| Address |
| 214 Jackson St, Anoka, MN 55303, USA (Anoka, Minnesota)
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| Information |
Billy's Bar and Grill
This bar and restaurant in Anoka, Minnesota is housed in a former hotel built in the 1800s. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. The restaurant offers food, drink and entertainment in the form of karaoke and the occasional live music act. It is also reputedly haunted.
The Jackson Hotel
Built in 1877 by a Swedish immigrant named Charles G. Jackson, the front of the building still bears his name (C.G. Jackson) on the front. The establishment was originally named the Anoka Hotel, but the name was changed to the Jackson Hotel just a few years later. It held both a bar and a restaurant within.
On August 16, 1884 a horrible fire swept through Anoka. A total of 86 buildings were destroyed by the fire. A loss of more than $646,000 in property was reported at the time; an extremely huge sum in 1884. The fire broke out in a skating rink behind the post office. A breeze quickly spread the flames to other businesses and the entire block was on fire by the time firemen arrived on the scene. The fire continued to spread across streets, catching more and more buildings on fire. Restaurants, stores, the high school, residences, a bank, an opera house, a stable, a blacksmith shop, an engine house, the local jail and a few mills were among the buildings destroyed in the fire. Luckily nobody was killed in the fire and injuries were minimal. The Jackson Hotel (as well as another hotel) were also severely damaged by the fire.
In 1885, the Jackson Hotel once again opened its doors for business. On August 22, 1885, just barely past the first anniversary of the fire, the hotel became the scene of Anoka's first murder. A drunken disagreement between friends turned deadly as W.F. Mirick (or possibly Mieriet) opened fire on his pal Peter Gross (a German immigrant) with a revolver. Only one of the shots fired struck Gross. It hit him in the back as he attempted to flee from the gunman.
Mirick ran from the scene of his crime and the mortally wounded Gross managed to drag himself into the hotel. He was taken to a room upstairs and put under the care of a doctor, but died the following night. The killer was eventually caught and convicted for his crime.
Charles Jackson and his wife moved away and eventually passed on. In the 1920s the building passed into the ownership of relative Fred Jackson through an inheritance. In 1952, the building was converted into apartments and operated in this capacity until 1975. The building changed owners a couple of times after that. Now it is home to Billy's Bar and Grill.
The Haunting
Oddly, the phantom that has appeared inside the former hotel to multiple witnesses is that of a woman and apparently not that of Peter Gross. The spectral woman with red hair is said to appear in a third floor window. Some believed the ghost to be that of Charles Jackson's wife, Lotta. This in turn led to stories that she'd committed suicide in the building. She actually died of pneumonia near Crooked Lake, Minnesota. Sometimes the ghostly woman is seen walking through the restaurant as well. The locals call the ghost "Mrs. Jackson", though there is some conjecture that the ghost is actually that of a red haired prostitute from the 1920s. It is said that the prostitute vanished while working at the hotel.
The restaurant has also had odd unexplained noises and items moved by an unseen force at times. Pictures on the walls are witnessed to shift about and lights turn on and off seemingly of their own accord. Cases of beer once shifted inside a closed room so that the door was blocked. |
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| Related Sites |
Billy's Bar & Grill, Anoka, MN
Web site for the allegedly haunted restaurant in Anoka, MN. |
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| Similar Destinations |
| Leo's Market at the Crossroads |
| Little A'Le'Inn |
| Hell, Michigan |
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| See Also on TheCabinet.com |
| Blog: Fire That Swept the Halloween Capitol of the World (08/16/09) |
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| Available from Amazon.com |
The Minnesota Road Guide to Haunted Locations |
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