HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
Cape Girardeau's Irish pub occupies a 19th-century building that served as an opera house and Masonic lodge, where staff report laughter, footsteps, and voices on the closed second floor
300 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Restaurant and bar; food and drink purchases.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Street-level restaurant; second floor (historic opera house) not regularly accessible to the public
Equipment
Photos OK
Historic opera house in downtown Cape Girardeau · Part of the 19th-century commercial corridor along Broadway · Hosted the Un-Happy Hour ghost tour event in October 2023
The building at 300 Broadway began in 1806 as a structure built by Charles Ellis. Between 1868 and 1888, the Turner Society demolished most of the original building, leaving only the rear sandstone foundation, and built a Turnverein hall used for social functions and entertainment; Cole Younger lectured there and pianist Blind Boone performed. The Masons purchased the building in 1881 and ran it as the Opera House and Masonic Lodge until 1891, after which it passed through a series of owners and uses, including newspaper offices, a laundry, and several restaurants and bars under different names.
A fire on March 8, 1990 destroyed the building's upper two floors; the owner at the time restored the restaurant and bar on the first level, and the building reopened in February 1991. After further ownership changes, the restaurant closed in 2009 and the building sat empty until Katy O'Ferrell's Publick House opened there in 2014.
Katy O'Ferrell's Irish Pub and Restaurant built a following for its food, its Irish cultural programming, and the character of the building itself. The second floor, no longer in regular commercial use, is the center of staff accounts about unexplained activity heard after the downstairs closes for the night. In October 2023, the pub held a one-time Un-Happy Hour event pairing access to the upper floor with Irish cultural content and a beer tasting.
Sources
Staff accounts at Katy O'Ferrell's center on the second floor, the former performance space of the historic opera house. Workers describe hearing laughter, the sound of heavy footsteps, and on occasion distinct voices — none of which can be attributed to anyone present in the building at those hours.
The pub embraced the reputation rather than dismissing it. The October 2023 'Un-Happy Hour' tour took guests into the abandoned upper level, where the atmosphere of the unrestored space did much of the work on its own. Local historian Christy Mershon led the tours, framing the activity within the building's history rather than as a theatrical haunted-house experience.
Katy O'Ferrell's figures on guided walking tours of Cape Girardeau's haunted downtown, where several historic commercial buildings along the Broadway and Spanish Street corridors carry similar accounts.
Media Appearances
Where this legend is told
In October 2023, Katy O'Ferrell's held the Un-Happy Hour, a two-hour guided tour at 7 p.m. each Monday that paired an Irish beer tasting in the grotto with a visit to the closed upstairs level, led by local historian Christy Mershon. Tickets were $30; guests had to be 21 or older to drink. Check with the pub for whether the event returns in future Octobers.
The pub operates daily as an Irish restaurant and bar in a downtown historic building. Staff can share accounts of the second-floor activity on request.
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