haunted ghosts death hauntings spirits mankato witches spooks

Luke Farrell House: West Mankato

Haunted
Mankato

Brian and Lorna Dunne

ALL stories below are 100% true to legend!! We save the best for last..
Legend has it that the Luke Farrell house in West Mankato is haunted by the ghost of an old lady. She has been seen on alternate Thursdays in January walking down the grand staircase. She has also been seen as a reflection in the hall mirror. During renovations in 1921, a wall was removed and human bones were found. These bones were said to be of an old woman who was reported missing by her husband in 1891. Her husband married the woman's younger sister in 1892. This second wife was later committed to home for the insane because she said that her older sister had come back from the dead to haunt her.

Legend has it that students who work late in Minnesota State University Memorial Library Room 113 are sometimes visited by a former student asking where her technology project is. Students who have seen her say that the room also gets very cold just before she arrives. One student who was working on a project in the room at 2 AM stated that he saw her and actually saw her walk though the closed door "Like steam going back into a kettle."

Legend has it that a young man who looks like Cory Feldman can be seen standing on the Main Street bridge on cold summer evenings. Several people have reported to police that they have seen him jump off of the bridge but there is never a splash and there is never a ripple in the water below. A student protester jumped off the bridge during the 1966 Vietnam War demonstration. He was never seen again. His name was Kory Fieldhand!

Legend has it that the sprites of the 13 Swedish Americans hanged in Mankato for starting the Cod Fish Wars of 1877 can be seen sitting and talking at the river's edge in Sibley park during the evening of December 24th... the day of the hanging.... at the site of the hanging.

Legend has it that a 1918 John Deere tractor can be seen driving down Riverfront Drive near the new library on the night of November 11th. The driver is said to look like a "ghost holding an American Flag." In November of 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Armistice Day to mark the official end of World War I: November 11, 1918!

Legend has it that late at night on April 10th, the sounds of many types of panicking animals can be heard at Sibley Park. April 10th, 1965 the last great flood surged through Mankato killing many animals housed in the Sibley Park Zoo. The Zoo was never rebuilt.

Legend has it that people walking along the Mankato Bike Path in west Mankato have met a man with long hair and a beard, a woman in a peasant dress, and a black Labrador Retriever. They are very friendly and talk with the people in heavy German accents. They usually ask for directions to the Dam Store in Rapidan, MN. When they do get directions they have been heard to say "It seems as if we have been walking forever!" Many have said that as the two approach, the air gets markedly colder. Brian and Lorna Dunne and their Labrador Retriever Otto were killed by robbers on this path in 1918 during the great flu epidemic as they tried to escape from the Mankato Pest home. They were believed to be on their way to take refuge at Lorna's parents home near the Rapidan Dam Store!

Great Stone House

Legend has it that voices and singing can be heard
along with the smell of a camp fire at the great
stone houses in Rasmussin Park on Halloween Eve.
On Halloween Eves between 1712 and 1867 eight
women were burned as witches on this very spot
in Olde Mankatoe.

Photographs taken in the early evening of December
12 at the great stone houses are said to reveal the
images of Gustave and Madaline Svenring,
caretakers of the house murdered in their sleep
December 12, 1887!

Gustave and Madaline
Svenring (?)

Legend has it that in the old Gates Hall (Old women's dormitory on the Old Main Campus), now a senior citizens home, many residents report the ghost of a college girl walking the hall. A college girl allegedly committed suicide by jumping down the old 3 story tall south elevator shaft in 1920s. Walls have been put up over the elevator doors but residents say that sometimes if you listen very hard you can still hear the elevator moving up and down behind the wall.

Legend abound about the Land of Memories Park - This is a very active spirit place. Many people have a very uneasy feeling there. Many say they feel as if they are being stalked or hunted. Many divers in the Minnesota River by the park have had strange things happen when they are in the area where the Minnesota River meets the Blue Earth River. A book was published in the 1920's filled with the stories of divers who looked for the pyramids on the bottom of the river.

Legend has it that many travelers on Glenwood Avenue near the cemetary have reported seeing a male hitchhiker wearing a green jacket. He has black hair and a beard. If they pass him by they are sure to see him again about a mile later. If anyone stops to pick him up, he disappears and is not seen again.

Legend has it that "Fort Councel", located just below Loyola Catholic School-Good Councel Campus was a military hospital during the Dakota Souix Uprising. It is also a place of rest for many soldiers and nurses who died there during the war. The Fort consisted of the hospital and several buildings, a large open field, and Councel (later named Good Councel) Hill. As the story goes a nurse died of a broken heart after her husband died in her arms in the hospital. She disappeared soon after but they say that she never truly left the Fort. She has been seen, in a glowing blue gown, walking from the Fort, up over the hill, and then vanishing. Legend says, every night she would walk from the Fort up over the hill to treat the wounded and check on the soldiers. She still does. There was an incident in the 50s, near the November full moon, when it was very foggy and a police officer thought he hit a woman dressed in blue, that was walking along the road in the very thick fog. He radioed the accident in, then got out and could not find a body. When this land was up for sale there was only one bidder.. the Roman Catholic Church. Soon after they purchased the land a secret exorcism was held on the property to rid it of spirits. No record of this exorcism exists. It did not work.

Legend has it that the Grand Opera House on Riverfront Drive and East Plum Street (now a wine cafe) is haunted.- During renovation work in the 1980's, workers and crew swear that they saw the ghost of Percy Keene, a stage manager who died in the 1960's. They saw his face in windows sometimes and thought it was a night watchman but the opera house didn't hire any night watchman. Also during the filming of a movie based on a haunted theater the director saw Percy's ghost in the balcony smiling down at him. Other ghosts are said to be in the basement. Percy is the only one of the group who can roam apparently.

Legend has it that the Carnegie Art Center on south Broad Street is haunted. The art center is a house that was built during the depression. The builders, a Mr. and Mrs. Paine, were extremely wealthy, and owned most of Mankato. They owned the larger horse hair furniture factories, and paid their employees with vouchers to purchase goods at stores the couple also owned, basically keeping all the money under their tight control. When the people of Mankato learned of the Carnegie center being built, they threatened the couple that if they ever moved into it the people of Mankato would kill them. The couple feared the people of Mankato. And never did move in. In fact NO one has ever lived in the Carnegie Art Center. Mr. Paine did pass on first, and Mrs. Paine did out live him. She donated their house to the city, with one stipulation, no children under 18 were allowed in it. She was never able to have children, and therefore resented children. Children are allowed in the center now, since Mrs. Paine is no longer alive. It is said that you can see the woman roaming the house during tours. The couple has also been seen together "enjoying" the house they dreamed of living in together. Workers often say a lady at the back of the crowd will start to explain things in the house but when they look for who was talking, a person in the place where the voice came from is just empty space.

Legend has it that the old St. Joseph's Hospital on Third Street is haunted by Rufus. In Sherman Hall, a strange shadow is seen after 1 AM most nights in old seclusion suite vestibules. Most likely a former patient named Rufus, who hanged himself in the same vestibule. The old hospital has been torn down but Rufus is still seen in the new building.

Legend has it that the Mankato High School area is haunted by the boy who screams "Purple!". A boy is often seen wandering the streets near the High School. He screams about the word purple constantly!! He apparently believes that he is a distant relative of the former mob boss Lucky "Purple Fingers" Luciano. The boy has been known to confront high school age girls and speak of his good fortune. Once swayed, most of the girls are never seen again. The boy has no known residence, although he says that he still lives in his parent's basement on Mound Avenue. If a confrontation happens he runs like a lightning bolt and isn't seen again. To everyone that has knowledge of him... he's a ghost!

Legend has it behind the Riverfront Hi-Vee was a wooded hill side where a man was shot to death in the late 1800's. People have told of sightings of a man dressed in the style of a miner walking in this location. These sightings all occur in the early to late evenings. The man is carrying what seems to look like a shovel or pick ax over his shoulder.

Legend has it that in the field behind Gage Tower Dorm at Minnesota State there was once an old cemetery and when it gets dark many co-eds have seen a young girl hanging from a tree on the south side of the clearing. Beneath the girl is the shadow of what appears to be her lover. Many say that they have heard him crying softly. They have also seen dark shadows move from headstone to headstone. The headstones are not visible during the day!

Only known picture of the Gage Tower Ghost.
Taken in 1921.

Legend has it that the property one of the downtown hotels now sits on was once a sanitarium for the insane back in the early 1900's. There is also a rumor that bodies were buried on the property and never removed. Employees of this Inn hear strange noises such as doors opening and closing to rooms that are unoccupied. One woman employee was walking down a hall late at night and had a hand touch her shoulder. She turned to see a eerie looking man standing there who then vanished before her eyes. She still works there but you cannot mention the incident to her because she will cry hysterically and threaten to quit. This information came from my father who used to work there.

Legend has it that an Irish family lived in the house near the stop sign on 5th Street. Legend say that the husband brutally killed his wife and children. Legend say that if you go there late at night and stop at the stop sign then turn your high beams on the stop sign you will see blood dripping down from the sign. You will also hear the footsteps of the man walking towards you and singing an Irish song. As he walks towards you, his footsteps get louder and louder until you can feel the hot cabbage breath on your cheek.

Legend has it that the old Albatross Bar near the University was haunted. In the mid-1930s a bartender was murdered there while she was closing up, her body was found slumped in the corner the next morning. She had been stabbed seventy-seven times. Her murderer was eventually caught, but not convicted until years later when he committed another murder. Patrons of the bar have reported the juke box apparently starting itself, sometimes running through all the records in a blur. Workers late at night have reported seeing something, a person or a presence, standing in the shadows, passing behind them in a mirror, and walking across the floor... never a clear look, always just a glimpse. Enough however to let them know that they were not alone in that bar.

Legend has it that the Old Mankato Brewery site at the east end of East Rock Street is haunted. Railroad and newspaper man Frank Hammill is generally regarded as the father of Mankato Beer. He arrived in 1883 on the Chicago Northwestern Railroad. He later became publisher of the Mankato Advocate, mayor of the town, and a prominent Republican politician. Hammill died suddenly in 1922 of a mysterious stomach problem. His body was displayed in the beautiful house he had built for himself and his family on North 7th Street. His wife lived the remainder of her days there and often reported feeling that Frank was still there with her. As time passed and new owners took over, the house gained a reputation of being haunted. Frank, said the new owners, was still in town. Many guests report hearing noises, voices, and feeling that they simply were not alone in the old house -- one family even moved out. Today the apparent hauntings continue, and the current residents are absolutely certain they are not alone. They even refer to their guest as Frank.

Legend has it that before the Government Center, it was called Mankato Place Mall, and before this it was the Filbert Hotel and the Showboat Saloon. The area directly above where the bar (near the SSI office is presently located) is haunted by a past resident who is believed to be named Molly. She opens and closes doors and plays with lights and sounds while people are working. However she does not seem threatening. The open area has seen much supernatural activity too. Human forms in turn of the century clothing have materialized in mirrors, sometimes appearing to be walking along the old bar area toward the exit door. A strange voice has even been heard numerous times near the shopping area. In the cellar, unusual cold spots are apparent, as well as the sounds and smells of kegs of beer being moved around. Security guards have been known to experience feelings of nausea while in the cellar, as well as sudden anxiety. All of these events seem to take place sometime during the middle of the night.

Legend has it that Old Main Village on 5th Street is the home of the Spinster Family ghosts. People have reported loud crashing noises coming from the building. People have reported seeing an old woman looking out the window. People have reported that a little girl has been seen floating on the front lawn. Workers have reported upstairs when you look in the mirror they see the reflection of people but when they turn around nothing is there.

Legend has it that the former "Cheers Bar" on Madison Avenue was haunted. Some say that this is why it was sold and the name was changed. The Cheers Bar was said to be haunted by a "red lady." Employees won't talk about the subject and no one ever went into the basement. The building is one of the oldest in town and was built on the site where a house burned to the ground in 1875 killing the old woman who lived there.

Legend has it that Mankato West High School was built on the former site of an old Lutheran Orphanage. It has been said students have heard small children running up and down the hall of the high school. The high school students have had unexplainable experiences, with lockers opening and closing, books flying, and often they hear the cries of small children.

Legend has it that the park on West Welcome is the home of strange happenings on summer nights. Many neighbors call it Bertha's Park because they say that they can hear that name called over and over again on dark nights seemingly from the playground area. On other nights, when the wind is still, people walking by the park can hear children playing and the swings will be swinging. Sometimes a growl will be heard from out of nowhere. It seems that 2 children and an adult were murdered there by a "werewolf like animal" (As reported in the June 25, 1887 edition of the Mankato Journal Democrat). Be careful when going around the slide. That is where one of the children is believed to have died.

Legend has it that the Sinclair Lewis House on South Broad Street is haunted... by Sinclair Lewis himself! It has been said that the sound of his typewriter can be heard in the house (and outside when the windows are open on summer nights) coming from the front right bedroom... the bedroom where Lewis worked on his books. People walking on the street have seen a person walking back and forth in the bedroom late into the night. When people stop to look at the person, he comes to the window and stares at the people with glowing blood-red eyes.

Legend has it that the Hubbard Mansion on South Broad Street is haunted. At night you can hear a horse and carriage come up to the front steps, hear a man and a women get out and hear the stairs creek as they walk up them, and silence.

Legend has it that the Betsy Tacy House house is haunted by the ghost of author Maud Hart Lovelace. She has been seen in the window by the porch at nights and also on the front porch. On the porch she is said to repeat "Come home Betsy" over and over again. In 2005, when the "Home Time" television show was filming there, several members of the crew said that they heard a female voice reading from the Betsy Tacy series just outside their door. When they opened it, they could still hear the voice for several seconds... but could see no one.

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Legend has it that all of Mankato was a forbidden area to the native Americans living in the area. If you check other Web sites you are told that Mankato's original name was Mahatto. Mahatto is an Ojibwa Indian word meaning "Blue Earth". (Mankato is in Blue Earth county and the Blue Earth River meets the Minnesota River there.) This is incorrect and really is a hoax to hide the true meaning and horror associated with the name. Dr. Roger Carlson, the famed geologist published his masterwork in 1918 (used copies of his book may still be found on Amazon and/or EBay). In this work he traced the real origin of the name. It is a Hekawi Indian name meaning "Bone Eaters". (See special note on the Hekawi Indians below.) It seems that before the Ojibwa settled in the area, it was the land of the Hekawi. Mankato was a forbidden zone. Legend has it that strange evil spirits live in caves and underground in Mankato. These evil spirits kill and eat all parts of their victims. Hence the name... Fact or Legend: Road crews are forbidden to dig in certain areas around Broad and Elm Streets. No one will say why. There are no records of road crews ever working late at night in Mahatto?? Fact or Legend: Workers are not allowed in the tunnel system under Minnesota State University after 11 pm. Legend says that three workers disappeared in these tunnels in the 1930's never to be seen again. Legend has it that you can hear their screams and the sounds of something eating and snapping bones echoing through the tunnels late on cold, winter nights. NOTE: The Hekawi Indian name was made famous by the 1965-67 TV show "F-Troop". The writers were warned not to use the name. They did. Fact: Most of persons associated with "F-Troop" are either locked up in mental institutions or dead! Fact: Everyone reading this will die.

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