The Curse of Black River Falls
American Hauntings Podcast
Cody Beck and Troy Taylor
4.8 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 3 May 2022
⏱️ 78 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What happened in the town of Black River Falls, Wisconsin, between 1890 and 1910? What caused the once pleasant and thriving small town to become a place of death, horror, and strangeness? The mines and lumber industries shut down at that time, leaving people without jobs and causing the banks and many businesses to fail. Illness spread, and people turned to alcohol for comfort. Bad weather devastated the local crops, and the cold, bleak winters caused starvation and anguish. Talk of witchcraft and devil worship circulated among the residents. During this terrible period, the seemingly doomed inhabitants of Black River Falls surrendered to suicide, murder, destruction, and depravity.
Timestamps:
Monologue: 00:00:00 - 00:23:00
Discussion: 00:23:50 - 01:17:45
Check out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.com
Check out our merch at AmericanHauntingsClothing.com
Follow us on Twitter @AmerHauntsPod, @TroyTaylor13, @CodyBeckSTL
Follow us on Instagram @AmericanHauntingsPodcast, @TroyTaylorgram, @CodyBeckSTL
Subscribe for more bonus content on our Patreon page
This episode was written by Troy Taylor
Produced and edited by Cody Beck
Music for this season is performed by Packy Lundholm and you can find more about his music and upcoming shows on Twitter, Instagram, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Facebook, YouTube, and PackyLundholm.com
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | To say that a town is cursed can be a troubling statement to make. |
| 0:18.7 | It implies an almost doom that can never be banished. |
| 0:23.2 | To say that the Wisconsin town of Black River Falls was once a cursed place, maybe a bit |
| 0:29.3 | of a stretch, but I think we can all agree that whatever happened there between 1890 |
| 0:35.1 | and 1910 was certainly out of the ordinary. |
| 0:39.7 | Perhaps it might be fitting to say that the Northwoods town suffered from a serious spell |
| 0:44.0 | of temporary insanity, a sort of deranged Lake Wobagon, if you will. |
| 0:51.4 | Something caused this once pleasant thriving small town to become a place of death, horror, |
| 0:57.9 | and strangeness. |
| 0:59.7 | Something happened because it certainly didn't start out that way. |
| 1:03.6 | The great forest of pines in the region, offering the chance for anyone to become a wealthy |
| 1:08.0 | lumber baron, was what lured the first settlers to what would become Black River Falls. |
| 1:13.6 | The village was founded in 1839 by Jacob Spalding and other lumbermen. |
| 1:18.4 | They established a sawmill and a trading post and began a good relationship with the |
| 1:23.0 | nearby Winnebago tribe. |
| 1:25.5 | Logging and then mining became the major industries for Black River Falls and a dozen or more |
| 1:30.5 | sawmills appeared along the Black River. |
| 1:33.7 | More people arrived and the village grew to a population of around 200 by 1850. |
| 1:40.0 | Stores, churches, a school and mercantile shops appeared and even when most of the downtown |
| 1:45.2 | was destroyed by fire in 1860 and again in 1878, the village persevered and rebuilt. |
| 1:53.8 | But as the end of the 19th century neared, things began to change. |
| 1:58.8 | What happened next is baffled generations of residents and historians for years. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Cody Beck and Troy Taylor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Cody Beck and Troy Taylor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.