1923 Neoclassical Hotel with Room 717 Lore
One N Main St, Fond du Lac, WI 54935
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Hotel room rates vary by season and room type. Check venue website for current pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Downtown location, elevator-served hotel, paved surroundings
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1923 · National Register of Historic Places · Walter Schroeder Hotel Chain · Neoclassical Commercial Architecture · Wisconsin Hotel Heritage
Walter Schroeder was a Milwaukee hotelier who, in the early 1920s, set his sights on Fond du Lac. The hotel he built at One North Main Street opened in 1923, and he gave it his name in the most indirect way available — Retlaw is Walter spelled backwards.
The architectural firm Herbert W. Tullgren & Son of Milwaukee designed the structure: eight stories of red brick with neoclassical cornice and facade detailing, rising 265 guest rooms from the corner of a downtown city block. The exterior has remained substantially unchanged since opening. The interior, according to the hotel's own history, underwent several transformations over the following century.
Schroeder was not a one-hotel operator. He developed a chain of prominent Wisconsin properties — the Schroeder Hotel in Milwaukee (now the Hilton), Hotel Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Hotel Northland in Green Bay — as well as properties in Madison, Wausau, and Duluth, Minnesota. The Retlaw fit a clear pattern: neoclassical civic hotels anchoring mid-sized Wisconsin cities.
At some point in its history, the building was converted to use as a psychiatric facility and nursing home before returning to hotel use. The exact timing of these conversions is documented in local archives but not detailed on the hotel's current website. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing it as one of the most historically significant hotels in the state.
The current configuration includes 121 guest rooms, suites, and residential suites — reduced from the original 265 through renovations that enlarged individual rooms and added modern amenities. The hotel operates as a boutique property under independent management, having shed the Ramada Plaza branding it carried during an earlier period.
Sources
The most discussed location in the Hotel Retlaw's paranormal record is Room 717. Guests who have stayed in that room report a distinctive drop in temperature, lights and faucets activating without cause, and television channels changing on their own. Some accounts include physical contact — hair pulling, specifically. The prevailing theory associates these experiences with a woman who, according to local folklore, died by suicide by jumping from the window of that room. The hotel does not officially confirm this account, and no historical record documenting such an event has been independently verified.
In the ballroom, at least one EVP session reportedly captured the name Walter being spoken by an unidentified voice. Staff members have described cups flying from service carts and ice discharging from ice machines without apparent cause. A figure described as a red-haired woman in a white bathrobe has been seen by multiple witnesses walking through walls.
Disembodied male voices, unexplained humming, and phantom footsteps have been reported on various floors. Guests have described the sensation of an unseen presence making physical contact as they moved through corridors.
The hotel's connection to its founder through these legends is consistent: Walter Schroeder's spirit is frequently identified as the source of the ballroom EVP activity. Whether this attribution reflects genuine historical connection or the natural human tendency to assign ownership to an unexplained phenomenon, it has become part of the hotel's identity. The hotel's history page makes no mention of paranormal activity, but it has been featured in regional news coverage discussing the reports.
Notable Entities
Sleep in one of 121 guest rooms in the eight-story 1923 neoclassical tower on the National Register of Historic Places. Room 717 carries the most documented paranormal accounts — guests there have reported temperature drops, unexplained sounds, and lights activating without apparent cause.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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