Hotel Mead

Location:  Wisconsin Rapids, Wood County, Wisconsin

Correction:  Several ghost web sites erroneously refer to it as the "Mead Hotel."

It is reported that the Shanghai room in the basement is haunted.  It is rumored that sometime during the 1950’s (1953?) the room was used as a bar and a female bartender was stabbed to death there.  

The Investigation:

The Hotel Mead is an upscale establishment that does not allow employees to speak with reporters or investigators.  However, several employees were willing to speak with us on the condition that their names remain confidential.  The Shanghai room is now used for a liquor storage room in the basement.

As of today we have not been able to confirm whether a woman was actually killed in the hotel.  However, Clara Bates, a bar owner in the nearby city Kellner was murdered in 1952.   That case is detailed in two books: 

• The Tangled Web : The Murder of Cad Bates; an Historic True Crime Mystery
  by John M. Potter (the DA who prosecuted the case)
• Please Pass the Roses by Colleen Kohler Kanieski (a relative of the man convicted of the crime)

This is a possible source for the rumor at the Hotel Mead.

• The room has a distinct scent of blood (from a distance of 20 feet).
• Lights flicker.
• Doors shut by themselves.
• The room is unusually cold.

We spoke with two young employees that have been working there for about a year.  Both of the ladies had heard the stories of the haunting, but neither of them had any personal experience within the room. A custodian that we interviewed had never heard of the place being haunted.  Another employee working in the restaurant also had no knowledge of the room reportedly being haunted.

The last employee we spoke with has worked at the hotel for over 20 years and had never heard the story of it being haunted or of a women being killed there.

During a subsequent visit we did speak with a desk clerk who acknowledged that he was aware of the haunting activities in the Shanghai room.  He knew about the flickering lights but had not experienced anything personally.  He recommended that we speak with a particular bartender.  Upon questioning the bartender, he nervously acknowledged the fact that the room was haunted, but when pressed for further details, he simply turned his back to us and refused to discuss the matter.

This case is still ongoing.

Designed by Terry Fisk
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Revised: September 28, 2004