Walker House (Wisconsin)
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[edit] History
The Walker House is located in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, which is in the southwestern corner of the state. Although it has been closed for many years, it is one of the oldest inns in the state, and believed to be haunted. There are many reports of paranormal activity that have occurred inside of the Walker House, making it a part of regional folklore.
It was built in 1836 and did a brisk business for many years, serving as a meeting house for men from all over the region. On November 1, 1842, a public hanging took place at the Walker House and a man named William Caffee was executed for shooting another man in an argument. The hanging was a strange and bizarre affair with the condemned man being brought to the inn astride his coffin, beating out the tune of a funeral march with empty beer bottles. He was a man that would be remembered in Mineral Point for many year and while no one would realize it at the time..... death would not keep William Caffee from showing up again at the Walker House.
In 1957, the inn closed its doors and stood vacant for over seven years, abandoned to ruin and vandalism. In 1964, the building was purchased by Ted Landon and he was intent on restoring the place to its former glory. As Landon began work on the restoration of the building, strange incidents started to occur that seemed to have no explanation, including sounds of heavy breathing and mysterious footsteps.
In 1974, the tavern and inn re-opened but things did not go well for Landon and his partners and in 1978, they sold the place to a Dr. David Ruf. He would place the management of the place in the hands of Walker Calvert, the man who would encounter the resident ghost more times than anyone else.
The strange sounds continued to be reported in the building, along with voices that came from nowhere and actual apparitions like that of a headless man who Calvert spotted in the dining room in 1981. The spirit stayed visible for several minutes, wearing a rumpled gray suit of miner's clothing, and then vanished. A short time later, another ghost (this one with a head) was spotted on the second floor of the inn.
Is it really the ghost of William Caffee, still lingering at the site of his last moments on earth? The staff and visitors of the Walker House certainly think so.
