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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Palmer House Hotel ranks among Minnesota's ten most haunted places

A new index ranks places by published accounts, not legend

September 30, 2026

With Halloween approaching, Palmer House Hotel in Sauk Centre ranks #10 in HauntBound's 2026 index of Minnesota's most haunted places. The index ranks 98 Minnesota sites by separate published accounts and how far back they go, not by fame or search popularity.

Palmer House Hotel ranks #10 and is Minnesota's most famous haunted site. Ralph and Christena Palmer built the three-story brick hotel in 1901 on the site of the Sauk Centre House, which had burned the previous year, and Nobel Prize-winning author Sinclair Lewis worked two summers there as a night desk clerk before fictionalizing it as the Minniemashie House in his novel Main Street. Eight separate published accounts describe activity there.

The hotel's upper floor once housed a bordello run by a man known locally as Raymond, and a woman in a wedding dress has been reported on those floors ever since. Guests and staff also describe a tall man in a hat blamed for thrown glasses in the bar. Ghost Adventures and The Dead Files have both featured the hotel, most recently under new owners Dave and Winifred Schrader, who bought the property in December 2025.

Statewide, the SS William A. Irvin in Duluth ranks #1.

"We rank by evidence, not legend: independent published accounts, documented history, and how far back the reports go. We don't claim ghosts are real, or that they aren't. We document where the reports concentrate, and we show our work," said Ben Fineman, editor of HauntBound. The ranking shows each site's documented record.

Visiting:Palmer House Hotel, 500 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, is a working hotel, restaurant and pub; rooms run $90 to $180 a night, by phone only.

For media:The full ranking: https://hauntbound.com/most-haunted/minnesota/The fact sheet, with cleared images: https://hauntbound.com/press/fact-sheets/minnesota/Venue contact: thepalmerhousehotel.comA short version follows.

HauntBound (hauntbound.com) is a family-friendly field guide to more than 6,000 documented haunted and historic places across the United States, ranked by published evidence rather than legend. No venue pays to be listed or ranked.

Media contact: Ben Fineman, Editor, HauntBound, editor@hauntbound.com

Short version

SHORT VERSION

Palmer House Hotel ranks among Minnesota's ten most haunted places

Palmer House Hotel in Sauk Centre ranks #10 in HauntBound's 2026 index of Minnesota's most haunted places, which ranks sites by separate published accounts rather than fame. The 1901 hotel is also the state's most famous haunted site, and Nobel Prize winner Sinclair Lewis worked there as a night clerk before fictionalizing it as the Minniemashie House in Main Street. Guests report a tall man in a hat blamed for thrown glasses in the bar, and a woman in a wedding dress on the upper floors; rooms there run $90 to $180 a night, by phone only.

Full ranking: https://hauntbound.com/most-haunted/minnesota/