Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA 1978 student death in Room 218 left behind decades of unexplained reports
175 W Mark St, Winona, MN 55987
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
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Free
Public university campus; exterior freely accessible
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Wheelchair OK
Flat urban campus; paved walkways
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WSU campus ghost lore tradition · Student death 1978
Richards Hall is one of the older residential buildings on the Winona State University campus, dating to the mid-twentieth century. The building's place in campus folklore stems from an incident in 1978, when a student died in Room 218 on the third floor. The circumstances were documented by subsequent generations through the student newspaper, The Winonan, which has covered campus ghost traditions and their historical roots.
The 1978 event itself is not extensively documented in regional news archives, which limits the ability to independently verify specific details of the incident beyond what student media has reported. What is documented is the persistence of the story across decades — The Winonan's coverage notes that the reports have circulated through multiple student generations, giving the account longevity that distinguishes it from short-lived campus rumor.
Because Richards Hall remains an active residence hall with limited public access, visitor engagement with the site is necessarily exterior. The building's significance sits more in its place in regional haunted-campus traditions than in any publicly accessible experience.
Sources
The Winonan student newspaper at WSU has documented the Richards Hall ghost tradition, which centers on Room 218. The reported phenomena include a male figure seen moving toward the communal shower room, scratching sounds on doors and walls, and a general sense of presence on the third floor.
The aggregated accounts trace the activity to the 1978 death of a former resident, though the connection is traditional rather than documented. The consistency of the reported phenomena across multiple accounts — the shower-room figure in particular — gives the lore a degree of internal coherence unusual for casual campus ghost stories.
Richards Hall is an active residence hall at Winona State. The building exterior is visible from the public sidewalk. Interior access is restricted to residents and their guests. Campus ghost lore connected to the 1978 incident in Room 218 is documented in the student newspaper, The Winonan.
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