116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Piece of History: Haunted house?
Cedar Rapids mansion’s owner hanged himself in attic in 1919
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In 1963, John A. Kuba bought a house, built in the 1880s, at 1035 Second St. SE in Cedar Rapids and renamed it Tower Grove.
Before moving in, Kuba researched the home and discovered its sad and spooky past.
Although the house was empty, Kuba heard a clock, organ music and even the echo of footsteps throughout the home. The footsteps began with the back door being entered, crossing the kitchen, up the back stairway, down the hall, and up another flight of stairs into the attic.
Frank J. Mittvalsky came to Cedar Rapids from Czechoslovakia in 1870, opening a downtown butcher shop, and moved his family moved into the small brick mansion at what was then 1035 S. Second St., according to Lori Erickson's “Ghosts of Linn County.”
In 1900, Frank’s daughter, Mary, married Charles J. Novak, a founder of the Linn County Abstract Co., and the couple moved into the Mittvalsky mansion. On May 22, 1919, Novak hung himself in the attic of the mansion.
The home later became a temporary home for the Linn County Historical Museum Association (now The History Center) and then housed the Velvet Feedbag restaurant. A fire badly damaged the home in 1984, and it was demolished in 1987.
Tara Templeman is curator at The History Center. Comments: curator@historycenter.org
A refurbished bedroom is shown in 1972 at Tower Grove, the small mansion at 1035 Second St. SE in Cedar Rapids. (Gazette archives)
Cedar Rapids firefighters pour water on a fire May 31, 1984, at the Velvet Feedbag restaurant, 1035 Second St. SE. The fire started in the attic of the small mansion that was built by Frank J. Mittvalsky in the 1880s. The fire was ruled an arson, and the house was razed in 1987. (Gazette archives)
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