Brodhead Manor

Brodhead Manor is a former school in Brodhead, Wisconsin, with a history stretching back more than 150 years. The first school building on the property was constructed in 1868, while the present cream-and-red brick building dates to 1907. Designed in the Neoclassical/Beaux-Arts style, the school was expanded in 1939, 1974 and 1981. It served generations of Brodhead students as an elementary school, high school, and middle school before closing in 1996. After sitting vacant for more than two decades, the roughly 60,000-square-foot building was given a second life in 2018 as Brodhead Manor, a haunted attraction and paranormal investigation location.

Reports of paranormal activity at Brodhead Manor are closely connected to the building’s former life as a school. One of the best-known stories involves a child spirit called Elizabeth, reportedly associated with the gymnasium, where visitors and investigators have described hearing or seeing a ball move across the floor. The former band room is another reported hotspot, with claims that tennis balls have moved down its tiered floor without explanation. Other reports include footsteps in the second-floor hallway and principal’s office attributed to former principal Carl T. Pfisterer, unexplained physical sensations in the basement boiler room and janitor’s workshop, and whispers heard on the third floor. Paranormal investigators have also reported EVPs and unexplained EMF activity in parts of the building.

Reported Paranormal Activity

• A child spirit named Elizabeth rolls a ball in the gymnasium
• Tennis balls travel down the tiered floor of the former band room
• Footsteps heard in the second-floor hallway and principal’s office, attributed to the school’s former principal Carl T. Pfisterer
• Oppressive sensations and unexplained physical contact in the basement
• Unexplained whispers close to visitor’s ears while alone on the third floor
• EVP and unexplained electromagnetic-field fluctuations in several areas of the building, including the band room and cafeteria