The Spirits of First Avenue in Minneapolis

Minneapolis' Most Haunted

The most famous ghost story of First Avenue is of a woman waiting at the bus depot for her husband to come back from the second world war. She had learned that he died in combat and distraught with the news, went to the women's restroom and hung herself. She has been seen in the ladies' stall or seven dancing in the main room in a green army jacket, but when they see her dancing, well, she doesn't have any legs.

But here's where the story gets tricky, another report is the girl is wearing green army fatigues and bell bottoms, but those were popular in the late 60s and early 70s, so does that mean it was during the Vietnam War? And since the Greyhound Station was already abandoned before that (in fact the club didn't open until 1968), what is the truth about this unusual girl?

There's a YouTube video with a local paranormal radio host who went in to the place with a psychic. When they got to the bathroom, she said she saw the woman there and there was blood on her. That would be unusual for a hanging (but the entire suicide story is an urban legend that isn't corroborated by any newspaper clippings, after all it's also claimed that the woman died in the restroom from a drug overdose). However, the psychic did say that she saw the spirit pulling the hair of a nearby employee and when they asked the employee about it, she said that she often felt someone pulling at her hair in the building and just always thought it was just her imagination getting the best of her.

The story of the poor woman has been going around since at least the 1980s. Some people have claimed to see a bloody woman in white near the bathroom, one woman claimed that she heard a girl crying in one of the stalls in the bathroom when she was one of the only people in the club. When she told the bartender about it, the bartender said they were the only people there.

Former general manager Jack Meyers (who ran the club from the 1980 from to 2010) saw something strange in the wall and decided to crack it open by an area known as the record room, but found 12 feet of empty space. His quote, “and there was only one thing in there: a big booth, like a pew. The rumor is, that’s where the woman died. They walled it in! Why did they wall it in? I was there when they knocked down that wall, because we were all going, what is in there?” Deejays playing records in the record room in previous decades when they used to spin vinyl would talk about how the record player arm would sometimes start bouncing around the album for no reason and even today's digital electronic music makers have heard moans and groans in their headphones that definitely weren't part of the music.

The building site also was said to have hosted a slaughterhouse before the bus depot and sometimes people in the basement can hear the screams of the spirits of the animals being killed, but we weren't able to find any corroborating evidence that there was a slaughterhouse on this site, it seems like more of a rumor than anything else.

But that doesn't mean first avenue only has a bathroom ghost. There's also the spirit of Flippy, who likes to make the sound of bar stools being put onto tables. Employees have talked about seeing strange characters after-hours who were loitering during closing, but when approached would vanish into midair.

Discover the Haunting Mysteries of First Avenue

Get ready to explore the eerie side of Minneapolis at the legendary First Avenue! Known for its music and nightlife, this iconic venue hides a chilling history beneath its vibrant facade. From the restless spirit of a woman said to haunt the restroom to the mysterious sounds of footsteps and whispers in empty rooms, First Avenue is brimming with ghostly tales. Whether it’s the spine-tingling sensation of a ghostly presence, unexplained sounds, or even the flicker of shadows, our guided tour offers an unforgettable journey into Minneapolis’s haunted past. Check our Minneapolis ghost tour reviews on Google to see what others are saying about us. Don’t miss your chance to experience First Avenue like never before—book your Minneapolis Ghost Tour today, if you dare!

Find Your Next Paranormal Experience...