The Hanson House/Grand Hotel
My name is Vicky. My husband, Phil and I own and run Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop in what we feel is a haunted building in Stoughton, Wisconsin.
We had done flea markets for 17 years before opening our first shop. We opened our first shop in the back of a Bumper To Bumper garage. While at this place, Phil and I had always dreamed of owning our own building.
We had our eye on one building in town. Every time we went into this building, we would always dream of owning it-talking about what we would do to the building if we owned it. We knew the restaurant that was in the building, would be moving out soon, because they were building a new building. We had talked to some of the people that worked in the place and they told us that we really didn't want this building. It needed a lot of work and they also told us it was haunted. One of my girlfriends also told us that it was haunted.
That didn't stop Phil and I from wanting this building. We were both in love with this beautiful building. Phil walked into the building on moving day and asked, does anyone know who owns the building. A man told Phil, “I do.” With that, Phil then asked him how much he wanted and Phil told him, “We would love to buy it.” We are now on our way to owning our beautiful, new building, the building we have dreamed of owning for years.
Phil and I bought our building on August of 2004. We were told my friends and previous renters that the building is haunted, but we have had our eyes on this building for a long time and that didn't matter to us whatsoever. I always felt that nothing bad has happened in the building by the hauntings, so it didn't really worry us to much. We always thought they must be friendly ghosts. I wanted to give the little girl that we had been told haunts the building a name, so I picked out Emmy Sue, because I liked that name. It sounded old to me. This way, when I went into the building I could say hi to her by name.
I would head down to the new building every night after work to paint on the main floor. Otis would lie right by me and I would have the radio up loud so as not to hear any noises. One night I was setting up the Kids Room and putting VHS tapes up on the shelves and Otis was sleeping right by my feet when all of the sudden, I could hear people talking. It was loud enough that it even woke Otis up and he started to bark. I told him to lie down and stop barking and went back to my work. All of the sudden I heard it again. Well, needless to say, that was enough for me for one night. I took Otis and went home. I have no idea where this was coming from and I couldn’t make out what was being said. That’s the only time that happened to me.
We opened up the new shop for business on October 1, 2004. Everything was going very well. Everyone loved the place. Some people would come in and let us know what they all knew about its being haunted and yet nothing seems to be happening, other then the one night. They would all say it only happens late at night, so I felt safe. I still don’t like going into the basement alone.
One day, a lady came in off the street to shop around. She stopped in the front room and held her chest and started breathing very fast. I asked her if anything was wrong and she didn’t answer me. She just kept looking around holding her chest and breathing very hard. I asked her again, worried she might be having a heart attack. She finely looked at me and asked me if I have spirits. I asked "Excuse me?" I was not really taking in what she meant. She then asked me if I had ghosts in the building. I told her that we had always been told that we did, but I didn’t know for sure.
She walked around the first room and told me that we have a little girl ghost in the building. She is sad. Then she went downstairs and told me that something happened to the little girl under the steps. She didn’t know what had happened, but it was something traumatic. She also told me that the big Furniture Room has hot and cold spots which means that there are spirits in the room. She also went on to tell me that Otis didn’t like the downstairs because animals could sense these type of things. She told me she is full-Indian and that she has a special gift and she is able to feel these things. She then went upstairs and left. A lot of what she told me that day, was told to me by other people that told me about the building. We had always been told that a little girl cries in the basement late at night. It was kind of spooky to hear this lady tell me all the stuff that I had already been told.
I went home that night and started searching on the Internet about ghost and hauntings. I found a site that listed groups of Paranormals that would come and research free of charge.
I am not a paranormal, just a person of a haunted building trying
to find answers.
If you are ever in Stoughton please stop in and see what you think
of my building, 421 E. Main Street, Stoughton, WI.
Our hours are:
Tue. Wed. Fri. 10:00 to 5:00
Thur: 1:00 to 5:00
Sat. 10:00 to 2:00.
We are closed on Sunday & Monday's.
Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop, the way it looks today.
