I loved living in North Dakota for the most part. It's a beautiful state with lots of history, despite the frigid weather and seemingly nothing to do. However, this is not the case. If you look hard enough, North Dakota has its secrets, and that includes haunted ones.
If you're a fan of the paranormal, travel, and cozy bed and breakfast nooks, you're in the right place. The Sage Hill Bed and Breakfast is located in a town called Anamoose, a fifty-eight-minute drive from the city of Minot, where I once lived. Bismarck, the state capital, is also not far away.
The town was named after a little dog
The town of Anamoose came to be in 1893 when the Soo Line Railroad Company was mass hiring to find help laying the tracks. Many of the people who came to work were Chippewa Indians, who would talk about a stray dog that would go for a stroll nearby. They enjoyed talking about the dog a lot and did so in their native language, which leads to the name "Anamoose." In Chippewa, "Anamoose" means "dog."
Every day the train would pass through Anamoose at around 4:00 and then again at noon. If you wanted to ride the train, you would need to hold out a lantern and wave it over the tracks to signal the engineer to stop.
Today, Anamoose is a small town of only about 244 people (as of the 2020 census). Still, it is worth a visit if you are passing through North Dakota. Visitors who come looking for a good time can enjoy buffalo watching, hunting, the Anamoose City Park, and the RV park.
If you're looking to stay the night and don't want to camp, you can, of course, choose to stay at the Sage Hill Bed and Breakfast, the subject of our story.
Does the old schoolmaster haunt the Sage Hill Bed and Breakfast?
The Sage Hill Bed and Breakfast was built in 1928 and was once known as the "White School"---one of the first consolidated primary schools in the state. The school was cutting edge, offering students hot water showers and meals, and was the "model school" for progressive teaching methods.
At the peak of its career, the White School housed one hundred students but sadly closed in 1968. In 1996, a husband and wife team bought the school with a dream of turning it into a bed and breakfast joint. During construction, workers would hear moaning and smelled cigar smoke; lights would turn on and off.
Though there is no proof of these hauntings being true, rumor says it is the old headmaster of the school who still haunts the building, though he is harmless. Guests can stay in the old school rooms remodeled into beautiful guest quarters. It'll cost you $100 a night, and you can choose from the Canterbury Room, the Sage Room, and the Gibson room. Guests can go birdwatching, enjoy a three-course breakfast, and of course, do a little ghost hunting.
If you're interested in booking a little post-pandemic vacation in a not-so-well-traveled state, I recommend stopping by. The question is, are you brave enough to stay the night?
https://www.hauntedrooms.com/north-dakota/haunted-places/haunted-hotels
http://www.anamoose.com/history.php
http://www.anamoose.com/recreation.php