Denver's Ghost Tours and Tales 2012

Is Denver haunted? Hard to say, but stories of ghostly apparitions and spectral sightings abound in the Mile High City. Even better, we celebrate our past (good and bad) in Denver, offering  plenty of historical Halloween fun throughout the Halloween season.

Capitol Hill Horror -- Meet on Sunday, October 21, at 1PM at the Grant-Humphreys Mansion, 777 Pennsylvania St. for Halloween tales with  Colorado historian  Tom Noel and storytellers Edger Allen Poe (Dennis Gallagher), Mary Elitch (Debra Faulkner), Molly Brown (Charla Stilling), Mattie Silks (Patti Lundt), Mrs. Adolph Coors II (Kim Field), Mrs. Uerttea Croke (Amy Zimmer), Helen Bonfils (Susan Liehe), and other exhumed eccentrics. After these blood curdling horror stories, we dare you to join Dr. Colorado's walking tour into the autumnal gloom to hear tales of ghosts at the Governor's Mansion, the Croke-Patterson-Campbell Mansion, the Peabody Manse and other creepy places. Cost: $39 History Colorado members; $49 nonmembers. Information and reservations at History Colorado: 303-866-4686.

Mt. Olivet Cemetery Crawl -  Meet up Saturday, October 27, 2012 - 1-4PM at  the Chapel at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 12801 W. 44th Ave. Join historian Tom Noel and a host of ghosts as they guide you through Colorado’s second largest  Necropolis. You will meet underground celebrities exhumed for this creepy, once-in-a-lifetime occasion, such as Horace (Dennis Gallagher) and Baby Doe Tabor (Charla Fleming), Mrs. William Gilpin (Debra Faulkner), and J.K. Mullen (John Stewart) and get a peak at the most elaborate private mausoleum in the Rockies. Free grave to grave transit provided by the Model A Ford Club of Colorado. Cost: $26 History Colorado members; $31 nonmembers.

Information and reservations at History Colorado: 303-866-4686.

The Lumber Baron Inn -- The Altitude Paranormal Group  will be doing Lumber Baron events each Wednesday, including Halloween. Additional events are slated for the Monday and Tuesday prior to Halloween. On Friday Oct 26th APG will be holding an event co sponsored by Tivoli Beer at The Stage Stop in Rollinsville. APG says they've  investigated this bar/saloon built in 1868 several times and it is one of the most active they've experienced. Their website appears to be down, but for details you can contact them through their facebook page, by phone at (720) 237-1807 or via email altitudeparanormal@gmail.com.

Spirit Paranormal Investigations - Channel your inner Ghostbuster  at several sites throughout the Denver area, including the historic Denver Firefighters' Museum, and the Bennis Library in Littleton. They're also hosting several ghost hunting lectures at area libraries, including Cherry Creek (Oct. 11) and Englewood (Oct. 30). See their event calendar here, and contact them directly for more info, such as pricing.

Phil Goodstein -- If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know we enjoy the ghost tours of Denver author and historian Phil Goodstein. His affordable walking tours of Denver cemeteries and haunted sites can be viewed here.

Ghosts at the Gardens -- Today it’s Denver’s favorite urban oasis, but more than a hundred years ago, the land Denver Botanic Gardens sits on was the Mile High City’s first cemetery. Heck, they'res still digging up bodies at the Gardens. Learn more about the Gardens’ macabre history, and recount decades of the paranormal through eyewitness reports from past and present Gardens staff, in one of the city’s most haunted places. October 19, 20, 21, 26 and 28 tours include tour of gardens and the adjacent Waring House mansion, built in the early 1900s. Children 12 years old and older are welcomed (this tour is not recommended for children younger than 12). Tours will be held under any weather conditions, including rain or snow. Ticket sales are final, no refunds. $20 Adult Members, and children 12 years old and older. Non member fee is $25 Adults, and children 12 years old and older. Get your reservations now, this sells out quickly.

Haunted Platt Park - The Fleming Mansion

Keep an eye out. There are ghosts roaming the halls, rooms, lobbies, restaurants, basements and parks throughout the DU/Platt Park neighborhoods. Indeed, you don't have to look far to find stories of ghosts and hauntings in South Denver. Last year we talked about the spooky specters that haunt the University of Denver. This year we delve a bit deeper into the local disembodied spirits, with a trip to Deckers Library and the adjacent Fleming mansion.

Incorporated in 1886, the Town of South Denver stretched from South Alameda to Yale, from Colorado Boulevard to Pecos. In 1882 James Fleming, the town's first and only mayor, built a rusticated stone mansion at 1510 S. Grant for his home, ultimately donating it to the town in 1891. It became the town hall, library and temporary home to criminals when the basement was converted to a jail. Legend has it that one of the very large trees on the grounds of the home saw more than a few hangings.

Still known as the Fleming house, the building next to the Decker Library in Platt Park, is allegedly haunted by the pounding of the walls of prisoners from the days when it housed the South Denver jail. The adjacent Platt Park is a shining star during the day, but has a melancholy feeling after dark.

The Fleming house has been underutilized in recent years. A few pool tables sit in the main room, and another room on the main floor was at one time converted to a wood working shop that is rarely used and is something of a hazard. The upstairs is mostly used for storage and is only accessed by an existing servants' stair. The interior is in desperate need of repair and refurbishment, something that will not happen given the budget constraints on the Parks and Recreation Department.
 

Currently, The Park People non-profit group is working to rehabilitate the Fleming House. The first floor will be upgraded into a beautiful community space, available for a variety of meetings, events, and special gatherings. A reconstructed central staircase to the second floor will be installed where the original existed years ago; a bearing wall that was removed circa 1914 will be relocated to its original location. The second floor will be renovated for use by The Park People for their headquarters. Offices, work spaces, a break room, and a bathroom will all be updated using the existing layout of the top floor. Throughout the house, the floors and windows will be replaced and refurbished, along with updated electrical and plumbing to allow for the building’s expanded use. Where ever possible, fixtures and finishes will reflect the idea of a modern use for a historic structure. This project will breathe new life into this building, creating a public amenity for the Platt Park neighborhood and giving The Park People a larger home for its growing list of activities. The renovation will preserve this important historical structure going into the future, and The Park People’s presence will ensure that the Fleming House will receive the tender loving care that it deserves.