Stevens Point, Wisconsin

Stevens Point is a city located in Portage County in central Wisconsin. It is the county seat and the largest city of the county. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 24,551. The city was incorporated in 1858. It was named after its founder, George Stevens, who ran several saloons on what is today known as "The Square". Loggers on the Wisconsin River found this a convenient stopping point, as the river bends slightly and one could tell from far upstream whether Stevens' point was open for business.

Ghostly Lore

Stevens Point has a rich history of supernatural occurences, and has played host to a variety of myths, urban legends and macabre stories of ghosts, bleeding tombstones, and other anomalous phenomena. In fact, several books have chronicled the spirit-infested city's darker history. The Wisconsin Road Guide to Haunted Locations, by authors Terry Fisk and Chad Lewis, dedicates 12 of its pages to Stevens Point, while the nationally distributed Weird Wisconsin, by Linda Godfrey and Richard Hendricks, offers a more colorful, offbeat approach to the city's stranger side.

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If you are interested in seeking a thrill or in an old-fashioned ghost hunt, there's no need to go far. Several purportedly haunted bridges exist in the city, including the Black Bridge near the Stora Enso paper mill, the Bloody Bride Bridge on Highway 66 near Jordan Park, and the Red Bridge over the Wisconsin River on Walkush Road.

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The city has no shortage of haunted cemetaries either. The ghost of a traitorous American Civil War deserter named Calvin Blood is said to haunt "Blood Cemetary" off West River Drive, while spirits in general infest the St. Peter Cemetary near Bukolt Park.

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Other legends involve a legless ghost referred to only as Old Swenson that has been seen on County Road II, while others involve the ghosts of boy scouts murdered or killed tragically in the central Wisconsin wilderness (Boy Scout Lane).

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; Books detailing the city's ghostly history

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• The Wisconsin Road Guide to Haunted Locations, by Chad Lewis and Terry Fisk (ISBN 0976209918)
• Weird Wisconsin, by Linda Godfrey and Richard Hendricks (ISBN 0760759448)