Est. 1895 · Historic Hotel · Central Minnesota Heritage · Prohibition Era
The Thayer Hotel at 60 Elm Street West in Annandale, Minnesota stands on the site of the Charles Hotel, which burned in the 1890s. The current structure was completed in 1895 and has served as a lodging establishment for the community of Annandale throughout its 130-year history.
The hotel's alleged connection to Al Capone during Prohibition — a claim that appears in regional oral tradition but lacks documentary corroboration in available public records — has added to its reputation as a destination of atmospheric interest.
The property operated as a bed and breakfast through much of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The current incarnation, rebranded as simply 'The Thayer,' operates primarily as a restaurant and event venue with the hotel rooms available for overnight stays. The establishment closed temporarily for COVID-related disruptions and underwent renovations before reopening.
The restaurant operates Tuesday through Sunday. Ghost tours, led by Search 4 Spirits, are held the last Wednesday of each month at 6 PM and 8 PM.
Sources
- https://www.thethayer.com/
- https://minnesotasnewcountry.com/stay-overnight-at-this-124-year-old-haunted-annandale-hotel/
- https://minnesotasnewcountry.com/ghost-tours-being-offered-of-alleged-haunted-hotel-in-annandale/
ApparitionsPhantom soundsPhantom footstepsLights flickeringObject movement
The Thayer's reported spirits fall into three categories that have remained consistent across decades of guest and staff accounts.
The little girl — unnamed in available sources — is detected most often on the upper floors. Guests have described a child's voice in an empty hallway and the sense of small footsteps in the corridor outside occupied rooms during the night.
The spirit bride appears in a wedding dress. She has been seen on the staircase, in the hall, and occasionally in rooms where wedding parties are booked. Her connection to the building's history is undocumented; no records of a death at the hotel during a wedding event have surfaced in publicly accessible archives.
The ghost cats — two of them, in most accounts — are felt rather than seen: the weight of a small animal settling on a bed, movement along the foot of the mattress, the sound of a cat in a room where the door was left ajar but no cat is present.
Guests also report pennies appearing in unexpected locations — in the center of a made bed, in a cleared hallway, on a bathroom counter — a detail attributed in local tradition to the spirits of long-departed guests named Gus and Caroline.
Search 4 Spirits, the investigation group that leads the monthly tours, has conducted multiple sessions at the property and publishes accounts of their findings on their platform.
Notable Entities
Little girlSpirit brideGhost cats