HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Site of the Midwest's first tavern, where a 1949 fire killed a 9-year-old girl whose child apparition still haunts the block
519 S. Main St., St. Charles, MO 63301
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Exterior/sidewalk viewing is free. Site is included on the St. Charles ghost tour (ticketed separately).
Access
Wheelchair OK
Flat brick sidewalk along Historic Main Street
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1780 · Claimed site of the Midwest's first tavern (c. 1780) · Aaron Burr Louisiana Conspiracy connection (1805-1806) · 1949 fire death of a 9-year-old girl · St. Charles Historic Main Street district (NRHP 1970)
The building that once stood at 519 S. Main Street in St. Charles, Missouri carried a long history before its 1949 end. Accounts associated with St. Charles's nationally registered historic Main Street district describe it as the site of Eckert's Tavern, which local tradition dates to around 1780 — making it among the earliest taverns in the Midwest. The location also appears in historical accounts of Aaron Burr's so-called Louisiana Conspiracy of 1805-1806, in which Burr allegedly plotted to carve a separate nation from the western territories; the tavern is said to have been one of his stopping points in the region.
On a night in 1949 the building caught fire. A 9-year-old girl died of smoke inhalation at the front door, unable to escape before the smoke overtook her. The structure did not survive the blaze. The lot and any subsequent structure at 519 S. Main St. sits within the St. Charles Historic Main Street district, which was the first capital of Missouri after statehood in 1821.
The Historic Main Street district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and remains one of the most intact 19th-century streetscapes in Missouri. The block at 519 S. Main is now part of the active ghost tour circuit operated by St. Charles Ghost Tours.
Sources
The paranormal narrative at this site centers on the 9-year-old girl who died in the 1949 fire. Ghost tour accounts and regional paranormal writers describe a child apparition in the vicinity of the former tavern site — visitors report feeling tugs on their sleeves and, during guided tours, foods and small objects going missing without explanation.
Paranormal investigation teams report elevated EMF readings at the location compared to baseline measurements on surrounding blocks. The site is a regular stop on the St. Charles Ghost Tours route, which draws on documented local deaths and structures along the historic Main Street corridor. Local tour operators cite the child apparition as among the most-witnessed phenomena in the district.
View the site at 519 S. Main St. where Eckert's Tavern — claimed to be the Midwest's first tavern, established 1780 — once stood before the 1949 fire. The block is a standard stop on St. Charles ghost tours. Sidewalk access is public year-round.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Elfrida, AZ
The property operated as the Cochise Guest Lodge and Ranch, a dude ranch in Arizona's remote Sulphur Springs Valley. On December 3, 1977, ranch hand James Dean Clark killed four people — ranch owners Charles and Mildred Thumm and two fellow wranglers, Gerald McFerron and George Martin — in a spree that ended with his arrest in El Paso. Clark was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder in 1978 and executed by the State of Arizona on April 14, 1993. The property was subsequently acquired by VisionQuest National, a youth rehabilitation organization founded in 1973, which operates it as a residential program to this day.
Fort Myers, FL
Architect Francis J. Kennard designed the Lee County Courthouse, and its cornerstone was laid on April 13, 1915. The Classical Revival building served as the county seat from its completion until 1984. Among the trials held here were the first death-penalty proceedings in Lee County history. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 16, 1989, and today houses county offices including the Lee County Board of Commissioners.
Sioux City, IA
Built in 1918-19 as the Midland Packing Plant and acquired by Swift & Co. in 1924, this enormous Sioux City meatpacking facility operated until 1974. On December 14, 1949, an underground natural-gas leak triggered an explosion that killed 21 people and injured 91. In 1976 the building reopened as the KD Stockyards Station shopping mall before fire and water damage forced its closure in 2004 and demolition in 2010.