A haunted love story to Stillwater

I never heard of Stillwater, MN until the company I work for opened a dinner theater show at the Stillwater Event Center down on Greeley Street, and for a while, I didn’t see anything special about it. Stillwater is a town of just under 20,000 people in eastern Minnesota. There aren’t any huge shopping centers or big names floating around, but learning more about this sleepy old town opened my eyes to the mystery and beauty of this long forgotten place.

Stillwater was founded back in the mid 19th century and thrived off the lumber industry up until the collapse almost a century after its founding. The Historic Lift Bridge built in 1931 still stands as one of the few left in the country– a rusting reminder that some things never change– while the town meanders around it as if to embrace its long past memories of a bustling 20th century era. With memories come hauntings of fallen empires, deceit, and even hidden historic treasures from the prohibition era and beyond.

The man-made Joseph Wolf Brewery Caves burrow deep under the town of Stillwater and can be toured through the restaurant Luna Rossa Trattoria and Wine Bar. Down inside the cave is a natural spring which was at one point used for brewing Empire Beer which opened in 1868 and saw the most success leading up to 1919. When prohibition hit, the company adapted to a soda and sparkling water business, but it failed in 1925 due to a lack of sales. When I was reading about the Brewery Caves, part of me was hoping that something exciting would have happened. Maybe they participated in bootlegging or they made a deal with the mafia– but it was none of that. They were lawful business owners who were unfortunately punished by prohibition during the 1920s. Who knows? Maybe Empire Beer could have become bigger than Miller or Budweiser, but it was shot down right as it was becoming big. I was hoping this because our show is a murder mystery about bootlegging families, the mafia, and a marriage gone wrong, but this town is too wise to fall into a tale like that.

In 1945, the caves were bought by a man who turned the tides in Stillwater. Just as the lumber industry was collapsing, Tom Curtis flooded the Brewery Caves with water and began giving boat tours to travelers while telling them tall tales of these long past brewers, cave monsters, and Native American folklore. Most of these were lies to draw in naïve tourists, but it drew in business. And after a few years, Stillwater transitioned from an industrial town bustling with lumberjacks, sailors, and miners to a tourist destination rich with historic haunted locations, great food, and plenty of unique attractions.

Although I am new to learning about Stillwater, MN, I have quickly found myself enamored by the attractions it hosts, and I now understand how perfect of a place it is to host recurring murder mysteries. It’s likely why my company decided to take up home in this quaint little town instead of opting for something in the Twin Cities. I’m proud to recognize Stillwater Event Center as one of the best locations The Murder Mystery Company hosts their shows at. If you’d like to find out more information about immersive murder mystery events, you can visit our website here. Or, if you’d like to learn more fascinating information about Stillwater, you can check out Discover Stillwater’s webpage.