Minnesota's oldest continuously operating restaurant, built from local limestone in 1856 in a town called the most haunted in the Midwest per capita — two deaths on the premises and a centerpiece of Mantorville's ghost tours.
502 N Main St, Mantorville, MN 55955
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Full-service restaurant; dinner menu nightly Wednesday through Sunday.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Ground-floor dining accessible; basement staff-only.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1856 · Established 1854 by John Hubbell, four years before Minnesota statehood · Current limestone building dates to 1856, one of the oldest restaurant structures in the state · Contributing property to Mantorville Historic District, NRHP · Hosted Presidents Grant and Eisenhower, Senator Ramsey, and Mayo Clinic founder W.W. Mayo
John Hubbell arrived in the raw settlement of Mantorville in 1854 and built a two-room log structure that served as a rest stop along the stage route from the Mississippi River to St. Peter. Two years later, in 1856, he replaced it with the current three-story building constructed from limestone quarried locally — a material that gives the building its characteristic pale solidity. The Hubbell House quickly became the social center of southeastern Minnesota: Senator Alexander Ramsey, President Ulysses S. Grant, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Mayo Clinic founder William Worrall Mayo all dined or lodged here over the building's first century.
In the 1930s, Paul Pappas acquired the property and transformed it from an inn into an upscale restaurant, a form it has maintained ever since. Pappas ran the operation until his death in 1996; his son Don continued the tradition before Joe Powers and the Powers Ventures Group took ownership in January 2022. The dining rooms retain their Civil War-era atmosphere: original documents, land grants signed by Lincoln, and period memorabilia line the walls of the four named rooms.
The building is a contributing property to the Mantorville Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP #74001017). At more than 170 years of continuous operation, the Hubbell House is regarded as one of Minnesota's oldest functioning restaurants.
Sources
Two deaths are historically documented at the Hubbell House. One was a suicide on the premises; the other was an accidental fall — an intoxicated guest tumbled down the basement stairs and died from injuries. Mantorville locals refer to these cases as the foundation of the building's paranormal reputation, though neither death has been definitively connected to any specific apparition by independent investigation.
KROC Radio's reporting on the restaurant includes direct staff testimony about paranormal encounters: unexplained cold spots in the dining rooms, objects found moved overnight, and at least one reported sighting of a figure in period clothing in the kitchen area. The activity is described as consistent and low-intensity — unnerving to staff who close up alone, not dramatic enough to disrupt service.
The Hubbell House is a featured stop on Mantorville's seasonal ghost tours, which market the broader town as 'the most haunted in the Midwest per capita.' That marketing claim is uncorroborated by any census or study, but the town's concentration of pre-Civil War limestone buildings — each with its own documented history — has made Mantorville a genuine regional destination for dark-history tourism. The restaurant participates in these tours through staff storytelling rather than staged programming.
Dinner service in one of four historic dining rooms — the Senator Ramsey Room, the Pappas Room, the Old Hubbell Room, and the Stagecoach Room — each decorated with Civil War-era artifacts and documents. The restaurant has operated continuously since 1856.
The Hubbell House is a featured stop on Mantorville's ghost tours, organized seasonally through the town. Mantorville is described by tour operators as the most haunted town in the Midwest per capita.
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