The Forepaugh mansion was built in 1870 for dry goods merchant and shoe manufacturer Joseph Forepaugh and his wife Mary. Today, the mansion is famous for two things: fine dining, and being among the most haunted places in the state.

(Content Warning: suicide, death, sexual exploitation)

Rumors of a haunting started soon after the historic mansion was converted into a restaurant in 1976. Customers and staff alike began reporting strange experiences, including hearing footsteps where no one was there, seeing objects move by themselves, and vanishing apparitions of a young woman and an older man, both in Victorian clothing.

Local folklore has identified these ghostly residents as the restless spirits of Joseph Forepaugh and a maid named Molly with whom he had an affair. After their affair was discovered, the story goes, both died by suicide and the restless spirits have haunted the house ever since,

Here at Minnesota Unknown, we pride ourselves on our research, and do not share any stories on our tour without first confirming every detail we can through primary sources. We have spent a great deal of time poring over old documents, searching for any details that might corroborate the legend of Molly. And what did we find? Listen on to find out!

minnesotaunknown.com/podcast

At the turn of the 20th century, the most beloved celebrity in St. Paul, Minnesota was a bugle-playing chimney sweep named Slunky Norton.

For our inaugural episode, hosts Hannah, Alex, and Josie provide an origin story for Minnesota Unknown by bringing listeners along down a research rabbit hole that has been an obsession for these three local history nerds for years. The three used to work together at the Minnesota Historical Society, and during their time there they came across the incredible story of Slunky Norton—a chimney sweep, entertainer, bugler, Santa Claus, philanthropist, radio host, and beloved local celebrity.

You can find detailed show notes for this and all episodes at minnesotaunknown.com/podcasts, featuring accompanying images, links to more info, and lists of sources cited.

If you have questions, comments, corrections, complaints, or compliments, or would like to suggest a topic for a future episode, please email us at info@minnesotaunknown.com. We’d truly love to hear from you.

Welcome to a very special BONUS episode of Minnesota Unknown!

This is a companion piece to our first episode, which covered a bugle-playing chimney sweep named Skunky Norton who was a beloved local celebrity in St. Paul at the turn of the 20th century. You don’t necessarily have to have heard our first episode to understand this one, though we do hope you’ll check it out if you haven’t already.

Our original edit of the first episode was about twice as long, mostly because we went on a long digression into the broader history of chimneysweeps. We talked about the evolution of the profession from its origins in the 1500s through the 20th century, and looked at regional differences between chimney sweeping in Britain, the US, and continental Europe.

Ultimately, we decided to cut most of the background material from that first episode, and keep it focused on Slunky Norton and Saint Paul. However, we think the parts that we cut were nonetheless pretty interesting, and that this extra material really helps put Slunky in context. So we are pleased to offer that background context here as a special bonus episode.

Meanwhile, we’ll be releasing a new regular episode on a completely different soon. Be sure to follow or subscribe so you don’t miss it. But for now, listen on to learn everything you ever wanted to know about chimney sweeps!

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Content Warning: this episode includes discussion of child labor, mistreatment of children laborers, child death, slavery, and racism.

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Click here for shownotes, bonus images, links to more resources, transcripts, and a list of sources cited.