L is for Lemp Mansion

Welcome to the A-Z challenge, where we'll be blogging our way through the alphabet throughout the month of  April. My theme will be places--it may be a specific place, a state, or a country. It will be whatever I think is spooky, beautiful, or intriguing. I'll be rating each stop on the way with those factors, with 5 being the highest score, and 1 being the lowest score. I hope it will inspire any writers, or travelers out there in Bloggerland. So, thanks for stopping by, and enjoy!

L = Lemp Mansion

A house is never silent in darkness

to those who listen intently;

there is a whispering in distant chambers,

an unearthly hand presses the snib of the window,

the latch rises.

Ghosts were created when the first man

woke in the night.

--  James Matthew Barrie, "The Little Minister"

The Lemp Mansion is located in Benton Park, St. Louis, Missouri. The Lemp family (originally from Germany) moved into the house in 1876. The house had a renovation in 1911 to make room for offices for the Lemp Brewery (America's first lager beer brewers). In 1901 the heir to the family business, Fredererick, died under suspicious circumstances. Three years later William shot himself in the head. Soon after that Prohibition closed their plant. There were three more family suicides. William might have had an illegitimate son, Zeke aka "monkey face." The child was born with Down's Syndrome, and hidden away in the attic. No records exist to prove the child was real.

The stories of hauntings began when the last of the Lemp's died in the 1970's. The house then became a run- down boarding house. Today the mansion is now a restaurant and inn. CLICK HERE to book a room to see, if in fact, the Lemp Mansion is haunted.

This site has also been on the TV. MTV featured the tunnels below the house in a reality show called, Fear. In 2011 it was on a show called, Off Limits. In 2010 it was investigated and featured on Ghost Hunters. In 2009 it was investigated and featured on, Ghost Lab.

For a more in depth history CLICK HERE.

Spook factor 4 1/2

Intrigue factor: 3

Beauty factor: 3

Also, my book, DEADLY KISSES, is free this weekend. CLICK HERE to get it because a writer wants people to read their book more than anything else! Happy reading!

Biblio: click here, Wiki, poem source, picture source.