Halloween Friday History: KA's Most Haunted Project

Having been in the construction business since 1897, Kraus-Anderson probably has some creepy old buildings in its portfolio; but the prize for most haunted goes to the 1976 Forepaugh’s renovation in St. Paul’s Irvine Park neighborhood.

Irvine Park

Located just north of downtown, Irvine Park was the first fashionable district of St. Paul. Before Minnesota was a state, people were building mansions around Irvine Park.

The neighborhood’s reputation was cemented when Minnesota’s territorial governor, Alexander Ramsey, built his home there, and a couple of years later, in the early 1870s, Joseph Forepaugh spent some of his dry-goods fortune building a mansion directly across the street from the Ramsey house.

A Neighborhood in Crisis

Irvine Park did not keep its fashionable reputation into the 20^th century. The streetcar and subsequent transportation improvements made other neighborhoods attractive to wealthy residents while the center of St. Paul became more industrial and commercial.

The fountain that now graces the center of the park is a recreation of one that was melted down in 1927, and, predictably, the 1930s didn’t do the park any favors.

In the 1970s, the city of St. Paul planned to make a clean slate of the neighborhood and replace the old houses with high-rise apartments. A preservation campaign resulted in Irvine Park being included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Kraus-Anderson got to participate in the Irvine Park renaissance when it was chosen to convert the old Forepaugh mansion into Forepaugh’s, a restaurant that has been a St. Paul fine dining institution for nearly half of a century.

A Haunting History

Dripping with antiques, Queen Ann trimmings, and historical significance, Forepaugh’s makes a natural setting for ghost stories, but there is really only one story told about one ghost that haunts this old mansion. This version of the story is quoted directly from seeksghosts.com:

“One young woman named Molly was hired as a serving maid, for Mrs. Forepaugh. Molly had a natural beauty that outshone her drab uniform, she also had a pleasant personality.

It wasn’t long before Joseph took note of this new servant. In the months that followed he found many reasons to keep Molly nearby. It was noted by the other household staff that these two often disappeared into rooms in the mansion for hours–the doors closed to prevent prying eyes.

Mary found out about her husbands illicit activities when one afternoon she discovered Joseph and Molly in bed. Furious she demanded Joseph end the affair immediately. He did. But her intervention was too late, for Molly afterward discovered she was pregnant.

In despair, Molly tied a rope to a third-floor chandelier and looped the other end around her neck. She then threw herself out the window ending her life.

The Forepaugh’s sold the mansion after this and moved to Europe for a time in an attempt to repair their marriage. When they returned to St. Paul they had a new home built on the same block within sight of their first mansion.

By 1892, Joseph Forpaugh had sunk into a deep depression. The family excuse given was he was worried about his business, but it was doing fine. The real reason was he still mourned Molly’s death.

At the age of 58, Joseph went to a secluded area on the grounds of his original mansion and shot himself in the head–ending his life.

After his death, his original mansion quickly gained the reputation as being haunted.”