Late-1880s North Loop building that has served alcohol continuously since 1885 — operated as Louis Maurer's saloon 1894-1944 and as Cuzzy's since 1995 — said to be haunted by a presence the owners call Betsy.
507 Washington Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55401
Age
21+
Cost
$
Classic dive bar — beer, cocktails, and bar food at neighborhood prices.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Ground-floor bar; upper rooms and basement are staff-only.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1885 · Building has served alcohol continuously since 1885 — among the oldest such sites in Minnesota · Operated as Louis Maurer's Gluek-affiliated saloon 1894-1944 · Elizabeth Maurer became the only female saloon-keeper in Minneapolis after her husband's death in 1909 · Cuzzy's Bar & Grill has operated in the building continuously since 1995 · One of the longest continuously-licensed drinking establishments in the Twin Cities
The corner building at 507 Washington Avenue North dates to the mid-1880s and is one of the earliest surviving commercial buildings in Minneapolis's North Loop / Warehouse District. Records compiled by the North Loop Neighborhood Association and Growler Magazine indicate that alcohol has been served at the address continuously since 1885, making it among the longest continuously-operating drinking sites in Minnesota.
In 1894 German immigrant Louis Maurer took over the saloon under an affiliation with Minneapolis's Gluek Brewing Company, which financed many neighborhood tied-house saloons during the pre-Prohibition era. Maurer ran the business with his wife Elizabeth and their sons Frederic August 'Fritz' Maurer and Charles Maurer, alongside a residential apartment on the upper floor. The saloon supported Louis well enough to afford a South Minneapolis home and a summer cottage on Medicine Lake.
On June 25, 1909, Louis Maurer died by suicide at the Medicine Lake cottage — the second anniversary of a severe stroke from which he had only partially recovered. The Minneapolis City Council, in an unusual gesture for the period, granted Elizabeth her own liquor license, making her the only female saloon-keeper in Minneapolis for at least two years. She turned the license over to Fritz in 1912, and the family continued operating Maurer's Saloon until 1944, when changes in the Washington Avenue commercial district led the family to step away. The building went through a series of operators in the post-war decades and acquired a reputation as a North Loop working-class hangout.
Cuzzy's Bar & Grill opened in the building in 1995 under co-owners John Lee and Bobby Goral and has continued the dive-bar tradition for the last three decades. Today the bar's interior preserves Maurer's-era photographs, signage, and barware as wall décor, and the upstairs apartment — where the Maurer family lived — survives largely intact.
Sources
According to Growler Magazine, the North Loop Neighborhood Association, and Meet Minneapolis, Cuzzy's resident ghost is named Betsy. Owners John Lee and Bobby Goral describe Betsy as a friendly presence who is most active during quiet hours — adjusting condiment bottles, flickering lights briefly, and on more than one occasion delivering what staff describe as an unexpected hug felt as a sudden warmth and pressure across the shoulders.
Growler Magazine and the North Loop Neighborhood Association explicitly identify Betsy as the spirit of Elizabeth Maurer, who lived in the upstairs apartment with Louis and their sons Fritz and Charles during the saloon's late-19th and early-20th century operation. After Louis's death by suicide at the Maurer family's Medicine Lake cottage on June 25, 1909, Elizabeth took over the saloon under a personally-issued city liquor license — a rare distinction for a woman in 1909 Minneapolis. The 'waiting for a lost love' framing of the ghost story aligns directly with this documented widowhood narrative.
Reported phenomena include condiment bottles and salt shakers found out of place at the start of shifts, lights flickering on and off without electrical cause, and an occasional spectral pressure or 'hug' felt by staff working late. Most of these reports trace to owner testimony and the Growler / North Loop reporting; the underlying historical anchors — the 1894 Maurer takeover, the 1909 Louis Maurer suicide, and Elizabeth Maurer's tenure as saloon-keeper — are independently documented in newspaper archives and bar history sources. We treat Louis Maurer's death with editorial care: a sudden personal tragedy at the end of a long illness, not a sensational set-piece.
Notable Entities
Drop-in dive-bar visit in a historic Washington Avenue building that has served alcohol continuously since 1885. Classic burgers, cheap beer, and a wall of memorabilia from the Maurer's Saloon era.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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