Curious Minnesota

Deep beneath St. Paul, inside a maze of old sand mines, thousands of thrill-seekers once ventured into one of Minnesota's most unusual haunted attractions: the Tunnel of Terror. There were underground castles, creepy cemeteries, costumed monsters — and even real bats. The St. Paul Jaycees launched the attraction in 1982, drawing about 12,000 visitors a year. But in 2004, the Tunnel of Terror closed for good. What happened? Curious Minnesota listener Tully Stockton wanted to know. In this episode, guest host Melissa Townsend talks with reporter Erica Pearson about the surprising history of the caves, their connection to Ford Motor Co. and the tragic events that brought the popular Halloween attraction to an end. Plus, find out why the abandoned tunnels continue to attract explorers today.

Thousands of zombies once roamed the streets of Minneapolis every Halloween, staggering from bar to bar in elaborate costumes and fake blood. The Zombie Pub Crawl became a massive annual spectacle, even setting a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of zombies. Then, after 15 years, it disappeared. What happened to one of Minneapolis' wildest traditions? Curious Minnesota listener Brad wanted to know. Host Erica Pearson talks with Minnesota Star Tribune reporter Laura Yuen, who tracked down the event's founders to uncover how a small gathering of friends turned into a zombie phenomenon — and why the organizers finally decided to pull the plug. Along the way, hear some of the craziest stories from the crawl's heyday, including a chaotic concert featuring rapper DMX. This episode originally aired in 2025.

Once you start noticing Minnesota’s water towers, they seem to be everywhere — and some are impossible to miss. There’s one shaped like a giant ear of corn, another painted like a fishing bobber and an old tower transformed into an enormous Swedish coffee pot. That made Curious Minnesota listener Kathleen Brenk wonder: Does Minnesota actually have more water towers than other states? Reporter Carson Hartzog went looking for an answer and discovered that the question is surprisingly difficult to settle. Most states don’t publish comprehensive water-tower counts. But Minnesota does have something unusual: a dedicated enthusiast who has traveled the state photographing, categorizing and documenting its towers one by one. In this episode, host Erica Pearson and Hartzog explore why Minnesota’s relatively flat landscape may make its water towers especially noticeable, how the towers store water and help maintain pressure, and why communities turn these utilitarian structures into giant advertisements for local identity. They also revisit the infamous moment in 1956 when someone climbed a Moorhead water tower and painted “Elvis for President” across it.

There’s a creek flowing beneath the streets of downtown Minneapolis — and most people walking above it have no idea it’s there. Bassett Creek begins near Medicine Lake, winds through parks and neighborhoods, then disappears underground before passing beneath Target Field and downtown Minneapolis. Along the way, it even drops through an underground waterfall before eventually emptying into the Mississippi River. So why did Minneapolis bury a natural waterway in the first place? After a Curious Minnesota listener asked about the creek, reporter Susan Du dug into its history. By the early 1900s, Bassett Creek had become badly polluted with sewage and trash. Rather than restore it, city leaders chose to put much of it underground — an expensive decision that created engineering and flooding challenges for decades to come. In this episode, host Erica Pearson and Du trace the hidden path of Bassett Creek, explore the choices that transformed it, and ask: Could Minneapolis ever bring the buried creek back into the daylight?

Today, Two Harbors is known for its lighthouse, ore docks and scenic Lake Superior shoreline. But in the 1880s, part of its waterfront was home to a notoriously wild strip of saloons and brothels known as Whiskey Row.So how did this rough-and-tumble settlement become the North Shore city we know today — and what are the two harbors that give Two Harbors its name? Host Erica Pearson talks with Minnesota Star Tribune reporter Christa Lawler about the early communities of Burlington Bay and Agate Bay, the railroad and iron-ore boom that transformed the area, and the colorful characters who populated its waterfront. They also explore what archaeologists later uncovered beneath Whiskey Row, including liquor jugs, shot glasses, shoes and even preserved peanut shells. It’s the hidden history behind one of Minnesota’s most familiar North Shore towns.