The Old Baraboo Inn

The Old Baraboo Inn, in Baraboo, Wisconsin, operated as a tavern and brothel in the late 19th century, and current residents believe that may help explain its haunted reputation.  Three prostitutes are said to have died in the building, and two former owners have expired within its walls.  The building was built in 1864, and was an active business until a fire closed its doors in 1988; B.C. Farr bought the building in 1998, and reopened it as a tavern in 2002, renting out the second floor as apartments.

Reported phenomena include: lights turning on and off by themselves; objects like tools, utensils, dishes, and cups moving on their own or by some unseen hand; doors inexplicably opening and closing; phantom honky-tonk or "old" music being heard; an apparition of a salon dancer who is referred to as "Mary"; and people having the door shut and lights turned off in the walk-in cooler by what is suspected to be a disapproving former owner--although, apparently this ghost will sometimes open the door to the cooler for those whom he likes.

The current owner is convinced that there is something unexplained happening in the tavern, and is open about his experiences.

"I don't really care what people think," said Farr in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal. "I know what I've seen."

Both second floor residents and tavern employees, too, have gone on record about the haunting, and some residents have even listed it as a reason for moving out.