Investigation Date: 06-29-2007
Site: The Palmer House
Location: Sauk Centre, MN
Number of Investigations: 2
Evidence: EVP's and Video

Reason for Investigation Request

Please see the 04-21-2007 Investigation page for details.

Research and Background on the Property

Please see the 04-21-2007 Investigation page for more information regarding this site's history. TCPS again would like to thank Kelley, who owns the Palmer House, for allowing us to come back and investigate. We were also very excited to have her join us this time! Kelley again was a very gracious host and we would recommend staying at the Palmer House to anyone so they too can enjoy its charm and the incredible hospitality of Kelley and her staff.

Investigation Details

Weather Conditions
Temperature: 57 °F
Barometer: 30.22
Humidity: 82%
Dew Point: 54°
Wind: 7 mph
Moon: 97% Full

We had eight members of our team present for this investigation as well as Kelley, the owner of the Palmer House. Our main focus points for the night were the basement, the main floor, and 3 of the hotel rooms. There were some hotel guests staying the night of the investigation. The guests were divided up into 2 different rooms, one on the second floor – the other on the third floor. Both rooms were near the stairs and away from the rooms TCPS investigated.

During the course of our investigation, two different teams experienced multiple camera malfunctions in the basement. These malfunctions ranged from the cameras or the flash not working to the cameras going off by themselves. The malfunctions were always followed seconds later by complete battery drainage, even though all of the investigators report having put fresh batteries in the cameras. One particular team member experienced chills and goose bumps in several different areas of the basement even though the air temperature was not cool at the time. Another member felt as though her earlobe was tugged on. This member’s hair was off of her neck, she was not wearing any dangling earrings, nor was she standing next to any object that may have touched her ear. Shadows were seen by one of the teams in this same area. At one point, Kelley reported hearing old phonograph-type music. None of the other members present with her at the time heard this. Investigators heard a loud sound in one of the room in the basement, which they attributed to something mechanical. Kelley stated she had never heard that sound before. The noise was heard again a few minutes later and the team was not able to locate the source for the sound. There were also two different rooms in the basement that both had a “heaviness” about them. While in both of these rooms, the team reported feeling as though they were being watched by someone who did not want them there. Before leaving the basement, one of our teams asked if any spirits there had anything else to say before they went upstairs. A few seconds later, there was a noise heard from behind where the investigators were standing. The source for the noise could not be found. This same occurrence had been previously reported by our team from the first investigation.
Not much activity was reported from the main floor. While investigating the Dining Room, one team felt a cold spot near where they were sitting that had not previously been noticed or registered on the temperature gauge.

Our group investigated only one hotel room on the second floor. After sitting a while in this room, one team’s EMF meter started going off which, for a while, had been setting on the bed with no fluctuations detected. Almost simultaneously, the temperature in this area began to drop from 77 degrees to 71 degrees. This continued for about a minute, then the EMF meter stopped and the temperature returned to the normal 77 degree baseline. A few minutes later, the same process happened – the EMF meter began to flash and the temperature dropped a total of 4 degrees. Ten minutes later, Kelley reported feeling hot, as though a warm blanket had been wrapped around her and her arms felt heavy. The air temp in front of Kelley registered 87 degrees, while the temperature around where Kelley was sitting at this time was a much cooler 75 degrees. This warmth feeling lasted a few minutes and then dissipated. Another team reported feeling cold spots in this room near the chair in the bedroom. Later on during their round, both investigators felt a different kind of cold spot when sitting in the chair. It was described as “inner body” coldness, having nothing to do with the air in the room. This room is also where our video camera captured the sound of a toilet flushing or a faucet turning on even though the investigators in the room were the only two people on that end of the building. We tried debunking this phenomenon by flushing toilets in various locations of the hotel to see if one could hear it in this particular room and were not successful. Our team also talked to Kelley to hear her opinion on whether or not you can hear pipes or other toilets from different places within the Palmer in the hotel and she stated she has never heard them. She did tell us that some guests have experienced toilets flushing and faucets turning on by themselves on several occasions.

While investigating one of the hotel rooms on the third floor, one our team members felt a cool breeze against her leg. This breeze did not seem to be caused by the air conditioner. A few minutes later, another member of this group saw what appeared to be a dark shadow pass behind her on the wall and move towards the other end of the room. No vehicles were noted passing by the hotel at the time. This same team felt as though someone was watching them from the corner by the main door of the room. It then began to feel as though this "person" went around the room, getting right in front of their faces, as if saying "What are you doing here? Get out!” One of our members was also touched on the top of her head while sitting in a chair near the bed. Two knocks were also reported after Kelley had asked if there were any spirits in the room with them. Later on during the night, a different group was investigating this hotel room and two of the members reported what sounded like two men having a conversation in the room. There was only one male present at the time and there was not anyone lingering in the hallways or outside of the hotel when the voices were heard. Camera malfunctions were also reported around the same time as hearing the male voices. One member of the team was touched on her ankle and another suddenly had an overwhelming sense of nausea. An investigator also stated that she felt someone was standing in the corner by the door, watching the team’s every move. Another member of the team walked over to this corner and immediately experienced chills and goose bumps.

The third and final hotel room of our focus for the investigation seemingly proved to be more interesting when none of our members were present. One team set up a video camera with night vision in this room, left it alone and went to investigate the other room on the third floor. Upon reviewing the video footage from this room, we captured some interesting noises and sounds of movement although none of our team was present in this hotel room, nor were any of the guests staying the night near the room at any time while the video was recording. Earlier during our investigation, one of our members went to investigate this room alone. After asking any spirits there if they had been in love, she also reported hearing movement and noises coming from within the room. Some of the noises captured by her DVR are quite similar to the sounds caught on our video!

Final Analysis

We have verified EVP’s on multiple audio recorders. Several of our digital videos captured stationary and moving light anomalies and sounds. Most of our investigators had personal experiences that happened during our investigation. We believe the Palmer House does indeed have genuine paranormal activity.