Bowers Harbor Inn

A lakeside estate built in the 1880s on Old Mission Peninsula by Chicago lumberman Charles Stickney and his wife Jennie. Now home to Jolly Pumpkin brewery and Mission Table restaurant.

Bowers Harbor Inn sits on West Grand Traverse Bay on the Old Mission Peninsula, housed in a building constructed in the 1880s as the summer home of Chicago lumberman J.W. Stickney and his wife. The popular legend names the wife as Genevieve, and the ghost story that has grown around her is one of the most widely told in northern Michigan. However, careful historical research has revealed that the name was actually Jennie E. Worthen Stickney, not Genevieve. The only document bearing the name Genevieve is her death certificate, signed by a physician who did not personally know her. He may have assumed Jennie was short for Genevieve, or in her reported state of dementia, she may have begun calling herself by that name.

According to the legend, Genevieve was a wealthy but deeply unhappy woman who believed her husband was having an affair. In some versions, she hanged herself in the elevator shaft of the house. In others, she poisoned herself or died of heartbreak. The historical record contradicts the more dramatic versions of the story, but the legend has proved far more durable than the facts.

What is not disputed is that the building is haunted. The presence attributed to Jennie Stickney is well known among the staff and visitors of the restaurants that now occupy the building: Mission Table, an upscale dining establishment, and Jolly Pumpkin, a casual restaurant and brewery. Stories of paranormal pranks continue to the present day. The ghost is described as harmless and playful, moving objects around the restaurant, creating cold spots in specific rooms, and making her presence known in ways that startle but do not threaten.

The Old Mission Gazette published an investigation into the Bowers Harbor Inn haunting, tracing the evolution of the Genevieve legend and documenting the discrepancies between the ghost story and the historical record. Michigan Country Lines Magazine published "The Truth Behind the Ghost of Bowers Harbor," examining how the legend has changed over time. A former resident of the house has stated that the ghost is "very much real and harmless," describing years of living alongside a spirit that seemed more curious than menacing.

The Bowers Harbor Inn is a featured stop on the Haunted Traverse Tours and has been documented by Northern Michigan History and multiple paranormal research organizations. The building at 13512 Peninsula Drive continues to serve both the living and Jennie Stickney, whatever name she is using these days.