St. Paul - Wabasha Street Caves

St. Paul's limestone caves are haunted. The caves have been used since the 1840s for storing food, growing mushrooms, and mining silica. In 1933, the world's first underground nightclub, the Castle Royal, was opened inside one of the caves. The exquisite night spot featured a 1,600 square-foot dance floor and attracted a number of the country's most notorious gangsters.

In 1934, witnesses saw three men gunned down in front of the fireplace in the Castle Royal, but by the time that police arrived the bodies were gone and the blood cleaned up. The only evidence was bullet holes in the fireplace, which can be seen to this day.

The ghosts of Castle Royal include those murdered hoodlums, as well as the apparition of a man in a panama hat and a ghostly couple, a man and a woman, who materialize around 3:00 A.M. in the barroom.

(St. Paul is east of Minneapolis on I-94. The entrance to the massive caves is located at 215 South Wabasha St. in downtown St. Paul. The barroom is in the central, finished cave.)

Phone: 612-224-1191