The Ghosts of St Paul: Private 2-hour Spooky Evening TourPrivate Tour

Things to know

What makes this tour special

Minnesota’s state capitol began as a boot-legging town in 1837 after a fur trader turned bootlegger was removed from Fort Snelling five miles south of what is now downtown St Paul. Within 20 years, the Minnesota territory became the 32nd united state in the union. Since then, the city has become a bustling metropolitan, but with nearly two centuries of history, more than a few ghosts and haunts have left their mark.

On this private ghost tour of St. Paul, you will:

• Begin your private tour overlooking the Mississippi River and hear tales of how both St Paul and Minneapolis arose in the mid-1800s;
• Listen for yourself for the “Ho-ho” of Old Bets, a Mdewakanton Dakota who was an ally to settlers in the new city;
• Hear eery tales of the State Capitol and St Paul Cathedral - the city’s two imposing, domed giants;
• Walk through the historic downtown for tales of the 1920s and ’30s mobsters and the stories they left behind a century later;
• End your tour at the St Paul Hotel, a mobster haunt with a mysterious bellhop who never left.

Your tour begins above the mighty Mississippi at the Old Revenue Building, whose modern construction will initially make you wonder how a building so new can already have a ghost in its midst. Stay tuned for tales of flying tax files and spectres wandering in empty cubicles.

Then make your way downtown and learn about the city’s early beginnings, when the Dakota Native Americans had a village named Kaposia, where the city now stands.

Visit the State Capitol, where the golden-domed behemoth designed by Cass Gilbert is said to be haunted by more than a few ‘friendly ghosts’. From the capitol, look onto St Paul’s Cathedral, whose own imposing dome is the only spot in the city higher than the Capitol itself. Hear tales of the magnificent Beaux-Arts cathedral, and wander back after your tour to snap a few shots.

Later, be sure to examine whether a mysterious figure or two make their way into the frame with you.

Next, as you make your way past the Fitzgerald Theatre, hear the stories from where Garrison Keillor’s famous radio show, ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ aired each week. Like many theatres, it has changed many times, but there are those who have never left. Hear tales of a mysterious female singer when the theatre is empty, and the man who walks on the catwalk.

At the Landmark Center - originally the federal courthouse and post office - where you will hear tales of the city's mobsters and bootleggers for which the city was known throughout the 20s and 30s. Even though the building was sold, hear tales of the bellhop who stayed behind, leaving a story reminiscent of something from the Twilight Zone.

Your tour finishes at the St Paul Hotel where gangsters, like Leon Gleckman, made their prohibition home bases. From tales of the same bellhop at the Landmark Center to FBI spies - the stories that employees have of working at the hotel will leave you wanting to stay to hear more.

Be sure to pop inside for a whiskey cocktail from St Paul Grill or grab a coveted fireside seat in the lobby and sip an early afternoon martini from the M Street Cafe. 

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