Genevive Stickney haunts the old Inn
TRAVERSE CITY -- The beautiful Bowers Harbor Inn sits peacefully along Grand Traverse Bay on Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City.
But one wandering soul that lies within sometimes makes this seemingly peaceful place, not so peaceful.
“There are a lot of people that have worked here for a long time that do have quite a few experiences,” said Jennifer Brooks, Manager at Bowers Harbor Inn.
Chicago lumber baron J.W. Stickney and is wife Genevive bought the Inn in the 1920s.
Genevive was described as an obese and jealous woman. An elevator was installed for her to get between levels of the Inn. Soon her husband hired a nurse to help care for her.
“They ended up forming an affair,” Brooks said. “Genevive kind of knew about it, but she kind of took a step back from everything.”
Brooks said J.W. Stickney died of a stroke and left all of his riches to the nurse and only left the Inn to Genevive.
“She eventually ended up hanging herself in the elevator,” Brooks said.
Since her death, this broken-hearted spirit has been making her presence known at the Inn.
“There have been a lot of instances where she turns on water faucets,” Brooks said. “Some of our line cooks have been here after hours waiting for hood cleaners and things, and the pans have fallen and they run to it and then they see a faucet turn on and then turn off again.”
Brooks said when they run out of the building they hear the door slam on their way out.
Genevive has also disturbed some of the restaurant customers. Brooks recalls a time when a woman ordered a soufflé and it burst after the server set it on the table and walked away.
“The server happened to come back and jokingly asked, ‘Do you happen to be a nurse?’, and she ended up being a nurse,” Brooks said.
According to Brooks, there was a more violent incident a long time ago where Genevive pushed a woman down the stairs.
“She fell down the stairs and ended up breaking her back,” Brooks said. “She ended up being a nurse that was having an affair.”
Brooks said one of the Inn employees had an encounter with Genevive this summer.
“Probably about one month ago, she went into the restroom on this side and basically one of the stalls had opened and slammed shut and she was the only one in the restroom,” Brooks said.
The employees make sure to respect Genevive and her home, according to Brooks.
“Her presence is definitely here and she likes to make it known with us, but I don’t think she’s a threat by any means,” Brooks said.
You can find more information about this legend and Bowers Harbor Inn HERE.
