The Old Baraboo Inn Investigation
In Baraboo, Wisconsin, on the corner of Lynn and Walnut Street, there sits the Old Baraboo Inn of 158 years in age. This establishment was first opened as a Tavern and Brothel in 1864 by George Bender, a German immigrant seeking the inception of a brewery and boarding house. Where the bar and restaurant is now was the tavern, and upstairs where tenants reside in apartments is where the brothel used to be. There used to be a playroom for the children in this establishment when the prostitutes would bring their children to work, and on Sunday the place would hold church services for these mothers and the kids. This historic treasure holds so much history you can feel it reverberating through the walls. But that’s not all the Old Baraboo Inn is known for.. This building also houses ghosts.
In the 1880s, the Old Baraboo Inn had a railway station across the street called the Baraboo Train Depot. This railway station was a straight shot to Chicago, the form of transportation that brought mobs to and from the area. They were especially drawn to this location during the prohibition, where they ran a Speak-Easy out of the Old Baraboo Inn. Owners of businesses weren’t given much say when their establishment was chosen, as most times they were murdered if they denied the mobs access to their building. So, most would allow them entry, but it was merely to stay alive.
It is said there was a particular individual who would execute people in the basement of the Old Baraboo Inn when Speak-Easy rules were broken. He was the one who would finish the job the mobs started when they would beat and torture specific individuals. An execution pole still sits in the basement where the designated killing area was located. Bullet holes can still be found within it.
Al Capone was one of those frequent visitors of this establishment during the prohibition. He is rumored to still come and go even after death. Paranormal investigators have captured evidence of this former mobster communicating with them through their devices. However, he’s not the only one who’s come forward at the Baraboo Inn.
An evil entity resides in the basement that to this day scares people out. Some say it’s the spirit of the one in charge of executing others for breaking the rules, but there’s no solidifying proof of that theory. Regardless, there is a thick and heavy energy lingering in the air that gives people the feeling of impending doom. Most steer clear of it when they can. If one should ever be so lucky though, the current owners do occasionally offer special tours that include a walk-through of this basement.
Believe it or not, that is not all. Aside from the rumored drunk cowboy and Cybil who dances to the jukebox downstairs, there is also the spirit of a prostitute who teases people upstairs. She was apparently killed in the Baraboo Inn and now likes to interact with guests. This sex worker goes by the name of Mary, and she’s found in one of the room upstairs with a little boy and a little girl who stay in the playroom. Other paranormal activity in the building includes lights turning on and off by themselves, Tupperware and utensils being thrown around in the kitchen, doors opening and closing by themselves, and objects being found in different places than where they were left.
In 1988, the Old Baraboo Inn set fire and business shut down. At this time the Inn was running as a brewery/winery and the building then remained vacant for ten years. After a decade, the next and current owner B.C. Farr purchased the building and began full restoration of the first and second floors. Online documentation says Farr retired in 2018 and that the business is owned by the Food Network now. This information is in fact false, and you will still find B.C. Farr at this establishment, waiting to share its history with whoever comes through the door.
It took four years for B.C. to restore the Old Baraboo Inn. Part of this renovation included moving the hidden stairs to the brothel to the outside of the building so the renters of the upstairs apartments had easier access. Once the second floor was renovated, the downstairs was transformed into a restaurant and bar.
The Old Baraboo Inn is still running and hosting ghost tours annually in the month of October. This Inn has been the talk of numerous podcasts, had been visited by multiple paranormal teams and investigators, and even had its story covered on the Travel Channel. The activity continues after decades, and of course, Two Halves of a Soul wanted to see it for themselves.
This investigation’s blog post is written from the perspective of Sierra Swan, one half of Two Halves of a Soul.
For this investigation, Whitney & I were joined by my father, Troy, and Whitney’s sister, Katie. We made the drive down to Baraboo late Sunday morning, not fully knowing what to expect as we did not schedule a tour, but optimistic nonetheless. We arrived not long before they opened, and decided to take a walk down the road to check out the fall views. We did not expect to be welcomed by not only the spirits, but by BC & his sister Shelly with open arms. Moments after we walked through the door, BC greeted us & began sharing some of the history of the building itself & letting us know that the establishment was haunted. While he was sharing his knowledge, I felt something brush against my left arm & grabbed my arm out of instinct. I checked behind me to see if it was Katie’s sweater, but she was about a foot away from me. BC noticed & mentioned he felt “lit up” and he & the spirits loved our energy. As he continued to show us around the front bar, he pointed over towards the back bar, telling us to explore as we pleased. We walked around marveling at all the old photographs & cozy energy that seemed to surround us while taking many photos from all angles as we explored. We made our way back to the front bar & ordered some drinks & a pizza because, well, food is life & this is Wisconsin. While eating, we decided to look through the photos we had taken to see if we had captured anything. Sure shit. In one of the photos I took in the mirror, I see a wispy outline of…a cowboy…?! I yell out for Whitney & run over to BC to show him. He was astonished & told me to send the photo to them immediately! We were friggen amped up now.
After we finished our drinks & the entire pizza, Whitney, Katie, & I ventured back into the back bar & women’s bathroom to attempt some communication & check out the EMF levels around the bar while my dad went over to chat with BC. We were informed when we got there the women’s bathroom is one of the hotspots. While we did not receive any communication via our iOvilus device or the EMF meter in there, Whitney kept seeing a woman in a black corset in her head. She was very drawn to the women’s bathroom the entire time we were at the Inn. We then moved back into the back bar with our devices. We then got a few words rapid fire style on the iOvilus device:
7 - PIERCE - FAST - SILENT
We had not received many words on the device, so this took us by surprise & seemed to form a broken sentence. Suddenly all 3 of us had the same thought – someone was describing their death, & it ended in gunfire. Shortly after, my dad came walking over & asked “how much do you love me” (typical dad move). He then proceeded to tell us their Investigation Coordinator was on her way and would be there shortly. She happened to be BC’s sister, Shelly. Once Shelly arrived, we began our ghost talk & she showed us some of the evidence they had captured over the years. She asked us what kind of equipment we use, & when we mentioned we had an SB7 Spirit Box (the thing that goes PSH-PSH-PSH through radio stations letting spirits communicate if you aren’t sure what the heck that is). She had us go grab the rest of our equipment & we took it out to show her.
Next, Shelly asked if we wanted to go upstairs & take a look at the old brothel which of course we said YES. As we were preparing to move upstairs, we got 2 more rapid fire words:
RELEASE - CONTROL
We weren’t sure what that was in reference to, so we turned to follow Shelly & I asked “out this way?” Immediately the iOvilus said YES at the same time Shelly answers yes. We all got excited as this is not a very common word on the device (strange, I know). It then said HEAD - ON, so we took that as a sign to head up. We walked outside & up the stairs into the old brothel area & as we approached the door, Shelly knocked out of respect for the spirits before entering. They are used to visitors on Friday & Saturday, not Sundays especially during the day. As she opened the door, the energy seemed to hit you like a gust of wind. It wasn’t particularly negative or anything like that, but just A LOT of energy all at once. We convened on the couches in the living room, & Katie sat in the chair in the corner. She felt a very prominent feminine/maternal energy surrounding her. We then had her swap with my dad, Troy, to see if we could get a response from the male spirit upstairs. The energy still felt feminine, but we decided to break out the Spirit Box to attempt communication verbally with the male spirit. We began asking if there was a male presence & if we could communicate with him. We continued to get a faint woman’s voice, but could only make out a word here & there. I realized I didn’t turn on the temp gauge on the spirit box, & quickly turned that on before beginning communication again. We hear a female voice come through again, & after saying we still feel it’s a woman, the temp gauge goes off & begins flickering blue – indicating a cold temperature. *I’M SORRY THIS IS SO LONG BUT IT NEEDS TO BE SO BEAR WITH ME* We exclaim & thank her for confirming she was a female, and she firmly places her hand over the sensor which makes the light stop flickering. I say “ope she put her hand on it!”, & immediately a woman’s voice says “YES” through the Spirit Box. We then decide to move into the bedroom & turn my dad into ghost bait for one of the sex workers! He laid down on the bed, 360 cam in hand, asking if Mary was with us. We still could only hear a woman’s voice coming through, but couldn’t quite make out the words. My dad then threw down a couple 20’s on the bed as an offering to her, and Shelly called out “Come on ladies!”. My dad followed with “I heard Mary’s the best!”, & immediately the temp gauge was going off and flickering blue again. We all thanked Mary for communicating with us & continued to cheer her on.
While all of this was going on, Katie was in the next bedroom, which was the kid’s
playroom during the days of the brothel. She had a strong feeling there were two small children in there, believing one was a little boy. I should point out, I was the only one in our group who had heard of the little boy spirit rumored to reside there from listening to the Horrific Heartland episode on a podcast myself, & was stunned Katie was able to pick up on that (psychic abilities run in their family as well). We asked if one of the kids could confirm they were children, and the temp gauge went off once again, flickering blue. We thanked the spirits for communicating with us, & decided to wrap up our investigation (until next time…hehe).
We thanked CB and Shelly for the millionth time for their hospitality & generosity during our visit, & headed on home. After work the next day, Whitney & I met up at her place to go over evidence & start organizing it all. It wasn’t until then while going through my Live Photos we realized WE CAPTURED YET ANOTHER APPARITION IN A MIRROR!! We can’t tell for sure if it was a man or a woman as it was only able to partially manifest, but it is clearly a white figure walking out of the hall leading from the women’s bathroom. We are happy to say we CANNOT wait to go back to the Old Baraboo Inn, & are hoping to book an overnight stay in the brothel in November for an investigation!
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