2401 W. Wisconsin Ave. Milwaukee, WI.

Website: The Rave/Eagles Club

Website: The Eagles Club (History In Pictures)



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Directions: Take Interstate 94 into Milwaukee. Take the St. Paul Ave. exit (#309B). Turn right onto W. Clybourn St. Turn left onto N. 25th St. Turn right onto W. Wisconsin Ave. The Eagles Club
will be on the right-hand side.





Built in 1926, the Eagles club (as it was first called), was intended to be used as an athletic club, and meeting place.

For the athlete, there was a boxing ring, a swiming pool (in the basement), and even a bowling alley. For the "social butterfly", there was a restaurant, a bar, and on the top floor, a ballroom. Complete with a domed ceiling, and a 25,000 sq. ft. oval wooden floor.


On January 23rd, 1959, Buddy holly began his final tour, The Winter Dance Party (with Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and Dion and The Belmonts), in the upstairs ballroom (then called "Devines Million Dollar Ballroom"), and according to Joe Botsford of the Milwaukee Sentinel: "It was crazy, daddy-the goings-on Friday Night...The youngsters jammed the front of the huge stage about 50 deep in a row and 20 to 25 rows deep. Others threatened to fall out of the crowded balconies."


Since that night in 1959, the Eagles Club has closed it's athletic facilities. Changed it's name, to The Rave, and in july of 1986, was able to find time, to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today, the Eagles Club houses six different music venues, and despite it's age, can still bring in huge crowds. The list of artists who made their Wisconsin debut at the Rave/Eagle Ballroom, range from Nirvana and Pearl Jam, to Blink 182 and the Dave Matthews Band.

It's guaranteed, that The Eagle Club (Rave/Eagle Ballroom), will be playing a major part in the music scene, not only for Milwaukee, but for the entire state, itself, for many years to come.





  • Disembodied voices (including those of children).

  • Cold spots.

  • Strong smell of chlorine (see below).

  • "Shadow" people.

  • Objects being thrown from the roof, with no apparent
    cause (wind, animals, etc.).





  • On September 10th, 1927, a seventeen-year-old man was found dead in the pool (it is unknown wether he drowned, or had a heart attack while swimming). It is believed that his spirit haunts the pool area (in the basement), and is responsible for the strong smell of chlorine that patrons and employees have reported smelling throughout the building.

    As for the other occurences (voices, shadow people, etc.), the Eagle Club seems to be more active when the building is closed, or when there are fewer people around. It isn't for sure if these occurences are the result of a residual haunt, or by spirits who are just not that into the music scene.






    ...Handbill from the Witer Dance Party (1/23/59)






    Some people have claimed that Buddy Holly's last show was performed at the Eagles Club (on 1/23/59), and use that for the reason in believing that he is the one haunting the Eagle Club.
    Buddy Holly's final show was not at the Eagles Club.

    Buddy Holly's final show was performed at the Surf Ballroom, in Clear Lake Iowa, on Monday, February 2nd, 1959. He died in the early morning hours of Tuesday, February 3rd, 1959, when his plane
    crashed, north of Clear Lake, Iowa.