The Fascinating History of the Haunted Lemp Mansion, Missouri

JUNE 13 2018- 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 of 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 Fredrick who had a heart problem, and three years later, he shot himself with a .38-caliber revolver in his bedroom in the Lemp Mansion.  

for being haunted, with phantom footsteps and knocks being heard is 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 and turned it into a restaurant and an inn. It was difficult to keep staff sometimes because they would report seeing apparitions and hear 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.