In the western Michigan town of Plainwell there's a former establishment that is strongly believed to be haunted...Sam's Joint restaurant was a well-established eatery at the Red Brick Inn with a steady clientele. However, it has since closed down but the hauntings continue.

Employees and customers alike all witnessed different types of paranormal activity: disembodied voices coming from other rooms after closing time, footsteps, furniture and other objects moving on their own, etc.

So who's doing the haunting? There are a few possibilities.....

Back when the inn was first built, it was the horse-and-buggy days. Overnight accommodations were a necessity, as travel was extremely slow. Calvin Cutler White bought a section of land in 1833 for one dollar an acre with a $160 grant from President Andrew Jackson. He spent his first night on his new land sleeping in a hollow tree and eventually built a log cabin residence. Calvin soon had his own general store and trading post. He was a man of all trades: cattleman, general merchandise, grocer, cobbler, and tailor among them. Five years later, he built the Red Brick House. In 1847 it was turned into an inn which took care of overnight horse-and-buggy travelers and was the first available lodging in the area. It became known as the Red Brick Tavern and was purchased in the early 1900s by Charlie Richards. Richards fixed it up and turned it into a restaurant, re-selling it in 1926 to Arthur Eberhardt who kept the restaurant running.

Some speculate the hauntings could be the work of the original owner Calvin White, or Richards or Eberhardt...or maybe all three.

Other theories: there used to be a painting of a little girl on the walls, that staffers believed was a depiction of who was haunting the place. It was also rumored that a maid committed suicide in the building and it is she who haunts the old inn.

The Kalamazoo Paranormal team did an investigation and recorded some EVP's and other weird stuff. A history of on-site deaths (including hangings) and the fact that the basement of this building was at one time used for the Underground Railroad adds to it's legendary haunting.

Keep in mind, it is no longer open so you should respect any barriers or 'no trespassing' signs you might come across...don't ruin it for other ghost seekers. Located at 675 10th St, Plainwell a few miles north of Kalamazoo off US-131.

SAM'S JOINT/RED BRICK INN

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