HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
+ 2 further entries on record
1907 Wisconsin Dells Bar Haunted by Ghost Molly
24 Broadway, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Bar pricing. Ghost Haunted History Trolley Tour (includes this stop as exterior): Adults $29.99, Children 12 and under $16.99 through dellstrolley.com.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Downtown Wisconsin Dells, flat paved Broadway Street
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1907 · Wisconsin Dells Commercial History · Prohibition Era Tavern · Wisconsin Dells Ghost Tour Heritage
The building at 24 Broadway in Wisconsin Dells was constructed in 1907 as a dual-purpose structure: tavern on the ground floor, office space for a railroad operation above. William and Minnie Stanton operated the original business under the name Stanton's Palm Garden, a venture that lasted 13 years before Prohibition forced closure.
The building resumed tavern operations after Prohibition and continued under various names and owners. In 1965, it became the Showboat Saloon, shifting its identity toward live music. The name changed again to Captain Brady's Showboat Saloon at some point in the building's history, an identity that persists in some local records alongside the current name.
By the time Wisconsin Dells developed its haunted tourism circuit, the saloon had acquired a paranormal reputation rooted in the upper apartment. The building's ghost story became well enough established that the Dells Trolley company incorporated it into a formal ghost tour, referring to the venue as Ghost Molly's Showboat Saloon in tour promotional materials.
Sources
The upstairs apartment above the Showboat Saloon is the focal point of its paranormal lore. A woman named Molly is said to have rented the space at some point in the building's history; the circumstances of her death — or whether she died in the building at all — are not documented in available sources. What has been reported is consistent and specific enough that the current owner has stopped offering the apartment to prospective renters.
Molly's reported behavior is described as domestic interference: opening and closing doors, fiddling with appliances. These accounts are categorized in regional paranormal sources as consistent and ongoing.
Other reported phenomena include apparitions of figures in period clothing seen in the saloon mirrors, unexplained voices near the stage, and cold spots in the main bar area. In the cellar, kegs have reportedly moved without apparent cause.
The Wisconsin Dells Trolley Company includes the building as an exterior stop on its Haunted History Tour, presenting the Molly story to passengers during a 90-minute circuit of the city. The stop is listed as Ghost Molly's Showboat Saloon in tour materials, a name that has become the building's second identity in the regional tourism context.
The source of the Molly legend is traced to local oral tradition reported through paranormal aggregators. No newspaper archive, death certificate, or historical society record independently confirming a woman named Molly dying in or connected to the building was found in available sources.
Notable Entities
Visit the downtown Wisconsin Dells bar where a former upstairs renter named Molly is said to still open and close doors and fiddle with appliances. The current owner has stopped renting the upstairs apartment due to the frequency of reported incidents.
The Wisconsin Dells Trolley's 90-minute haunted history tour stops at Ghost Molly's Showboat Saloon as one of three locations, with the saloon serving as an exterior stop for the story of Molly. The tour also visits a church-turned-restaurant and Spring Grove Cemetery. Ghost meters included.
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Milwaukee, WI
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The Red Onion Saloon was established in 1898 in Skagway during the Klondike Gold Rush and later moved to its Broadway location, operating as a dance hall, saloon, and bordello. The upstairs held ten small rooms, called cribs, where women worked under a series of madams. The building survived the post-rush decline and now runs as a saloon, restaurant, and brothel museum within the Skagway Historic District.