Luke Farrell House: West Mankato |
Haunted Mankato |
Brian and Lorna Dunne |
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 the Mankato Rest Home (home for the insane) because she said that her older sister
had come back from the dead to haunt her.
Legend has it
that Memorial Library Room 113 is one of the most haunted places at Minnesota State
University. Students who work late 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." Many times the lights go out as students work
there late at night. Legend has it that the Shadow People living there
use the darkness to get closer to the students working there. Other students
working late at night report that a 'student' lab assistant named "Doug"
sometimes appears
to help students with projects.
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.
Great Stone House |
Legend has it that voices and singing can be heard along with the smell of a campfire at the great stone houses in Rasmussen 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 Madeline Svenring, caretakers of the house murdered in their sleep December 12, 1887! |
Gustave and
Madeline
Svenring (?) |
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. |
Photo taken by security guard in
1972
of person believed to be Mrs. Paine. |
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 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
after 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. The bar has been replaced by numerous shops.
Late at night workers and tenants in the apartments above have reported hearing
30's style music and 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 are not alone in their businesses or rooms.
Photo of "Frank" taken in TV
room during
Richard Nixon inauguration. |
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 haunting continues, and the current residents are absolutely certain they are not alone. They even refer to their guest as Frank. |
Legend has it that the park on West Welcome is the home of strange happenings on summer nights. Many neighbors call it Lilly'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 (Lilly) were murdered there by a "werewolf like animal" (As reported in the November 17, 1958 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. |
Courtesy:SaltLakeCemetary |