Edinburgh Manor - Monticello, IA
Built in the early 1900s, it was a home for the poor, disabled, and mentally insane. However, before the manor was created, the land was initially a farm called Poor Farm started in June 1810. Tenants that lived on the farm were given shelter in exchange for their labor of maintaining the land, farming agriculture, and tending to the livestock. The farm operated until 1910 and there were over 150 deaths documented before the manor was even built.
According to the Edinburgh Manor’s website, “Medical documents and personal belongings can still be found in The Manor. When the last patients and employees left the building in 2010, they never returned.” They even included a PDF on their site of the actual documents.
Mathias Ham House - Dubuque, IA
This enormous mansion was built by Mathias Ham in 1839 where he, his first wife, and three children lived. His wife died and wanted to continue growing his family so he added three more floors to the house totaling a whopping 23 rooms. He remarried and had 2 more children.
Mr. Ham was a very successful business man and owned 4 businesses that covered different industries: lead mining, lumber, agriculture, and shipping fleet. At the very top of the mansion stood a cupola that had a clear view looking over the Mississippi River.
While looking at the beautiful view one day, he spotted pirates harassing ships along the river and alerted authorities. The pirates were captured but unfortunately they found out that Mathias Ham was responsible for them being caught. The pirates came together and vowed that once they were freed from prison, they would find him and collect their revenge.
Around the 1890s the only family left of the Hams was Mathias’ son and daughter, Sarah that he had with his second wife. Sarah lived alone in the mansion and one night on the third floor while reading in her bedroom, she heard someone on the floor below her. She reached out to her neighbors the following day and let them know what she heard and that she would put a lamp in her window and flash it on and off if she was in any danger and to call for help. That same night, she heard a commotion again. She quietly locked her bedroom door and flashed the light on and off. She had a gun readily available in her room and waited for the person to come. The footsteps got louder as they approached her door. Frightened, she shot two bullets right through the door and heard the suspect run down the two flights of stairs and out of the house. She followed the blood trail that led to the river and found the then dead pirate caption that sought revenge for her father Mathias.
Sarah Ham sold the historic home to the city of Dubuque in 1912 under the condition that she could live there until she died. She died in 1921 and the Dubuque Historical Society started restoring the home in 1964 with the goal of turning it into a house museum. It is said that the Ham family, the pirate captain, and a man who killed himself on the grounds still walk the halls of the home to this day.
Villisca Axe Murder House - Villisca, IA
On June 10, 1912, six members of the Moore family and two house guests were brutally murdered in their sleep. Upon investigation, several suspects were brought to light and one was even tried twice. However, still to this day, the gruesome crime remains unsolved. You can tour the house and the backyard cemetery or make a reservation to spend the night.
