Paranormal activity
Stones Throw was one of many places in the area believed to be haunted
Dana Hillestad
Issue date: 10/1/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion
As one of the investigators with Chippewa Valley Paranormal Investigators, we are always searching for answers to seemingly unexplained activity, as well as helping those whose homes or businesses may have strange occurrences they need our help with explaining.
One of the most well known haunted locations that we have longed to investigate is The Stones Throw bar, but due to the type of business, logistics made things difficult. In a number of books on hauntings in the general area, it is at the top of nearly every list. As a young teen, I was lucky to have family members who owned the bar, so I have been attached to it ever since. Even back then I seemed to feel something different about the bar, as if there was more than the eye could see.
The building at the corner of Barstow and Eau Claire Street downtown has been at the heart of the city's music scene since its humble early 20th century beginnings as a jazz and blues club.
Rumors have circulated for decades about a death on the property and according to a conversation I had with one of the former owners (who asked to remain anonymous due to her profession), she was under the impression that a man hung himself on the floor above the bar. Yet another rumor I heard was that a man was murdered and his body was then dragged downstairs, which could explain why his spirit is unable to rest.
Regardless of how he died, he certainly likes to let his presence be known. In fact, while the former owners I spoke with owned the bar, the rooms above were locked up and unused. Yet on a regular basis the light would be on. She stated they were unable to find any explanation for how it happened, but assumed it simply meant their legendary tenant was home.
She also told me the majority of stories she heard were from the bar and wait staff, who often were left alone in the building. However, on numerous occasions, bar patrons would tell her about seeing a strange-looking man staring at them from the mirror behind the bar. When they'd turn to scan the crowd for the man, he was nowhere to be found. The mirror's trace of him had been erased as well.
It seems the Stones Throw ghost seems to enjoy playing with the bartenders on an individual basis the most though. About 20 years ago, there was a bartender who was between apartments and was staying in the bar. As he was lying down one night, he looked towards the stage area at the moment that a glowing white apparition of a man walked across, vanishing into nothingness as he passed the edge of the stage. He told the owners that while the sight startled him, he felt no malice from the man.
In another story she shared with me, a different bartender was cleaning up at the end of the night, he had just finished replacing the bar stools under the railing of the balcony and was straightening up the main floor area when he heard scraping noises from the balcony area. He knew he was alone in the bar so immediately he ran up the stairs to see what had happened. He discovered that the stools were back where the patrons had abandoned them. Being a rational man he thought maybe he had only assumed he'd previously moved them and did it again. As he started back down the stairs, he turned to find his work undone yet again; he decided it would be better if he just left them that way.
It wasn't just the bartenders that were the victims of such pranks. She also told me that one night while her husband was in the back office doing paperwork, he heard the sound of "glass clinking" from the bar area. He rushed up front thinking they were being robbed and instead found all of the alcohol bottles were teetering on the edge of the shelves. After he corrected them, he double checked all of the locks to ensure no one had come in and done this. He couldn't explain how the bottles could have been moved.
More recently, former shot girl Brittany Steward was in the restaurant area downstairs cleaning the tables. Out of nowhere the jukebox began playing an unfamiliar tune. Steward said she immediately began searching the song list to find the strange 1920s era jazz song, but found nothing even remotely close. Realizing there was no reasonable explanation for the spontaneous performance, she fled the area, leaving the cleaning for someone else's bravery.
The former owners and employees that I spoke with all seem to believe that something unexplainable definitely resides within the stone walls. They all even went so far as to say they believed all of the people who shared their stories were not prone to fantasy and seemed perfectly sane. It seems that many fully believe in the legend, I know I certainly hope to get the chance to find out one day. The bar closed this past summer, so maybe we'll get the chance to investigate the stories soon, but until then it seems the Stones Throw's most infamous patron will remain a great local legend.
Hillestad, a print journalism major, is a guest columnist for The Spectator.
One of the most well known haunted locations that we have longed to investigate is The Stones Throw bar, but due to the type of business, logistics made things difficult. In a number of books on hauntings in the general area, it is at the top of nearly every list. As a young teen, I was lucky to have family members who owned the bar, so I have been attached to it ever since. Even back then I seemed to feel something different about the bar, as if there was more than the eye could see.
The building at the corner of Barstow and Eau Claire Street downtown has been at the heart of the city's music scene since its humble early 20th century beginnings as a jazz and blues club.
Rumors have circulated for decades about a death on the property and according to a conversation I had with one of the former owners (who asked to remain anonymous due to her profession), she was under the impression that a man hung himself on the floor above the bar. Yet another rumor I heard was that a man was murdered and his body was then dragged downstairs, which could explain why his spirit is unable to rest.
Regardless of how he died, he certainly likes to let his presence be known. In fact, while the former owners I spoke with owned the bar, the rooms above were locked up and unused. Yet on a regular basis the light would be on. She stated they were unable to find any explanation for how it happened, but assumed it simply meant their legendary tenant was home.
She also told me the majority of stories she heard were from the bar and wait staff, who often were left alone in the building. However, on numerous occasions, bar patrons would tell her about seeing a strange-looking man staring at them from the mirror behind the bar. When they'd turn to scan the crowd for the man, he was nowhere to be found. The mirror's trace of him had been erased as well.
It seems the Stones Throw ghost seems to enjoy playing with the bartenders on an individual basis the most though. About 20 years ago, there was a bartender who was between apartments and was staying in the bar. As he was lying down one night, he looked towards the stage area at the moment that a glowing white apparition of a man walked across, vanishing into nothingness as he passed the edge of the stage. He told the owners that while the sight startled him, he felt no malice from the man.
In another story she shared with me, a different bartender was cleaning up at the end of the night, he had just finished replacing the bar stools under the railing of the balcony and was straightening up the main floor area when he heard scraping noises from the balcony area. He knew he was alone in the bar so immediately he ran up the stairs to see what had happened. He discovered that the stools were back where the patrons had abandoned them. Being a rational man he thought maybe he had only assumed he'd previously moved them and did it again. As he started back down the stairs, he turned to find his work undone yet again; he decided it would be better if he just left them that way.
It wasn't just the bartenders that were the victims of such pranks. She also told me that one night while her husband was in the back office doing paperwork, he heard the sound of "glass clinking" from the bar area. He rushed up front thinking they were being robbed and instead found all of the alcohol bottles were teetering on the edge of the shelves. After he corrected them, he double checked all of the locks to ensure no one had come in and done this. He couldn't explain how the bottles could have been moved.
More recently, former shot girl Brittany Steward was in the restaurant area downstairs cleaning the tables. Out of nowhere the jukebox began playing an unfamiliar tune. Steward said she immediately began searching the song list to find the strange 1920s era jazz song, but found nothing even remotely close. Realizing there was no reasonable explanation for the spontaneous performance, she fled the area, leaving the cleaning for someone else's bravery.
The former owners and employees that I spoke with all seem to believe that something unexplainable definitely resides within the stone walls. They all even went so far as to say they believed all of the people who shared their stories were not prone to fantasy and seemed perfectly sane. It seems that many fully believe in the legend, I know I certainly hope to get the chance to find out one day. The bar closed this past summer, so maybe we'll get the chance to investigate the stories soon, but until then it seems the Stones Throw's most infamous patron will remain a great local legend.
Hillestad, a print journalism major, is a guest columnist for The Spectator.
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