The Most Haunted Places in Minnesota
Minnesota has 98 documented haunted locations in the HauntBound index.
Top 10 identified after source-level analysis of the 19 strongest Minnesota candidates.
By the numbers
- Total documented
- 98
- Museum / Historical Site
- 21
- Outdoor / Natural Site
- 14
- Haunted Hotel / Inn
- 13
- Family-friendly
- 97
- Bookable
- 29
- Oldest documented site
- Wabasha Street Caves (1840)
- Most-reported phenomenon
- apparitions
Ranked
- 1. SS William A. Irvin HauntBound identified eight distinct published accounts at this museum site, across four kinds of published source. One later publication retells those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and cold spots. 8 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1964-2015 · retold in 1 later publication
- 2. Mantorville Opera House HauntBound identified seven distinct published accounts at this working theater, across three kinds of published source. One later publication retells those accounts. Reported phenomena include disembodied voices and electrical anomalies. 7 original accounts · documented across 3 decades, 2007-2025 · retold in 1 later publication
- 3. Historic Calumet Inn HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this working hotel, across three kinds of published source. One later publication retells those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and cold spots. 4 original accounts · documented across 3 decades, 1944-2019 · retold in 1 later publication
- 4. First Avenue HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this working theater, across three kinds of published source. Five later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and objects moving. 4 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1940-2019 · retold in 5 later publications
- 5. Wabasha Street Caves These sandstone caves beneath St. Paul were first mined before French immigrant Albert Mouchnotte turned them into a mushroom farm around 1900; his son-in-law later ran a speakeasy there, then the 1930s club Castle Royal. Guides tell of an alleged triple murder in the Fireside Room that left bullet holes in the fireplace, though no record confirms it. Staff before opening report music playing with the sound off and footsteps in empty chambers. 4 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1934-2021 · retold in 1 later publication
- 6. Loon Lake Cemetery HauntBound identified two distinct published accounts at this burial ground, across three kinds of published source. Reported phenomena include cold spots and orbs. Documented since 1877 · 4 independent sources · 1 media mention Contradicted by physical evidence. The same blog post that tells the cemetery's central legend also gives a more plausible alternative: that the woman at its center likely died of diphtheria, not by mob violence.
- 7. Hibbing High School Auditorium HauntBound identified two distinct published accounts at this working theater, across four kinds of published source. Three later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include objects moving. Documented since 1924 · 4 independent sources Questioned by investigators. An independent researcher's blog investigating the auditorium's famous 'Seat J-47' ghost photographs concludes the photos were likely staged to scare students, after finding the story's origin details shift across retellings and only partially match an Ancestry.com death record.
- 8. Turnblad Mansion (American Swedish Institute) HauntBound identified two distinct published accounts at this museum site, across three kinds of published source. Reported phenomena include phantom footsteps and phantom sounds. 2 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1921-2013
- 9. Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art opened in 1915 in a Beaux-Arts building and holds more than 90,000 objects, including historic interiors moved from older buildings. Its oak-paneled Tudor Room dates to around 1600, and the Connecticut Room was built around a 1740 farmhouse wall. The museum reports a janitor hearing footsteps cross the empty Tudor Room in 2009, and visitors describing tugs on their coats and a hand grasping their own. 6 original accounts · documented in 2009 · retold in 1 later publication
- 10. Palmer House Hotel Ralph and Christena Palmer built this Sauk Centre hotel in 1901, the town's first building with electricity. Sinclair Lewis worked here as a clerk before fictionalizing it as the Minniemashie House in Main Street, and the upper floor once housed a bordello run by a man known as Raymond. Guests report a man in a hat blamed for thrown glasses, and a woman in a wedding dress seen in the upper-floor corridors. 8 original accounts · retold in 1 later publication
By city
- Minneapolis: 10 documented sites
- Saint Paul: 7 documented sites
- Duluth: 6 documented sites
- Mankato: 4 documented sites
- Rochester: 4 documented sites
- Stillwater: 4 documented sites
- Winona: 4 documented sites
- Saint Cloud: 3 documented sites
- Hibbing: 3 documented sites
- Pipestone: 3 documented sites
- 47 more across the rest of Minnesota
Press images
- SS William A. Irvin McGhiever, CC BY-SA 4.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_A._Irvin.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/minnesota/ss-william-a-irvin/hero.jpg
- Historic Calumet Inn McGhiever, CC BY-SA 3.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Calumet_Hotel_2012.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/minnesota/historic-calumet-inn/hero.jpg
- First Avenue Chris Yunker, CC BY 2.0, via https://www.flickr.com/photos/chris-yunker/2564385848/ hauntbound.com/images/locations/minnesota/first-ave-night-club/hero.jpg
- Wabasha Street Caves Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WabashaStreetCaves.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/minnesota/lilydale-caves-amp-wabasha-street-caves/hero.jpg
- Hibbing High School Auditorium m_e_mccarron, CC BY-SA 2.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hibbing_High_School.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/minnesota/hibbing-high-school-auditorium/hero.jpg
- Turnblad Mansion (American Swedish Institute) DASH713, CC BY-SA 4.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Turnblad_Mansion.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/minnesota/turnblad-mansion-american-swedish-institute/hero.jpg
- Minneapolis Institute of Art Bmzuckerman, CC BY 4.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neo-Classical_-_Minneapolis,_MN_-_Minneapolis_Institute_of_Art_(1).jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/minnesota/minneapolis-institute-of-art/hero.jpg
- Palmer House Hotel McGhiever, CC BY-SA 4.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmer_House_Hotel_2015.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/minnesota/palmer-house-hotel/hero.jpg
Images listed here may be republished with the credit shown; all other HauntBound images are not offered for press use.
Superlatives
- Oldest documented site: Wabasha Street Caves Documented since 1840.
- Most documented: SS William A. Irvin 8 distinct published accounts.
- Top haunted stay: Palmer House Hotel Overnight stays bookable.
- Most family-friendly: Minneapolis College of Art and Design Family Comfort rating: High.
Methodology
For purposes of the HauntBound Index, "most haunted" means the location with the strongest documented record of reported haunting phenomena. We evaluate the quantity, independence, persistence, and documentary quality of published reports. We do not attempt to determine whether paranormal phenomena are real, and we never count a source that only establishes a building's history as evidence of haunting claims. Repetitive coverage is subject to diminishing returns, so a story retold many times does not outrank a story independently documented. Rankings never consider commercial relationships.
The 2026 Index reflects sources identified and classified as of September 15, 2026.
Updated September 29, 2026: documented totals now exclude the private homes, operating hospitals and venues with nothing left to visit that were withdrawn on September 25 and 26. The ranked ten are unchanged.
Updated October 19, 2026: listings that could not be sourced, or that are private or have no public access, were withdrawn after an October review, so some of the state's town counts are lower. The documented total stays as published until the November update.
Updated October 23, 2026: more listings were withdrawn after a dignity and sourcing review, so some of the state's town counts are lower. The documented total stays as published until the November update.
This is a documentation ranking, not a visitation guide; sites not open to visitors are marked on their entries.