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The Lemp Mansion Experience

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There is no place in St. Louis with a reputation as ghostly as the Lemp Mansion. Built in the late 1860s, it has served as many things over the years, but it has never lost the claim to being the most haunted place in the city. In fact, in 1980, Life magazine called the Lemp Mansion: “One of the ten most haunted places in America.”

Find out why Lemp Mansion is famous from ghost to ghost. Haunted Tours, a Mystery Dinner Theatre and other supernatural themed events are scheduled. See the website for details, schedules and reservations.

In addition, the Lemp is home to a full service restaurant and lounge, six overnight guest-rooms, and a museum.

Tours: $20.

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Additional information.

seeAghost.com

The lemp mansion stlprs ghost tours, ranked one of america's top ten most haunted houses for over 30 years.

Are you brave enough to investigate one of the most haunted houses in the United States? Join us as we offer you the rare chance to conduct a paranormal investigation inside the infamous the Lemp Mansion.  You will be allowed to explore this iconic piece of St. Louis History, room by room, and floor by floor, using one of our state of the art night vision cameras. For reservations or more information, contact the Lemp Mansion TODAY!

To Book: (314) 664-8024

Lemp Mansion

3322 DeMenil Place

St. Louis, Missouri 63118

Experience Ghostly History Firsthand As You Make Your Way Through The Haunted Lemp Mansion In Missouri

Beth Price-Williams

A professional writer for more than two decades, Beth has lived in nearly a dozen states – from Missouri and Virginia to Connecticut and Vermont – and Toronto, Canada. In addition to traveling extensively in the U.S. and the U.K., she has a BA in Journalism from Point Park University (PA), a MA in Holocaust & Genocide Studies from Stockton University (NJ), and a Master of Professional Writing from Chatham University (PA). A writer and editor for Only In Your State since 2016, Beth grew up in and currently lives outside of Pittsburgh and when she’s not writing or hanging out with her bunnies, budgies, and chinchilla, she and her daughter are out chasing waterfalls.

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Appearances can be deceiving and no story proves that truer than that of the Lemp family, the founders of the most popular brewing company in St. Louis. Life had nothing but promise in the beginning, in 1840, and the Lemp Brewery brand dominated the markets until prohibition. Then like dominos, tragedy would befall the Lemp Family, whose spirits are said to remain in the Lemp Mansion in Missouri to this day.

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Have you ever toured the Lemp Mansion in Missouri? Did you experience the paranormal? Share your experience in the comments! Still kind of iffy on whether Missouri is really haunted? Here are eight reasons Missouri is the most haunted state , and they just might change your mind.

OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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This is what it's like to take a ghost tour of the Lemp Mansion with a psychic during Halloween season

The tour includes a bit of Lemp history, a dowsing rods demonstration, and something rather eerie in the attic.

by Chris Naffziger

October 29, 2019

Courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society

The Lemp Mansion

It might surprise readers, but until last Wednesday, I had never gone on a tour of the Lemp Mansion. I had ducked inside on occasion during a thunderstorm when lightning struck too close. I had been treated to their famous chicken lunch one Sunday afternoon, as well as dinner one time several years ago. But I had never gotten the full Lemp Ghost Experience, hosted by famous psychic and Lemp expert Betsy Belanger. It seemed, as Halloween approached, that now was the time to change that.

At the Lemp Mansion on DeMenil Place—just a stone’s throw north of the Brewery on Cherokee Street—we settled into a bedroom filled with around 20 chairs on the second floor. The house was originally owned by the in-laws of William J. Lemp Sr., Jacob and Elizabeth Feickert, across the street from the Lemp Cave property. Jacob Feickert was a successful saloon owner, but most likely his son-in-law William helped pay for the house’s construction. William and his new wife, Julia, lived there with her parents and their children, and while it is a very large house, I still think it must have been crowded.

It was definitely crowded the night I was there; apparently there was some sort of corporate team-building event happening on the first floor and in the basement, so we were not able to tour those portions of the house. The ticket for the ghost tour with Belanger comes with one complementary drink from the bar, so I logically grabbed a Budweiser and sat down. The tour on Wednesday was completely full, and the room was very “cozy” when we all filled the chairs. (The free toasted ravioli bar was a nice added touch.)

Belanger introduced us to the Lemp Family, and I have to say, overall, I was very impressed with her knowledge of the brewery and the house. In particular, she correctly stated several facts that are not well known about the family and brewery’s history. For example, Belanger explained to us that the International Shoe Company did not buy the Lemp Brewery in one parcel; rather, as contemporary newspaper accounts at the time prove, the property was auctioned off in pieces.

We then saw Belanger demonstrate dowsing rods. I did a little research afterward about the science behind these ancient instruments, and they function mostly along the same lines as a Ouija Board. Google “Ideomotor phenomenon” if you want my opinion of dowsing rods. Billy Lemp, the son of William Lemp Sr., did move the dowsing rods, though. He's a ladies' man, according to Belanger, and likes to flirt. But he did not hit on any of the young women in the group.

After that little bit of fun, we all got up and proceeded to William Lemp Sr.’s bedroom, which was connected to his wife Julia’s bedroom by large pocket doors. Wealthy couples such as William and Julia would have separate bedrooms as a sign of their high social status. William’s bedroom was the site of his suicide, but the beer baron has passed over to the Other Side, Belanger explained.

William Lemp Sr. doesn't even haunt the house? But he was who I wanted to talk to the most. I need to know where his mother Justina Baum is buried in Germany,  I thought to myself. What a letdown. Then, Belanger stopped, and reported that she felt somebody trying to contact her.

Ooh, is that Justina Baum trying to contact me?  I wondered. But unfortunately, the spirit never followed up. We proceeded through another bedroom, and then, due to the size of our group, Belanger split us into two groups for the finale of our tour, when the ghosts of Charles Lemp and his dog Cerva would contact us in the attic. I waited in the second group to go up to the attic.

As Belanger led the second group up the stairs to the attic, we bumped into two drunk people from the party downstairs, who had wandered upstairs.

“You’re not supposed to be up. Sorry. We have tours up here,” Belanger firmly told the man and woman. I glared at them as I walked by, and at that moment, perhaps due to a Lemp ghost, had a premonition: Those two are going to screw everything up in about 15 minutes. But for the time being, we were treated to the story of the forgotten Lemp son, Zeke, who lived in the attic.

“This is where Zeke is and was. They would keep him up here for his own protection,” Belanger explained, and then turning to me, apropos to nothing, told me, “You remind me of my brother.”

Continuing, Belanger wove her tale of Zeke: “He hides on the staircase up to the roof. Listen for little taps. The more that you can relax, the more you will be rewarded.”

That is actually really good advice for life in general , I thought to myself.

Turning off all the lights, our group sat in the dark, as Belanger sought to bring us the ghost of the final Lemp occupant of the house, Charles and his dog, Cerva.

“Charles, will you let her come in? Come here, come on baby, that’s a good baby.”

Then, as we stood there, Belanger exclaimed, “See her? She looks like a little ball of grayness,” describing Charles’s dog Cerva, “and she’s moving toward me. She’s standing right in front of me. If you can see my fingers…”

Then the drunk people walked in with two of their friends.

“You cannot be up there, Belanger admonished. “We are having a private tour. Please go back downstairs.”

I groaned. Now the ghosts will never come out.

“That was just ignorant, sorry,” Belanger exhaled.

“Well, Cerva is not going to be coming back anymore tonight, which probably means Charles is gone,” Belanger explained, “And the people coming up has made him angry.”

I don’t blame him. Drunk people always seem to show up at the wrong time and ruin everything. Belanger then allowed us to look around the rest of the attic, and also told us that a month or so ago some drunk woman had left the water running in a bathtub, and the water had leaked down through the ceiling, ruining the historic plasterwork on the floors below. By then, the murder mystery people had left, and we could wander the first floor. It’s a nice house, with a very nice staff, and then I stepped out in the night of South St. Louis, looking at the steam pouring out of the smokestacks of the Lemps’ old competitors, Anheuser-Busch.

Two years ago, photographer Jason Gray and I were given complete access to the lagering cellars underneath the Lemp Brewery, and I remember thinking, If there was ever a time for ghosts to contact us, here was their chance. Sixty feet below the surface of the streets of St. Louis, deeper than Adam Lemp’s lagering cave, we spent hours in the pitch darkness of the malt house’s subcellars. I remember thinking to myself, OK, guys, if you want to contact me, now’s the time to do it.

Alas, none of the Lemps chose to reach out from the Other Side while I explored their old brewery. I had also learned through old newspaper articles that several workers died during the expansion of the malt kilns when a crane collapsed, dropping a steel beam on a group of men below. Surely their ghosts would contact Jason or me, perhaps still angry at the Lemps’ callous negligence? Again, we were disappointed, the only sound disturbing our subterranean work was the rushing of water when sump pumps turned on. Are there secrets still waiting to be revealed in the tunnels and caves under Cherokee Street? Only the ghosts know.

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Lemp Mansion: Facts & Photos of This Famous Haunted House in St. Louis, Missouri

Updated on April 19, 2021

It seems as though no matter what time of year, haunted houses and are all the rage these days. So, as an homage to the mysterious holiday, we’ve decided to bring you another article featuring one of the most infamous haunted houses in America — the Lemp Mansion.

The Lemp Mansion

Lemp mansion st louis mo.

The Lemp Mansion was originally built in 1868 by a man named Jacob Feikert who also just so happened to be the father-in-law of William Lemp Sr. (the patriarch of the family). The hugely impressive and expansive home contained thirty-three rooms at the time it was constructed, however, upon purchasing the property, Lemp made the decision to renovate it quite extensively. Among many things he also constructed a tunnel from the basement through the caves to the brewery he ran. Eventually, once mechanical refrigeration became a thing, parts of these caves were later converted into a natural auditorium and a theater. He also further constructed a large swimming pool and a bowling alley for entertainment.

Although much of the original mansion has been replaced, there are still a handful of features which guests can admire in the haunted Lemp Mansion which still exists today. These include the decorative iron gates, the open-air elevator and the Italian marble mantle located in the dining room which was previously used as an office for one of the Lemp family members. There are also three vaults located at the rear of the home which were used to house the family’s artwork.

Lemp Mansion Tours

Interested parties will be happy to know that there are haunted history tours hosted at the Lemp haunted house, which also include the option for guests to spend the night. The tours are held every other Thursday from December to August including a handful of additional days from September to November. Times vary, but the tours generally begin between the hours of 5:30 PM and 8:30 PM local time.

The $35 ticket price will get you drinks, light appetizers and the use of an infrared camera to record your experience through the various floors of the home. Wanna learn more? Check out their website for further details.

Lemp Mansion Haunted House

Haunted house st louis.

It has been reported that the L emp Mansion haunted individuals over the years and the paranormal activity has garnered the haunted mansion in Missouri a significant amount of attention. In 1980 Life Magazine named it one of the nine most haunted houses and in 2009 the home was featured on Discovery Channel’s Ghost Lab series.

In 2010 it was the subject of an investigation on the TV show Ghost Hunters and in 2013 it was featured on the Travel Channel series titled Most Terrifying Places in America 2 . The channel also later featured it on the tenth season of its popular show Ghost Adventures . In 2016 it was further featured on the Syfy channel series Paranormal Witness and at one point, CNNTravel included it on their list of the “10 Spookiest Buildings in the World”.

So, is the Lemp Mansion haunted? I think it’s safe to say, yes!

Lemp Mansion Halloween

There are several events hosted at the Lemp Mansion available to the public, however perhaps one of the most entertaining of these is the annual Halloween Bash . Tickets for the event cost $70 per person when booked in advance and $80 at the door. With their tickets guests gain access to a 4 ½ hour open bar, live bands, food and a costume contest with cash prizes. 

Lemp Mansion Hotel

Over the years the home was converted into everything from offices to a boarding house. Eventually, the L emp Mansion Restaurant and Inn came about. The hotel is currently up and running and hosts a number of events including weddings, private events, a now-infamous Lemp Mansion mystery dinner, hotel tours as well as annual events such as their popular Halloween bash. If you’re interested in visiting, you can check out the Lemp Mansion menu o n their website.

Lemp Brewery

The Le mp Brewery haunted house originally began as nothing more than your average old brewery run by William J. Lemp Sr. The brewery was wildly successful largely in part due to the fact that it was one of the first ones in the United States to introduce German lager to the menu. Under the control of William J. Lemp Sr.’s son, the brewery became even more popular and eventually became the first to establish the distribution of beer nationwide.

MTV featured the brewery and its tunnels as a location on their once-popular reality television show FEAR and in 2011 the site was also featured on the television show Off Limits.

The brewery is now used as a filming location for TV and movies. Location images give quite a peek inside. The facility has clearly been cleaned up abut also left somewhat rundown. They shed light on just how large the place was – an incredible accomplishment this business would be even today, much less in the 19th century.

Lemp Family History

The Lemp Mansion history is quite complicated and tragic. While the Lemp Family was extremely successful, the truth of the matter is that they were also plagued by tragedy due to the fact that three of the family members all committed suicide by shooting. 

Johann “Adam” Lemp

Johann “Adam” Lemp was the original patriarch of the family. He was a German immigrant who relocated to St. Louis in 1838. Upon relocating to America, Lemp set up a grocery store where he sold numerous items including his own vinegar and beer. Eventually, by 1840 he transitioned into focusing solely on crafting beer and founded Western Brewery. It was wildly successful due to the fact that it was one of the first breweries to produce German lager in the United States.

William J. Lemp Sr.

William J. Lemp Sr. was was the son who eventually took over Western Brewery after his father passed. Under his control, the brewery grew to be the largest in St. Louis as well as the largest one operating outside of New York with a single owner. However, Lemp suffered two significant tragedies in his life which eventually led to his death. These were the death of his youngest son Frederick as well as the passing of his dearest friend Frederick Pabst (of Pabst beer). Believe it or not, Lemp helped Pabst, Anheuser, and Busch start their businesses. Shaken from the deaths of his son and his closest friends, William was never the same. He tragically took his own life, committing suicide with a shotgun on February 13, 1904.

William “Billy” J. Lemp Jr

William “Billy” J. Lemp Jr. was William Sr.’s oldest son who also followed in the same steps as his father. In 1876 Billy moved into the mansion with his wife and changed the company name to the William J. Lemp Brewing Company in 1892. After his father committed suicide he took over the company. However, he too was plagued with difficulties in life, perhaps most significantly a divorce in which his wife retained full custody of their child. The company eventually began to fall into a downward spiral after prohibition and was ultimately placed for auction and sold for just a fraction of its original value. On December 29, 1922, Billy Lemp shot himself in his office, which is now used as the dining room of the home.

Frederick Lemp

Frederick Lemp was another son of William Sr. and actually the one he had planned on grooming to take over the business. However, Frederick had health issues his entire life and eventually died of heart failure in 1901 at the age of 28.

Charles Lemp

Charles Lemp was the third son of William Sr. who moved into the mansion in 1929. However, he was plagued by depression as well and in 1941 he sent a letter to a St. Louis funeral home given them instructions on what to do with his remains in the event of his death. On May 10, 1949, Charles shot his dog and then himself in the head. He left a suicide note which read “St. Louis Mo/May 9, 1949, In case I am found dead blame it on no one but me. Ch. A. Lemp”.

Elsa Lemp Wright

Elsa Lemp was the youngest child of William Lemp Sr. who also committed suicide by shooting herself in her bed shortly after she reconciled her marriage with her husband in March of 1920.

Edwin Lemp was left as the only surviving son of William Sr. He worked at the brewery until 1913 and then eventually retired to an estate he built in western Kirkwood named “Cragwold”. After his retirement, he became dedicated to charitable causes and eventually died at the age of 90.

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The Lemp Mansion, St. Louis, MO

3322 Demenil Pl, St. Louis, MO 63118, United States

The interesting and charming historic mansion in St. Louis Missouri, The Lemp Mansion, was once famous for producing the best beer in the country. The house, built in 1868, has undergone various renovations and has lost much of its ornate charm. It is thought to be still inhabited by dead Lemp family members, many of whom committed suicide in the residence.

Local legend says that the mansion is haunted by the people who used to live there. It has been included in Life Magazine’s most haunted hotels in America . It is said that one of William’s (previous owner) son, Zeke, who was born with Down Syndrome and was hidden from the public in the attic, is still seen in the house until today. He was cruelly dubbed the “Monkey-faced Boy.”

Various residents of the mansion have complained about hearing ghostly knocks and phantom footsteps. Because of these stories, it was very hard to find tenants when the mansion was turned into a boarding house. Whilst contractors were working on the mansion’s renovation, workers complained about strange sounds, apparitions, their tools disappearing and strange feelings of constantly being watched by unseen eyes.

See also: The Haunted Places Along Route 66

A lot of workers were frightened by their experiences and they left abruptly without finishing their work.

Current employees of the Lemp Mansion have reported strange experiences, including voices and apparitions. Glasses in the bar were also reported to fly off from the shelves by themselves. Doors lock and unlock by themselves, and lights turn on and off.

The Lemp family history is long and tragic. The family’s patriarch was Johann Lemp, also called Adam. He was born in 1778 in Germany and became naturalized in 1841. He eventually settled in St. Louis. Aside from selling groceries, Lemp also sold beer and vinegar. He then started focusing solely on manufacturing and selling beer. He was among the first persons in the United States to produce German lager.

When Johann Lemp died, his son William returned from the army to take over the family brewery. Under his supervision, the brewery became the largest in the country. He had four sons. Frederick, one of his sons, had significant health problems and he died of heart failure. After the death of his son, William Sr.’s mental health declined, shortly after his best friend Frederick Pabst died, leading William further off the rails. Shortly after his best friends’ death, William put a gun to his head and ended his emotional torment.

After his father’s death, William Jr. took over the business. His wife, Lillian, was called the “Lavender Lady’ because of her fondness of the color. They had a turbulent marriage which ended in divorce. During Prohibition, the brewery service was severely affected and it was sold to the International Shoe Company. On the 29th of December 1922, William Jr. shot himself in his office. Elsa Lemp, William Jr.’s daughter, she shot herself in the head while in bed at 13 Horten’s Place.

Charles Lemp was the last Lemp to live in the mansion. He lived in the mansion with a married couple who were also his servants. On May 10, 1949, he shot his dog and then shot himself in the head.

The mansion has five classic and opulently designed suites that are named after five of the mansion’s previous occupants.

The Lavender Suite was named after William Jr.’s wife, Lillian. It is a three-room suite that comes with a bathroom, bedroom and breakfast sitting room. The William Lemp suite has all the splendor of America’s Gilded Age. The Charles Lemp suite has some of the most beautiful furnishings which come from the post-depression periods, as well as the art deco period. The Elsa Lemp suite has a great view of the Mississippi River and the St. Louis skyline and it can be found on the mansion’s top floor. Lastly, the Frederick and Louis suites were once servants’ quarters. They have been remodeled and they are now mirror images of each other.

The Lemp Mansion’s Grand Hall is a banquet hall that still has the original hard Maple floors. It is located on the corner of Cherokee Street and Lemp Avenue. It would make a great place for various events. The beautiful patio and gazebo would make an ideal place for an outdoor wedding. Both facilities can hold as few as 20 people or as much as 300 guests. Lemp Mansion has many wedding packages to choose from.

The mansion is also now offering the Loft for private parties. It can easily seat a maximum of 150 people. The loft was once used for the breweries’ Percheron horses.

• Air-conditioning
• Balcony/Patio
• Internet access

Things to Do

If you are staying in the Lemp Mansion, there are various things in the surrounding area which are worth trying and visiting. Soulard Farmer’s Market has some of the most amazing produce and spices. They have everything, from fresh game to exotic meats. Soulard’s is one of the oldest and most diverse farmer’s markets in the United States.

People who would like to gamble should check the Lumiere Place Casino. This award-winning casino has 55 tables, 2,000 slots and 13-table poker room. The Lumiere has a live theatre, several gift shops, and six restaurants. The Fox Theatre, dubbed as “The Fabulous Fox”, was built in 1929. It was once a movie palace that has now become a center for performing arts. The architecture of the building is amazing and it has hosted countless concerts, Broadway shows, and other special events.

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The Fascinating History of the Haunted Lemp Mansion

In the 19th century, the Lemp family was practically royalty in St. Louis, Missouri. John Adam Lemp had introduced lager beer to St. Louis in 1838 with the opening of his brewery in what is now Benton Park, and although his more famous rival, Anheuser-Busch, would eventually overtake Lemp beer in nationwide sales in the 1880s, Lemp outsold A-B in St. Louis. The family bought a beautiful mansion near the Brewery, at 3322 South 13th Street (now DeMenil Place). The family married well, particularly William Lemp Jr., who married Lillian Handlan, a railroad supply heiress called the “Lavender Lady” because of her preference for that color; her horses’ harnesses were even adorned in that particular shade. Their divorce 10 years after they were married was the talk of the town and scandal of the decade. But all was not well in the family—even though their business was thriving and they were treated like kings and queens everywhere they went in the city. In 1901, William Lemp Sr. lost his son Frederick who had a heart problem, and three years later, he shot himself with a .38-caliber revolver in his bedroom in the Lemp Mansion .

After his father’s death, William Jr. turned the mansion into the company’s headquarters upon assuming the reigns of the company, and all was well for a spell. But then Prohibition hit the United States, which spelled doom for the Lemp family. On March 20, 1920, Elsa Lemp Wright (a daughter of William Lemp Sr.) shot herself in her home on tony Hortense Place (“This is the Lemp family for you,” William Jr. is reported to have said when he arrived at the scene.) In 1922, William Jr. announced he would sell the property, and on December 29th of that year, he dismissed his secretary from his office and shot himself in the heart.

The family did not sell the property and instead restored it as a residence even as their reign as a beer empire ended due to Prohibition. But the tragedies in the house did not end there. In 1949, Charles Lemp (William Jr.’s brother) shot himself in the same room as his brother had. “In case I am found dead, blame it on no one but me,” he wrote cryptically in his suicide note . After Charles’ death, the mansion was sold and turned into a boarding house. It was not well maintained, but this wasn’t the only reason it was difficult to keep tenants. The building also had a reputation for being haunted, with phantom footsteps and knocks being heard not uncommon.

But St. Louisan Dick Pointer saw this slight issue of the building being haunted as an opportunity, and in 1975, he purchased the building to turn it into a restaurant and inn. It was difficult to keep staff sometimes because they would report seeing apparitions and odd sounds, and would sometimes feel as though they were being watched. Those who work in the restaurant have heard the piano playing itself, and doors locking and unlocking themselves. The mansion is a magnet for ghost hunters and curious tourists and locals alike. So, next time you’re in St. Louis , book a tour and see for yourself—if you dare.

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The Lemp Mansion