Three Haunted Places Around Duluth

Certain Griggs dorms at UMD are said to be haunted by the spirits of two students. Photo by Jodie LaPalm

Griggs Hall Ghosts  

Did you know that UMD has its very own ghosts? 

There have been several reports over the years from students stating that Griggs Hall is haunted. The rumor goes that two students died from alcohol poisoning and have since roamed around Griggs Hall.

Students have said they have heard the sounds of someone vomiting, along with the smell of it, and cursing coming from the bathroom. 

The Glensheen Mansion Murders

One of the most – if not the most – well known murders in Duluth took place at the Glensheen Mansion. 

On June 27, 1977, the heiress to a mining range fortune, Elizabeth Congdon, and her night nurse, Velma Pietila, were killed in the dead of night. 

Velma was found dead, beaten to death with a candlestick. Elizabeth was found in her bedroom, suffocated by her pillow. 

Police investigated the family, specifically Elizabeth’s adopted daughter Marjorie Caldwell, as well as Marjorie’s husband Roger Caldwell. 

Turns out, Marjorie and Roger were having financial problems, but there was a solution. Marjorie was set to inherit roughly $8 million when Elizabeth passed away, so the Caldwells took matters into their own hands. 

Together they hatched a plan to kill Elizabeth – who, mind you, was 83 years old already – to gain access to the fortune. Roger was convicted but Marjorie was acquitted. 

Visitors have reported seeing the two women wandering around the mansion as well feeling a chill when standing in the spot where Velma was killed and being overcome with sadness while touring the mansion.   

The William A. Irvin 

The William A. Irvin onced hauled iron ore and coal from Two Harbors and Duluth, Minnesota all the way to Lorian and Conneut, Ohio and Gary, Indiana. 

Now it sits in Canal Park as a museum of its glory days. But tours to admire the ship isn’t all you can find there. 

According to the haunted ship’s website, a ghost by the name of William Wuori still haunts the freighter. 

William Wuori was a sailor on the William A. Irvin and died in 1964, the only death that occurred on the ship. William and two other sailors, Leon Shuffitt Jr. and Stanley Pennell, were in the boiler room on the ship when the boiler exploded, scalding William to death. 

Leon and Stanley were injured but able to recover. 

It is said that William still haunts the ship, more specifically the boiler room and has been dubbed “the boiler room man.” How creative. 

You can check it out for yourself by touring The William A. Irvin this spooky season.