Welcome To St. Charles Specters & Penance Ghost Tour
A town older than the nation itself, St. Charles is brimming with superstitions-turned-reality, like the dismembered witch slowly putting herself back together. Entities from beyond nestle into the otherwise quaint riverside retreat, retelling tales of famed adventurers, horrendous wartime prisons, and vicious serial killers.
The Man Behind Aaron Burr’s Fall
A site of conspiracy and intrigue, the building that housed Eckert’s Tavern was also a headquarters for Aaron Burr. The scandalous vice president shifted focus after his duel with Alexander Hamilton and sought to procure land the nation secured through the Louisiana Purchase. To do so, he turned to an enemy of the state, only for his plan to crumble.
Venture on a St. Charles Specters & Penance Ghost Tour to a forgotten piece of the town’s history. Connect the dots that link the traitorous Burr to Rufus Easton, one whistleblower behind the vice president’s brief exile to Europe. Easton’s spirit has been spotted in the Colonial building as if still seeking to expose Burr’s nefarious plot.
The building is also said to be inhabited by a young girl. Long after Burr’s treachery, the tavern burned down. With it, a nine-year-old girl who had no known connections to the building. Why she was there remains a mystery, but her presence hasn’t wavered since.
What Will I See?
Visit St. Charles’s Most Haunted Locations, Including:
- Mother-in-Law House – A quartet of ghosts make this unique 19th-century building one of St. Charles’ most haunted. From the sorrowful haunt of a young boy to the rage-filled “Mother-in-Law Ghost,” there’s plenty of activity to watch for.
- Old St. Charles County Jail – The site of the long-gone St. Charles County Jail still resonates with its most infamous specter: a black widow with an attitude problem. Calmer spirits reside near the old gallows, but it’s Emma Hepperman who still terrorizes St. Charles today.
- Frontier Park – The waters of the Missouri River carry the souls of the lost and the damned. They’re also a haven for The Montana, a sunken steamboat whose ghostly memory has been spotted floating along the fast currents.
The Four Haunts of 501 S. Main Street
Some of the lore behind this divided home may be rooted in fiction, but its spectral presence is all but myth. Legend has it that the aptly named Mother-in-Law House was owned by Captain Francis X. Kramer, who split the home to welcome his wife’s mother. From tenement apartments to a Civil War hospital, the tiny property has a rather elusive history. Surprisingly, its ghosts are its least-debated facets.
Muse with St. Charles Specters & Penance Ghost Tour the many lives of the Mother-in-Law House by exploring its four resident haunts. A saddened boy lingering by the stairs, a joyous young girl flittering in her Easter dress, and an old sea captain enjoying his pipe in a rocking chair are light and welcomed haunts. But there’s still one more.
Known only as the Mother-in-Law Ghost, the fourth spirit exhibits poltergeist tendencies. Dishware and utensils are often the target of the Mother-in-Law’s agitation. She’s not one of St. Charles’ most violent ghosts, but she definitely lets people know she’s there.
Why is St. Charles so Haunted?
The Tragedy of St. Charles’ Lady in White
Formerly the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, the tiny and charming building is home to one of St. Charles’ most heartbreaking haunts. Though its grounds show no signs of it, the property once housed the remains of the town’s deceased. Many have been moved — but one lingering specter remains behind.
Join a St. Charles ghost tour to uncover the tragedy of St. Charles’ Lady in White, an echo from a time long forgotten. Is the ethereal figure searching for her grave, earlier moved when the church was torn down? Or are her remains still embedded in the soil behind the Colonial structure?
The spirit stands silently in her white dress as if praying for the child she left behind. Thought to have been a victim of cholera, her stoic demeanor contrasts the horrid illness that stole the new mother’s life.
St. Charles’s Most Haunted
St. Charles’ history is riddled with horrid legends and tragic lore. From that history has manifested a trove of spirits, from forlorn ghosts to wrathful phantoms. Ethereal entities date back to the 19th and early 20th centuries, like the French-speaking man and woman who haunt Little Hills Winery and Restaurant. Who they are remains unknown, but they clearly didn’t get along when blood still coursed through their veins.
The couple fights frequently, slinging French retorts back and forth. Their negative energy has been strong enough to move dishware and utensils and generate frigid cold spots throughout the winery.
True to many universities around the world, Lindenwood has provided students with many ghost stories to share. From the teacher posted within the auditorium to the Sibley Chapel and Cobbs Hall haunts, there’s plenty of spectral activity for the student body to whisper about when the lights dim on campus.
* This is a walking tour and we do not enter privately-owned buildings or private property *
