Historic Hotel with a Door Knob-Jiggling Ghost
One of many haunted places along the Wisconsin Great River Road.
In 1888, a devastating fire wiped out much of Trempealeau’s commercial district along the Mississippi River. A boomtown-style structure that housed a furniture store and printing company was one of just a few to survive the blaze.
The building was a hotel by the 1930s, and has garnered a haunted reputation over the years.
Guests and staff alike have reported feeling the presence of a female spirit. She likes to stay in Room 5. If a guest takes her room, she will reportedly wander up and down the hall rattling door knobs, looking for a place to sleep.
In her book Spirits out of Time, author Annie Wilder writes about her stay in Room 5. After being awaken in the middle of the night by the door jiggling, Annie spoke with the spirit through an old radiator in the room, a means through which some psychic mediums believe ghosts can reach out to us.
“After this sincere attempt at communication,” Wilder write, “our best guess was that the spirit was not happy, didn’t want help, and did not want to go to the light.”
If you’re looking for a historic, haunted getaway among the bluffs of the eerie Mississippi, book your stay in Trempealeau Hotel now—and be sure to tell me how it goes!
Séance in a Haunted Theater
Peter Antoniou is bringing his psychic comedy tour to the historic, haunted Bend Theater in downtown West Bend for a fun and spooky two-night experience.
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