History
Built in 1896 as the Beaumont, the structure was first owned by Jacob and Anna Mueller, and first painted, and decorated, by H.A. Mueller (no relation). Though Jacob owned it, he was often busy with his work running the Dodge County Pioneer (a regionally significant German-language newspaper) and so Anna was the actual innkeeper. The inn was particularly popular with traveling salespeople who would rent out multiple rooms at a time, one to stay in and one or more to sell their wares out of. The ground floor featured a saloon and restaurant in these early years.
Anna went on to take full ownership of the Beaumont after the untimely death of Jacob in July of 1920. But old age would soon require her to relinquish management of the hotel, though she retained her personal suite to live in until she died in 1926. In the decades that followed, the building remained a hotel under the name Beaumont, though the original rooftop turret was eventually removed. By the 1960s-1970s business had slumped and the hotel closed in favor of apartments and long-term room rentals. The ground floor at this time held a jewelry store called Stommel’s.
A downtown revitalization project that took place in the 1980s targeted the former hotel, and it was heavily remodeled back to its old hotel state with a bar/restaurant on the ground floor and a new rooftop turret above. Reflecting the local and tourist interest in the nearby Horicon Marsh, the hotel was renamed the Audubon Inn, the name it still carries today.
Regarding the surroundings of the town:
The largest industries in Mayville throughout most of its life have been limestone and iron, as well as the usual Wisconsin agriculture. During the Beaumont’s early heyday, another large local industry was wooden shoes and clogs, with the town sporting 3 wood shoe factories in the early 1900s. There was also a large cannery in the town for a long time.
Arrival
Brandon and Mitch arrived at 2:00 pm, and checked into their rooms and received a short tour of the inn at 2:30 pm. Noah and Gravy arrived at 3:30 pm, and also checked into their rooms and then walked around with the manager to see some of the areas of the inn where activity has been reported. Tom and Marilsa arrived to the inn at 4:10 pm.
As part of this investigation, team members had selected rooms at the inn that had reported activity. Tom and Marilsa were staying in Room 15. Mitch was in Room 24 and Brandon was in Room 25. Noah was staying in Room 31, and Gravy was staying in Room 32. This allowed each investigator to continue investigating the claims of activity in each of these rooms even after the formal investigation had been completed.
At 3:28 pm, Brandon and Mitch took outside environmental readings. Brandon and Mitch then went throughout the inn taking baseline environmental readings that are summarized in the table below.
At 5:00 pm, the team began set-up of their equipment.
Every member of PIM is equipped with a Zoom H1 audio recorder, which is used as their control recorder and either the Extech RHT50 datalogger or Extech SD700 datalogger. Control recorders are not only used as another recording device but also to document the sound contamination that an investigator might create during an investigation. Control recorders are started and time stamped first before any other equipment is started and they are turned off last to ensure any anomalous noises can be cross-checked. Control recorders are also placed in a Faraday cage, if possible.
A Faraday cage is a container that can block EMF frequencies. The construction of the cage will determine how many different EMF frequencies the cage will be able to block. Faraday cages work by generating an external static electric field which causes the electric charges within the cages conducting material to be distributed such that they cancel the field’s effect in the cages interior. PIM’s cages are designed to specifically block out FM, and some AM, radio frequencies from interfering with their audio recorders, thus creating false EVPs.
The Extech dataloggers take temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure readings once a minute (RHT50) or every 5 seconds (SD700), and are used to try and correlate environmental data with any personal experiences an investigator might encounter during an investigation or anomalous audio/video data captured during an investigation.
In the 1st Floor Lobby area, a Zoom H1 audio recorder was placed to act as an audio control for this area as well as any possible outside noise that may be heard inside the Inn. In the Bar Hallway where the apparition was seen, a Sony HDR-CX160 multi-spectrum camera was placed covering the hallway and a Trigger Object bank.
Trigger objects are miscellaneous items that are strategically chosen in hopes to invoke a response. In the hallway there was a bullet, cigar, cigarettes, deck of cards, pair of di (4’s up), Playboy magazine, whiskey, a Bible, and a rosary. These items are placed on graph paper and baseline photos are taken before and after the investigation to document the starting positions of said objects. Placed alongside the trigger object bank was a touch flashlight, a geophone, and the DM X-930 Dark Matter detector.
The Dark Matter Detector is a device that measures EMF, temperature, barometric pressure and has a high-quality audio recorder. This device also datalogs these measurements for later review should something occur and would need to be referenced.
The touch flashlight is activated by two contacts being touched, thus completing a circuit and turning the light on. The touch flashlight is used in lieu of a flashlight that has had the battery compartment or on/off switch manipulated to function in a way that is not intended and as a result, can create false positives.
The geophone is a device that can detect vibration. It is often used in areas where footsteps are reported, or near a Trigger Object bank in case something is moved. When a vibration is detected, lights on the geophone will illuminate, the more lights that illuminate, the stronger the vibration being detected. The geophone has a sensitivity setting that allows for adjustment depending on the material the geophone is set on. For example, a wooden floor will transmit vibration more readily than a cement floor, and so the sensitivity on the geophone can be turned down when placed on a wooden surface, or turned up if placed on a cement or stone surface.
In the 2nd Floor Common Area a Sony HDR-CX160 multi-spectrum camera was placed to cover most of the area along with a Zoom H1 audio recorder. A second Trigger Object bank was also placed in this area which was more geared toward children since those were the claims. The objects included were a baseball, horse, jack set, Slinky, Army man, stuffed cat, and a toy car. Also included were a touch flashlight, EDI+ datalogger, magnetic levitator, a PIM Platter and a GhostPro multi-spectrum video camera to cover the trigger objects.
The PIM Platter is a plate with letters (A-Z) and numbers (0-9) around the outer rim of the plate. A metal rod on a swivel in the middle of the plate is positioned in a neutral location of the rim. The premise of the PIM Platter is to allow something to manipulate the metal rod in the direction of a letter or number in response to questions asked by investigators.
The magnetic levitator is a device that generates a magnetic field that levitates a small dumbbell shaped object. Since this object is suspended in the air, it makes it very easy to manipulate, thus making it a good item to ask whatever might be present to move.
The EDI+ datalogger is a device that datalogs temperature, EMF, and humidity, and also has a geophone built into it. This device datalogs for the entire investigation, and records the data to an SD card that can be used to generate graphs of each variable over time on a computer after the investigation. If anything in the Trigger Object bank was manipulated, the EDI+ datalogger could be used to see if any of the variables it was recording changed when the event occurred.
In Room 15, a Zoom H1 audio recorder and an EDI+ datalogger were placed.
In the 3rd Floor Common Area, Sony FDR-AX100 4K and Sony FDR-AX53 4K video cameras were placed to cover the common area and the landing between the 2nd and 3rd floors where another apparition was claimed to be seen. Also placed in this area was a Zoom H1 audio recorder and an EDI+ datalogger.
In Room 31, a Zoom H1 audio recorder and an EDI+ datalogger was placed.
In Room 32, a Zoom H1 audio recorder and an Extech RHT50 datalogger was placed.
At 7:10 pm, the group went around the inn and began starting and time stamping all of their equipment. Time stamps, from a designated atomic watch, are used as a point of reference and make cross referencing easier during evidence review. From this point on, PIM members are required to speak in full voice and tag any noise they make.
Tagging is the process of calling out noises investigators make during an investigation. Noises investigators make can be anything from bodily sounds, such as stomach or breathing noises, to external noises, like squeaky shoes, shifting or chairs creaking. Tagging is required from the moment a piece of equipment is recording to the time it is turned off. This allows for easy identification of noises heard when reviewing evidence. When an investigator makes a noise, it is their responsibility to tag it or say “that was me”.
The team also turned off as many lights as possible as they went throughout the inn starting their equipment.
At 7:15 pm, the team took a break and proceeded to have dinner. Noah, Gravy, Brandon, and Mitch stayed at the hotel and ate food they brought with them at the 1st Floor Bar. Tom and Marilsa went to an outside eatery for dinner. Everyone was done eating dinner by 7:50 pm and the team decided to begin the investigation on the 3rd Floor.
Claims
REPORTED PARANORMAL ACTIVITY:
- A former general manager saw the apparition of a man standing in the hallways between the Bar and the Kitchen. She thought the apparition was a real person and turned to ask them if they needed something. The apparition turned and walked into the wall where the Kitchen is located.
- A former housekeeper reported seeing an apparition on the stairs that are between the 2ndand 3rd
- Guests of Room 15 report hearing a growl in the room and hearing a little girl laugh in the 2ndFloor Common Area.
- Laughter has also been reported coming from the 3rdFloor Common Area by guests of Room 24.
- Both rooms 31 and 32 have been reported to have strange occurrences, but nothing specific was provided.
- Sounds of male laughter have been reported in Room 24.
- There were also reports of shadow figures seen on the 2nd Floor Stair Landing, as well as moving shadows in the hall in the back of the Bar.
Investigation
3rd Floor Common Area – 7:56 pm
The team spread throughout the 3rd Floor Common Area. Gravy was sitting outside Room 31, Noah was sitting at the top of the stairs, Tom and Marilsa were sitting in the main area, and Mitch was sitting near the supply closet.
At 7:56 pm, PIM began the investigation with control silence. Control silence is the practice of sitting quietly and getting accustomed to the normal sounds of the building. It allows for investigators to get a baseline of normal building sounds.
During control silence, the sounds of the refrigerator, cars, an ice machine in the kitchen, a “blip” sound, sounds from the utility closet, and people talking outside were all noted.
At 8:08 pm, Brandon started the EVP session. An EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) session is the practice of asking questions and leaving ten seconds of silence in between, in hopes of capturing a response via an audio recording device. Rarely is a response heard by the investigator’s ears and when a response is heard by human ears it is called a disembodied voice.
At 8:12 pm, a coffee maker turned on due to a timer function that was built into the machine. The team disconnected the coffee maker to prevent a similar occurrence from happening again during the investigation.
At 8:25 pm, Brandon and Mitch heard the wind passing through the elevator shaft. This noise sometimes sounded like a high-pitched whine that could be misinterpreted as a child crying. No other events were noted, and the team proceeded to the 2nd Floor using the main stairs (not the elevator).
2nd Floor Common Area – 8:27 pm
The group spread out in the 2nd Floor Common Area. Tom and Brandon were located near the elevator, Noah was to the side of the stairs leading to the 3rd Floor, Marilsa was on the other side of the same staircase, while Gravy was on the landing of the stairs going to the 1st Floor.
At 8:29 pm, control silence was started. A constant hum and some high-pitched beeping sounds (like kitchen appliances make) were noted.
At 8:37 pm, Noah unlocked and slightly opened the doors to all the guest rooms so that it would be easier to hear any noises that may originate inside.
At 8:42 pm, Marilsa heard footsteps coming from the hallway between the stairs and Rooms 22 and 23. Marilsa relocated to that hallway in an attempt to hear the same noise again. At the same exact time, Brandon heard the sound of a doorknob jiggle coming from the area of Room 23. It is possible that the two noises that were heard at the same time were the same noise being interpreted in different ways. Unfortunately, the noise was not captured on any audio recording devices and did not repeat.
No other events were reported. At 8:50 pm the session was ended and the team proceeded to the 1st Floor Dining Room area via the main staircase.
1st Floor Dining Room – 8:55 pm
The team spread out in the Dining Room. Gravy was midway down the room next to the wall of the Bar Area, Marilsa was opposite Gravy at the other wall. Tom was in the far corner leading to the Kitchen, while Noah was in the near corner (closer to the Bar Area) leading to the Kitchen. Brandon was sitting in the middle of the floor and Mitch was at a table in the middle of the room.
At 8:56 pm, the team began control silence. The sounds of cars and refrigerator compressors behind the bar were reported, along with the sound of glasses rattling when cars passed by in front of the inn.
An EVP session was started at 9:00 pm.
Other than a tapping noise that was noted that was most likely a building sound, no other events occurred during this session. It was decided to continue the investigation in the Bar Area.
Bar Area – 9:16 pm
The team spread out throughout the Bar Area. Marilsa was at the end of the bar between two gambling machines, near Main Street. Tom was at a table opposite Marilsa. Gravy was located in the hallway leading to the bathrooms and Kitchen, while Noah was in the doorway separating the Dining Room from the Bar Area. Brandon started in front of the bar and relocated to behind the bar partway through this session. Mitch sat in a lounge chair in a bay window next to Main Street.
There was no controlled silence as the compressors of the refrigerators behind the bar were very loud.
At 9:16 pm, the team started an EVP session. At 9:22 pm, Gravy reported seeing a shadow or black mass that blocked out the light from an exit security light located in the Main Lobby of the inn. Upon further investigation, the bright lights of a police car were noted to be reflected from nearby windows into the Lobby. The police were conducting a traffic stop. Gravy thought the fading of the exit light may have been caused by the bright police lights.
No other events were noted, and at 9:31 pm, the team ended the session and proceeded to the Basement Conference Room using the stairs (Tom, Noah, Gravy) and the elevator (Marilsa, Brandon, Mitch).
Basement Conference Room – 9:45 pm
Everyone was seated around the room. Some at the conference table, some seated near the walls. At 9:45 pm, control silence was observed. Noah could hear sounds from the floors above through the elevator shaft and the furnace, which was located in a room adjacent to the Conference Room, could be heard turning on.
At 9:46 pm, an EVP session was started. Despite trying to communicate with anything that might be present, no events were noted. The session was ended at 10:02 pm, and the team proceeded to the Basement Storage Room to continue the investigation.
Basement Storage Room – 10:04 pm
Everyone was seated around the room in a circle. At 10:05 pm control silence was started. The sound of an exhaust fan and a HVAC fan were noted.
At 10:09 pm Gravy heard a “Boo” sound, most likely from a fan.
At 10:12 pm footsteps were heard. Tom thought they might be from the next-door bowling alley. No other events were noted and the session was ended at 10:20 pm.
The team went back upstairs using the elevator and stairs to take a break.
BREAK – 10:20 pm
The break ended at 10:45 pm and the team proceeded to the 3rd Floor by the stairs and elevator.
3rd Floor Common Area – 10:50 pm
The team once again spread out in this area. Noah and Gravy were seated next to the elevator, Marilsa was in the opposite corner of the common area from Noah and Gravy, and Mitch was on a couch in the middle of the common area. Tom and Brandon were near the landing of the stairs seated where Gravy and Noah were previously. The team started the EVP session without any controlled silence at 10:50 pm.
At 10:55 pm Tom and Mitch heard the sound of a door closing, but others thought it was the sound of the wind against the skylight windows. No other events were noted and the session ended at 11:06 pm. The team continued the investigation on the 2nd Floor.
2nd Floor Common Area – 11:10 pm
The team spread out throughout this area again. Marilsa was sitting on the stairs, Gravy was to the side of the stairs leading to the 3rd Floor, and Tom was at the base of the same stairs. Mitch, Noah, and Brandon were in the main open area of the floor. The team started an EVP session without any controlled silence at 11:10 pm.
No events were noted and the session ended at 11:23 pm. The team then moved to the 1st Floor Bar Area.
Bar Area – 11:30 pm
The group again spread out in the Bar Area, being sure to select a different location than when the area was first investigated earlier in the evening. Mitch was located behind the bar and Brandon was seated at the bar opposite Mitch. Tom was seated in the hallway leading to the bathrooms and the Kitchen. Gravy was seated in the bar window facing Main Street, while Noah was seated between the bar and the back wall, near the door leading to the Dining Room. Marilsa was sitting at a table in the middle of the bar, against the wall.
The EVP session began at 11:30 pm without any control silence. At 11:37 pm Tom and Noah heard a triple thump noise but concluded that it was from the ice machine. No other events occurred during the session, and it was ended at 11:41 pm and the investigation was concluded.
The team began to tear down and pack the up the equipment. At 1:00 am, the team members went to their assigned rooms to stay overnight. Marilsa and Tom stayed in Room 15, a wonderful room with a gigantic jacuzzi. Marilsa decided to take a hot bath before going to bed. When she was done, she pulled the drain and noted that the tub appeared to empty a little slowly, probably because of its large size. She did not think anything more of it and walked away. A little while later, a large growl came from the bathroom as the last of the water emptied from the tub. It was noted that this may be the cause of the growl sound that people had claimed to hear in that room.
No other events were noted from Room 15, or any of the other rooms that were occupied by PIM members over the course of the night.
Conclusion
This was PIM’s first time investigating the Audubon Inn. We would like to thank the manager Gloria for reaching out to the team to setup the investigation. The hotel and the town where it’s located carry a rich and interesting history. Although PIM did not capture any evidence of the paranormal during our investigation, we hope to return to continue our study of this historic site again in the future.
