HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Restaurant and inn pricing
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic building with multiple floors
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1879 · Historic inn · River valley hospitality
Big River Inn/Water View Inn represents late 19th-century hospitality architecture in the Wisconsin River valley region. The building's longevity and continued operation demonstrate the site's enduring community role. The transition from original restaurant-only operation to combined inn-restaurant reflects changing hospitality models and customer needs throughout the 20th century.
The ghost of Kenny, a former employee at Big River Inn, manifests through consistent and recognizable poltergeist-type phenomena. Employees and guests report that televisions turn on independently when no one is present or has activated them. Lights flicker or turn on and off without apparent cause. Most distinctively, objects in the kitchen—particularly food and cooking implements—go missing or are discovered hidden in unusual locations.
The phenomena pattern suggests intelligent haunting rather than random poltergeist activity: Kenny's actions seem purposeful, focused on areas where he worked (the kitchen), and expressed through activities he was familiar with (using the television, moving items). The benign nature of the phenomena—mischievous rather than malicious—suggests a spirit with continued attachment to his former workplace but no hostile intent toward the living.
Notable Entities
Dine at Big River Inn (also known as Water View Inn) where a former employee named Kenny manifests through poltergeist activity. Guests experience televisions turning on mysteriously, lights flickering, and objects disappearing from the kitchen.
Book an overnight stay at the Big River Inn, a historic 1879-1896 building offering accommodation alongside paranormal investigation opportunity. Experience phenomena attributed to a former employee's lingering presence.
See current room rates and availability at Big River Restaurant.
Check rates and bookFree Guide
11 verified stops, rated for families, mapped in order. Free.
One email to confirm, then the guide link. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kewaunee, WI
The Hotel Karsten opened on Valentine's Day 1913 in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, replacing an earlier wood inn called The Steamboat House that burned in the early 1910s. Built and operated by William Karsten Sr., the 52-room Arts and Crafts hotel sits on the Lake Michigan shoreline and remains one of the few surviving hotels of its period in the region.
Bisbee, AZ
The Oliver House was built in 1909 by Edith Ann Oliver and her husband Henry Oliver to house executives of the Calumet & Arizona Mining Company. The building was converted to a bed and breakfast in 1986 and operates today as a historic inn in Bisbee, Arizona.
Apalachicola, FL
The Gibson Inn was built in 1907 as the Franklin Hotel at the height of Apalachicola's lumber and shipping trade. Sisters Annie Gibson Hayes and Mary Ellen Gibson purchased and renamed it in 1923. During World War II, the U.S. Army requisitioned it as officers' quarters near Camp Gordon Johnston. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.