A long time ago there was a room where train tickets were sold to the public. There have been numerous stories revealed about visions of spirits that appeared to be railroad conductors walking straight through the walls of the room that sold the tickets. Visitors staying at the hotel have seen images of individuals in old time attire that are carrying luggage and appear to be traveling.
There is a room in the hotel that was once referred to as the "San Marco Room". It was known to provide entertaining social gatherings and music to guests. Eventually, it was transitioned into a hotel dining room. Today it is called "Ellington's."
An employee was walking through hotel and he heard noises emerging from this room. He discovered a musical band that appeared to be practicing an assortment of musical pieces. He calmly informed the band that they had to dismiss themselves from the location. The spirits then informed him that they lived at the hotel. Shortly, thereafter, they simply vanished.
My Investigation
I've passed by this building for many years but I was never able to stop and go inside because I could never find a parking spot. The building is a triangular shape and located in the busy downtown area with parking on the street.
I have tried to go on a ghost tour of this hotel, but it is very difficult to book. There are limited tours, only given a few times a year and only on certain days. There are not many spots available and you have to book about 6 months in advance, and that is not guaranteed that they will conduct the tour. I'm not sure why it is so hard, but I think because it's such a prestigious hotel that the management doesn't want to disturb the people staying at the hotel.
I was finally able to go inside the Brown Palace Hotel with my friend Janet, in October of 2012. I remember how we were so mesmerized by the elegance of the lobby. There was a man playing the piano and we noticed the elegant martini bar. We looked around and noticed the intimate seating areas. There were groups of people sitting at small tables having dinner and cocktails.
Looking around it felt like we were stepping back in time. The grand presence of the balconies was overwhelming. They were so beautiful and intricately carved; it was amazing.
We walked around taking pictures and walking through the hallways. There was an atrium that connected one building to another. We looked down and could see the road below us.
On the other side of the hallway were a few ballrooms. There were marble stairs, and huge pillars leading to these rooms. It felt chilly in that area. I opened the doors and looked around. There were a bunch of tables and a small stage straight ahead that had velvet drapes covering it. I took some pictures but I didn't see anything.
We eventually left the building and I continued to take pictures outside the hotel. Upon reviewing the photos, I discovered one picture revealed a very large, prominent orb hovering directly in front of the building.
I felt the sensation that spirits were present inside the lobby area and near the bar. They didn't feel scary or threatening. I felt they were very calm and peaceful spirits, just carrying on with their everyday business as usual as if they were still alive.
The Brown Palace has a very beautiful and majestic feeling to it. I would love to come back and stay overnight and do further investigating to see if I could capture more evidence.
The Henry Treat Rogers Mansion
Denver, Colorado
10/2010
Apparition of a sickly boy / Ghost cat / Banging & crashing sounds have been heard / Doors open & close by themselves / Walls vibrate / Red rubber ball has been seen bouncing down the stairs / Glass doors have blown up / Bedroom doors shake / Piano plays by itself / Deafening noises from the chimney / Items fly around the house / Walls exploded during a demolition of the house / Red ball has been found where the house once stood
Haunted History
The Henry Treat Rogers Mansion was built in 1892 at 1739 East 93th Avenue at the north edge of Cheeseman Park. It was a big, white house with a federal design built for an influential railroad attorney. Henry was the founder of the University and Denver clubs. He served as a park commissioner and was a major figure in the Unitarian Church.
After he passed away, the structure went to his niece, Francis Ristine. After she passed away, her husband relocated. Other occupants came and went. It had been vacant for about 18 months, before Russell Hunter rented it in early 1968. He was a Broadway and Hollywood composer.
Hunter thought the Cheeseman Park mansion was an ideal place to settle in and write his music. He was plagued by mysterious events in the house. Hunter consequently moved out after living in the house for about a year.
Hunter told his story of paranormal events that occurred in the house to a Hollywood colleague in 1976, who wrote it and sold it to a Canadian studio. The film was called "The Changeling" and released in 1979. It was a Canadian horror film directed by Peter Medak. It starred George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere (Scott's real-life wife).
The story is based upon events that writer Russell Hunter said he experienced while he was living in the Henry Treat Rogers Mansion in Denver, Colorado.
The plot of the film is about Dr. John Russell (George C. Scott), who is a composer living in New York City, who moves cross-country to Washington state following the deaths of his wife and daughter in a traffic accident in New York.
Russell rents a large, old, and elegant Victorian era mansion and begins piecing his life back together.
He discovers the ghost of a murdered child. The spirit shatters windows, opens and shuts doors, and manifests itself during a seance. He finds out that the child is Joseph Carmichael. He was murdered by his father. Joseph was a crippled, sickly child, and in the event of his death, the family fortune would pass to his mother's side of the family. Joseph's father drowned the young Joseph in the bathtub, secretly replaced him with a healthy orphan, and took him to Europe in the guise of seeking a treatment or cure. He returned several years later with an imposter, now grown and "cured' of his illness, and continued as if nothing had happened. But now the ghost of the real Joseph was haunting the house to get Dr. Russell to investigate the murder, and bring forth justice. A stellar cast and low-key suspense have made this film a classic.
Paranormal Phenomenon
A little more than a week after Hunter moved in, strange things began to happen. A ghostly cat appeared one day in April 1968. Banging and crashing sounds were heard regularly, coming from the direction of a bedroom fireplace. He yelled "stop it" and never heard the noise again. Next, doors mysteriously began to open and close unaided, while walls vibrated and threw paintings to the floor.
Most of all, he was disturbed by a continual banging sound which appeared to be coming from the attic.
A woman he met at a bridge game told Hunter that a poltergeist was in the house. An architect, exploring the house with him, discovered a sealed off stairway behind a second story closet that led up to a small attic compartment. When they opened the door, a red rubber ball came bouncing down the stairs and disappeared.
Hunter called over seventeen friends and showed them the secret passage to the attic. Once again, when he opened the door, a red rubber ball bounced down the steps and vanished.
In the attic, Hunter discovered a child's trunk that contained a diary of a nine year old boy whose family had hidden him in the attic because they were ashamed that he was born a cripple. The journal mentioned the boy's favorite toy was a red rubber ball.
A three night seance was held at the Cherry Hills mansion of parapsychologist Robert Bradley. Many details of the crime were exposed. A medium told Hunter that the crippled child would