disappear. Curiosity-seekers who explored the cave found some old clothes, a straw mattress, and human bones.
Apparently, the hermit who lived in the cave had died long ago, but someone was seen leaving the place at night and walking along the railroad tracks! A brakeman aboard a passing train reported that one night, the train was forced to stop because of someone carrying a lantern along the tracks. When the brakeman got down from the train to removed the man from the path of the train, there was no one there. The engineer and several workers on the train all swore that they had seen a red lantern.
As time has passed the ghost of the old hermit still haunts the stretch of tracks near Old Brewery Hill, still waving his red lantern as he walks along and still vanishing if anyone gets too near.
The small town of Le Sueur, Minnesota is located in the south central part of the state, about fifty miles southwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Brewery Hill is located south of town along the road to Ottawa. The hill is located on the east side of the highway. The only maker left is a sign that reads "Old Brewery Hill Tree Farm". The tracks are still in use to this day and great caution is advised when walking along this section of the tracks.
Montgomery Golf Club [1] - Haunted by at least two ghosts. One of the ghosts is reported to be the ghost of the farmer that used to live on the current golf club grounds and is actually buried on the first hole. He will watch the clubhouse from various locations on the course as the employees lock up at night wearing a hat and overalls. The second ghost is of one of the Golf Club founders. He has been spotted sitting at the bar and peering in windows as, again, employees lock up at night. Televisions have turned on by themselves long after they have been turned off and the air conditioner dial will mysteriously turn itself down past 50 degrees without anyone touching it.
Taunton Cemetery [1] - People have seen a 12 year old girl sitting in the rocking chair rocking it back and forth next to her grave.
Lake Shetek - Strange dancing lights and invisible footsteps pushing down the grass are thought to be caused by the ghost of the local settlers, massacred by a band of Indians during the Sioux uprising of 1862. The victims of the massacre are buried under an earthen mound in an area that is now part of the state park.
Old Bernardy House [1] - This house was owned by attorney Cy Bernardy, who lived there with his 2 sons. Cy rented out some of the rooms to local college students. In 1980 students felt a presence following them from room to room and heard loud banging sounds coming from the attic. Soon after that students started reported seeing a face of a man with green eyes and white hair. A man has been said to have committed suicide in the attic of the home. An old diary has been found under a windowsill and it is suspected to have belonged to the man who committed suicide. The diary has never been read out of respect for this gentleman and this seems to pacify this spirit.
Quarry Hill Park [1] - Many strange things have happened here. There is a wooden bridge near the quarry itself called "Dead Man's Bridge", where it is rumored a man hung himself in the 60's. There is also a small cemetery in the park. There is a large memorial to a group of people who died from an epidemic around 100 years ago, and there are rumored to be four unmarked graves. There are also several caves in the park, with strange goings-on reported. Unfortunately, some (not all) of these caves have been closed up.
Pipestone County Museum [1] - The Pipestone County Museum is formerly the old City Hall. A little blonde girl has been seen there by several people. She is dressed in a blue 19th century dress with a white apron. Often, loud sounds are heard upstairs when no one is there (footsteps, stomping...). The old doctor's office is located off the library upstairs. Several employees and guests have heard the long since dead doctor working in the office when no one is actually in there. The chair squeaks, papers shuffle.
Pipestone National Monument [1] - Unexplainable footsteps, war drums, shadows of what appear to be humans. Also there have at times been heard voices.
Sanborn Corners Graveyard - An apparition of a 12 year old girl, who was accidentally buried alive, is said to haunt the hillside of this cemetery. People have heard her moaning and crying at the four way stop near the cemetery.
Fort Ridgely State Park - In 1862 after being lied to by the U.S. Governemnt, mistreated by local traders and hungry the Sioux Indians attacked the fort and the city of New Ulm. Civil War soldiers and local civilians were able to hold the fort until assistance arrived. The fort remained for several more years before it was closed by the government. There have been no reported "consistant" haunting events, however while camping there for recreation, a member of the Minnesota Paranormal Investigators Group dug out their equipment and was able to get both audio recordings alon with some interesting photographs. Click here to see our report.
The Palace Theater [1] - The historic Palace Theater in Luverne seems to hold to the old adage that every good theater has a ghost, but in this case, the theater seems to have two. The theater, which can be found on the National Register of Historic Places, was built by Herman Jochims in 1915. It opened on September 29, 1915 for showing silent moving pictures and it has remained in operation ever since, despite undergoing some restoration work in recent years. In 1919, Herman married Maude Jochims who provided piano music to accompany the silent films that were shown at the Palace. In 1926, she would start playing the pipe organ that Herman had installed.... and some say she is still playing that organ today. The theater has long been rumored to be haunted. People in the audience and ushers at the theater claim that they have seen the ghost of Herman Jochims standing in the balcony and looking out over the seats. It is also said that Maude returns to her place at the pipe organ too. Some believe that the couple still watch over the place and occasionally make things happen to let the patrons and staff members know they are still present. Things occasionally go missing in the theater, only to appear again later, and lights sometimes turn off and on by themselves.
A few years ago, during some restoration work, the pipe organ was no longer working. The organ was under repair and no one could possibly play music on it.... although someone did. People who were in the theater at night, including night janitors, would say that they had heard the sound of the organ playing in the auditorium. They would check the building and find no one was there and an organ that simply did not work.
Luverne, Minnesota is located in Rock County in the extreme southwest corner of the state. The Palace Theater is located at the corner of Main Street and Freeman Avenue in Luverne.
Copyright 1998 by Troy Taylor. All Rights Reserved.
Kaplan's Woods [1] - There are many unrested spirits there.
West Hills - Ghosts of orphaned children and former teachers haunt property. The current management considers the site sacred to the memory of the many children that lived and died there. As such they focus on the experience of children when they were alive and do have decided not allow paranormal investigations. They ask that people honor their request. The Orphange is open for general admission tours, click here for further information. MNPI was invited to investigate this location in 2005, before this policy was put in place, click here to see our report.
St. Mary's College - Heffron Hall [1] - Two ghosts are known to haunt this campus. One of them, the ghost of Father Lesches, has been reported to haunt Heffron Hall. Student have reported hearing footsteps, tapping of a cane on the floor and unusual draughts and cold spots on the 3rd floor. Papers have lifted from the hall bulletin board and female students have had the same identical nightmares on the same night.
A student walking down the stairs between the 3rd and 4th floor was restrained by an unseen force. In 1969 staff members from the student publication spent 2 nights in Heffron hall. Using high speed cameras with infrared film and other equipment, they set out to document the haunting on the 3rd floor. Both nights they recorded a temperature drop between 10-15 degrees in the hallway occurring between 1:30am and 2:00am. This was the time that Father Lesches had died. The priest was known to walk with a cane, possible accounting for the tapping sounds heard up and down the hall.
[1] Taken from the Shadowland web site.
[2] Updated 22-Aug-2010.
© Minnesota Paranormal Investigators (MNPI) 1997-2011