Capitol Hill Is More Haunted Than Previously Thought

On a dark and chilly October night, the faint glow of a lanterns light can be seen wandering Denver’s ghostly Capitol Hill neighborhood as “Terrors of Denver Ghost Tours” presents the city’s haunted history to Denverites and tourists alike. During their on-season, guides meet with their groups at the Capitol building to conduct these nightly tours at 8 P.M., “rain or shine,” according to the website. 

The tour of Capitol Hill, which is an exceptionally possessed neighborhood in the historic city of Denver, features a wild variety of locations. The neighborhood was once dubbed “Millionaire’s Row” and housed living socialites like the “Unsinkable” Molly Brown and Walter Cheeseman, whose local park has a dark history that lies six feet below its surface. A few houses boast their original architecture, while other hauntings occur in recent building developments. 

Tour guide Jenna Hissong was drawn to Denver’s Terror tours to learn more about the area and the city’s history. A believer in apparitions herself, Hissong said she tours around “75% of believers, or people who want to believe, at least,” while the rest are skeptics who attend for a tale of intrigue and, more commonly, a bite of historical drama. While the tours are conducted year-round, their on-season is from September through October. However, even during the off-season, tours are often completely booked. 

Starting at the Capitol building, the tour group is first introduced to the many ghosts that roam its halls: A miner literally “scraping by” as he collects flakes of the building’s golden dome; and three headless riders searching tirelessly for their missing heads. These very same riders would use abandoned, underground hallways that stretch under a large portion of Capitol Hill to visit their mistresses. Reportedly, a handful of tour groups have been able to catch photos of otherworldly shadows in the Capitol’s windows, as they quickly switch between rooms, as well as realms. According to Hissong, these hallways were intended to “bring coal in and out of buildings and are blocked off to the public,” although reportedly, some have been able to access them through the sewers.  

Five blocks away, the Dunning-Benedict House shelters both the living and the dead, since its rooms are now apartments. “The poltergeist that resides on the bottom floor does prioritize a work-life balance,” Hissong reports, as it will force anyone out of the downstairs leasing office who stays too late. Other revamped historical buildings include the Donald Fletcher House and the Croke-Patterson Mansion. Perks of the Croke-Patterson Mansion (now advertised as the Patterson Inn) include resident ghost dogs and plenty of reasons to disinvite kids: Including an in-development Marijuana bar and a ghost known to torture children. The Donald Fletcher House, now dubbed the Knights of Colombus building, was a mansion at least twice its current size that featured everything a successful socialite should have had: A ballroom, an indoor pool and indoor air conditioning. After the silver crash, however, Fletcher disappeared and left his debt-heavy town to fend for themselves.  

Hissong also solved one of the biggest mysteries to Denver tourists: The Cash Register Building (now Wells Fargo Center). Only eyewitnesses could attest to the dreadful events of the 1991 Father’s Day Massacre, since the perpetrator destroyed all video evidence. After months of investigation, former officer James King was suspected to have strolled into the building under the ruse of being the establishments vice president, robbed the bank and killed four men. One of the most iconic pieces of the Denver skyline, the Cash Register Building, now houses the harrowing tale of the massacre and the victims who are said to still patrol the vacant offices. 

Even if one does have to see it to believe it, the hilariously relatable ghosts and spine-chilling tradition of oral storytelling should be more than enough to tug on the loose string of curiosity. Accompanied by the moon’s form-defying shadows and fellow apparition adventurers, the tour sends shivers up the spines of both believers and otherwise. While these brief tales could not encapsulate the entertainment or breadth of detail that Denver Terrors has to offer, hopefully it is chilling enough to give Denver’s haunted history a try.