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Grafton's 1879 River-Bluff Inn
217 East Main St, Grafton, IL 62037
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Room rates vary; check ruebelhotel.com for current pricing. The original 1879 building has been continuously rebuilt and renovated.
Access
Limited Access
Historic multi-story hotel with original staircases
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1879 · Mississippi River Trade · Great River Road · 1913 Reconstruction
Michael Ruebel constructed the original Ruebel Hotel in 1879 along the riverfront commercial strip of Grafton, Illinois. Grafton sits at the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, a small port town beneath the limestone bluffs that line the modern Great River Road National Scenic Byway. The hotel was the largest of several lodging houses serving riverboat traffic and the limestone quarrying trade.
A fire in 1912 destroyed the original frame structure. Ruebel rebuilt on the same footprint the following year, opening the new hotel with 32 guest rooms at a rate of $1 per night. The 1913 building remains the structural core of the property today, with subsequent renovations preserving the original staircase, the tavern's pressed-tin ceiling, and the upper-hallway floor plan.
The Ruebel survived the 1993 Mississippi River flood that submerged much of downtown Grafton; photographs from the period show the building's first floor underwater. The hotel was restored and reopened, and operates today as both a working overnight property and a tavern restaurant. It is the sole surviving historic hotel from Grafton's 19th-century riverfront era.
Sources
The most-told story from the Ruebel concerns Abigail, described in regional folklore as a girl who died in the hotel. Accounts disagree on the cause: some sources attribute her death to tuberculosis during the property's early years, others to the 1912 fire that destroyed the original structure. No newspaper or county death record specifically corroborating either version has been published in available sources, so the figure should be treated as folklore rather than documented history.
Guests describe encounters that are notably gentle in character. The figure is reported in the upstairs hallway, at the top of the original staircase, and occasionally in guest rooms on the second floor. The reported activity is non-threatening — the published accounts describe a presence that observes rather than interferes.
Beyond the Abigail narrative, guests have reported unexplained scents in the hallways, small objects that go missing and reappear, and disembodied footsteps in the early morning hours. Photography from inside the hotel occasionally captures orbs and unexplained light artifacts. The Ruebel has been included in regional 'most haunted hotels in Illinois' lists by Only In Your State and similar travel publications, and is a stop on Grafton's local ghost-tour itinerary.
Notable Entities
Stay in one of the rebuilt 1913 guest rooms above the original tavern. Guests have reported encounters with the figure of a young girl named Abigail in the upstairs hallway and at the top of the staircase. The hotel does not heavily commercialize the paranormal lore but does not deny it either.
The Ruebel operates a working tavern and dining room on the ground floor, occupying the original 1913 footprint. The tavern is a stop on the Great River Road and a fixture of Grafton's downtown.
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