Civil War veteran and county judge Frank Putney's 1901 mansion, called 'possibly the finest in the city,' where Chamber of Commerce staff reported voices, footsteps, and vanishing belongings.
330 W Broadway, Waukesha, WI 53186
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
The Waukesha Ghost Walk is a ticketed walking tour that includes the Putney House as a named stop. See americanghostwalks.com for pricing.
Access
Limited Access
Exterior viewing from public sidewalk; walking tour on downtown Waukesha streets
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1901 · Civil War veteran residence (Vicksburg, Atlanta, Sherman's March) · County judge Frank Putney — village president and postmaster of Waukesha · Waukesha Chamber of Commerce building from 1990 · Named stop on Waukesha Ghost Walk
Frank Putney was born in Rockford in 1841 and studied law at Carroll College before enlisting in the Union Army during the Civil War. He fought at the Siege of Vicksburg, the Battle of Atlanta, and participated in Sherman's March to the Sea — the brutal campaign through the Confederate South that helped break Confederate supply lines and morale in 1864–65.
Returning to Waukesha after the war, Putney built a political and legal career: village president, postmaster, county judge. He built the house at 330 W Broadway in 1901, near the end of his public life. When he died in 1914, the Waukesha Freeman called it 'possibly the finest house in the city.'
The house eventually passed to other owners and by 1990 was serving as the home of the Waukesha Chamber of Commerce. Staff there worked beneath a large portrait of Frank Putney in the dining room-turned-conference room. American Ghost Walks, which operates the Waukesha Ghost Walk, has included the Putney House as a named stop on its tour and documented the Chamber of Commerce staff's paranormal accounts in detail. The Waukesha Patch has also covered the site in reporting on Waukesha's haunted history.
Sources
The Waukesha Chamber of Commerce staff, working beneath Frank Putney's portrait in what had been the dining room, described a mischievous presence rather than a menacing one. Voices came from rooms where no one was standing. Footsteps moved up and down the old staircases without human feet attached. Employees would lose a belonging for weeks — then find it exactly where they had left it.
American Ghost Walks, which has documented the site through its Waukesha Ghost Walk program, frames the phenomena as consistent with a presence that was invested in the affairs of the building — a judge and city official who may not have fully vacated the place that was, at his death, called the finest house in Waukesha.
The Waukesha Patch reported on these accounts in its coverage of Waukesha's haunted reputation, providing a second documented source for the phenomena. The Putney House is among the most substantiated haunted-house claims in Waukesha County — its phenomena tied to a historically verified occupant with a documented life and a documented building.
Notable Entities
American Ghost Walks runs the Waukesha Ghost Walk, a ticketed evening tour through downtown Waukesha with the Putney House as a featured stop. Tour guides cover Frank Putney's Civil War service, his rise to county judge, and the paranormal activity reported during the building's decades as the Waukesha Chamber of Commerce.
The Putney House facade is visible from the public sidewalk on W Broadway. This 1901 Victorian-era structure retains its historic exterior. Visitors can view and photograph the building without a tour.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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