Forepaugh's Restaurant: Upscale Dining For The Afterlife
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Every Friday in October, WCCO Radio's Edgar Linares takes us on spooky adventures in the Twin Cities. This Friday's haunted spot, St. Paul's Forepaugh's Restaurant.
Joseph Forepaugh arrived in St. Paul in 1858 via riverboat on the Mississippi. The home, now an upscale restaurant, was originally built in 1870.
Forepaugh was a savvy businessman who made his money in dry goods. He was married and had five children, but he also had a mistress named Molly.
"Molly, who was pregnant with Joseph Forepaugh's baby, committed suicide by hanging herself on the third-floor chandelier and throwing herself out the window," said Mimi Doran, the restaurant's general manager.
Then in 1892, Forepaugh committed suicide in the woods near Selby and Hamline. People say the restaurant is now haunted by Molly and a ghostly man.
"We feel or see or hear things every single day here at Forepaugh's," Doran said.
Paranormal investigators and ghost enthusiasts have examined the building in the past, snapping photos and recording hours and hours of audio. Every Halloween Molly's table on the third floor is always reserved, usually a year in advance.
Doran described many occasions when her staff would go floor by floor, turning off lights as they close down for the night. When staff get in their cars to leave, they'll notice the top floor light is still on.
"Just one light on the third floor, and that's Molly's light," Doran said.
Doran also said one time as she was giving a tour to some guests, a customer sitting at a table jokingly muttered, "Too bad the place is haunted." That's when glasses at the nearby waiters station starting shaking.
John Ramsey, Forepaugh's maitre'd, says last year he had a ghostly encounter. Listen here:
