HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Henry Thias's 1888 Victorian, Washington, Missouri
304 Elm Street, Washington, MO 63090
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
The Thias House is on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri. Some sources indicate its restaurant and B&B operations are no longer running; check current status before visiting.
Access
Limited Access
Historic three-story Victorian with stairs
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1888 · National Register of Historic Places (Missouri) · Henry Thias 1888 Victorian · Downtown Washington, Missouri
The Thias House at 304 Elm Street in Washington, Missouri was built in 1888 by Henry Thias as a three-story Victorian residence intended, in Thias's own phrasing, as 'an ornament to the city.' The house is on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri.
The building has operated at various points as a restaurant and bed and breakfast, with public tours offered during those years. Some current sources indicate those operations are no longer active and the property should be approached as a private historic residence. Washington, Missouri is the seat of Franklin County and a documented Missouri River town with a strong nineteenth-century German immigrant heritage.
Sources
Local Washington tradition associates the Thias House with multiple gentle presences. Visitors and lunchtime patrons during the home's restaurant-and-B&B years described a woman in long Victorian clothing seen combing her hair at the master-bedroom dresser and descending the grand staircase. Others reported a touch on the shoulder in the attic.
A cat spirit is also reported, seen leaping across the furniture and around corners. The sound of a cat crying has been heard when no living cat was on the premises. B&B guests have described an invisible bat sensed flying through a room in the evening, with no bat located on subsequent searches. The accounts trace primarily to inn marketing and regional paranormal writing; phenomena are consistently described as gentle and non-threatening.
View the 1888 Thias House from the public sidewalk on Elm Street in downtown Washington, Missouri. The house was built by Henry Thias as an 'ornament to the city' and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
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