Mike Huberty launched the first ghost tour in Madison, Wisconsin in 2010 under the American Ghost Walks brand. The Lost Souls of State Street tour grew out of original archival research and witness interviews collected from local theater staff, bar owners, and longtime State Street operators. American Ghost Walks now operates multiple Madison tours, including the King Street and Capitol Square Walk and the UW Campus Ghost Walk; the Lost Souls tour focuses specifically on the entertainment-district stretch.
State Street itself is one of Madison's defining urban features. The corridor was pedestrianized in the 1970s and now connects the Wisconsin State Capitol building at one end to the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus at Library Mall on the other. The historic theaters along the route — the Orpheum Theatre (1927) and the Capitol Theatre, now part of the Overture Center for the Arts — are the primary anchors of the ghost tour.
The tour's research approach is documentary: guides interview the people who experienced the events, examine historical records, and consult local business owners. The company emphasizes that the stories presented are not available on any other Madison tour, and that the original-research model distinguishes Lost Souls from generic ghost-walk content. The Lost Souls tour runs on select Saturday evenings each month.
Sources
- https://www.americanghostwalks.com/tour/madison-capitol-square-state-street-ghost-walk
- https://americanghostwalks.com/wisconsin/madison-capitol-square-state-street-side-ghost-walks/
- https://www.americanghostwalks.com/wisconsin/madison
- https://www.hauntedwisconsin.com/detail/madisons-state-street-ghost-walk/
ApparitionsPhantom voicesObject movementPhantom soundsDisembodied screaming
Pete the Projectionist is the Orpheum Theatre's most-told figure. Per accounts collected by American Ghost Walks, Pete is believed to be the spirit of a former projectionist who hanged himself in the projection booth. Modern projectionists describe him as moving objects around the booth behind them, generally framed as benevolent. The most-told incident on the tour, however, is sharper: an overnight cleaner working alone reported Pete screaming directly in her ear and throwing a stack of plates, after which she ran out of the building without looking back. A former manager has separately reported Pete making suggestive comments and whispering at her in the dressing room.
Timothy Hergor, the second recurring figure, was a Madison-based magician active in the 1920s who booked acts and performed at the Capitol Theatre — now incorporated into the Overture Center for the Arts on State Street. After a romantic overture failed, Hergor died by suicide on the Capitol Theatre stage, hanging himself from the lighting grid. Per local lore, his presence is still reported beneath the stage. Reports of his activity have been collected from Overture Center staff over the past decade.
The broader tour route covers additional stops at the Wisconsin State Capitol, the Madison Masonic Temple, the Grain Exchange Building, the Great Dane Pub and Brewery, the Majestic Theatre, and the King Street area. The tour does not theatricalize the encounters; the format is documentary storytelling with the witnesses' own accounts as the source material.
Notable Entities
Pete the ProjectionistTimothy Hergor
