151 Year Old Flanagan’s Building Had a Colorful Past and Ghosts!

Flanagan's has long been a mainstay bar and restaurant in downtown Grand Rapids. It is always a hot spot to go to especially on St. Patrick's Day with green beer and Irish whiskey flowing. But, did you know that Flanagan's, or rather the building, has a very rich and interesting past?

The Flanagan's we see today is actuallythe second building built on that spot. Before 1873, the original 14 Pearl Street location housed the Houseman and May's General Store.

Photo courtesy of 98.7WFGR

On the second floor was Crane's Museum of Freaks, Snakes, and Whiskered Ladies. Talk about weird. And the third floor was rumored to be a brothel.

However, that building mysteriously burned to the ground. Thus, the current building, The Rood Building, was built as it stands today.

A side note here is that our sister radio station, Mix95.7 had studios on the 7th floor of the building back in the 80s.They were super happy to have a bar downstairs.

However, even before Flanagan's, there was the Tarry House restaurant which for years downtown workers would stop in for breakfast or lunch.

Before that there was a barbershop that dated back to the late 1800's. You could get a shave, haircut and even a bath there, too.

And you can't forget the occupants from years gone by up to today, the ghosts!

Flanagan's is one of the oldest buildings still standing in downtown Grand Rapids, dating back to 1873. And, if you can get into the spooky basement, that is where some of the fun can begin.

There are many spooky stories from Flanagan's staff of strange, paranormal things happening. Last year, Flanagan's was visited by a group from Detroit, the Detroit Paranormal Expeditions. They had heard stories of very strange things happening such as glasses and other items flying off shelves on their own.

What did they find? We still haven't heard. Maybe they ran into Louis Campau who is still mad about the city streets!