HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
1830s Army hospital relocated to a living-history park where a presence called Henri triggers panic and disembodied footsteps
2640 S. Webster Ave., Green Bay, WI 54301
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
General admission to Heritage Hill State Historical Park applies; see heritagehill.org for current pricing
Access
Wheelchair OK
60-acre living-history park with paved paths and accessible buildings; Fort Howard Hospital has period-accurate interiors
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1830 · Fort Howard Military Garrison (1816–1852) · U.S. Army post-War of 1812 frontier presence · Building relocated to Heritage Hill 1975 — rare surviving frontier-era military hospital
Fort Howard was established in 1816 by the U.S. Army at the mouth of the Fox River, occupying a site that had previously served French and British traders. The garrison's purpose was to assert American sovereignty over the newly acquired region and regulate the remaining fur trade. At its operational peak in the 1830s and 1840s, Fort Howard housed several hundred soldiers and the supporting civilian population that would eventually become Green Bay.
The Fort Howard Hospital, built in the 1830s, was a functional military aid station designed for the injuries and illnesses common to frontier garrison life — cholera, dysentery, frostbite, and the occasional combat wound from engagements with Indigenous nations. The Army formally abandoned Fort Howard in 1852, and most of the original structures were absorbed into the growing civilian city.
In 1975, preservationists relocated the surviving hospital building to Heritage Hill State Historical Park, a 60-acre living-history complex on the south edge of Green Bay. The park assembled structures from across the region to create a walkable timeline of Wisconsin settlement history. The Fort Howard Hospital now anchors the park's military-era section and is staffed by costumed interpreters during the day.
Sources
The Fort Howard Hospital building at Heritage Hill has developed a specific and recurring paranormal profile. The most frequently reported experience is sudden, unexplained panic — a visceral sense of dread that descends on visitors and staff entering certain rooms. The phenomenon is consistent enough that guides have informally named the entity Henri, though the origin of that attribution is folkloric rather than documented.
Footsteps in the empty wards are a secondary feature. Multiple staff members and after-hours investigators have reported hearing footfalls on the old plank floors when no one else is in the building — sounds that stop when approached and start again when the listener moves away.
Children's voices have been heard on the Heritage Hill grounds after dark, without any obvious source. Whether these reports are connected specifically to the hospital or to the broader park grounds — which contains structures from multiple eras — is unresolved. Paranormal researcher Meghan Hock ranked Heritage Hill first on her list of active sites in Green Bay, partly on the strength of the hospital building's consistent activity.
Notable Entities
Self-guided and docent-led exploration of Heritage Hill's 60 acres, including the relocated Fort Howard Hospital building with its documented paranormal activity in the main wards.
Seasonal after-dark tours offered by Heritage Hill covering the most active paranormal locations on the grounds, including the Fort Howard Hospital.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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