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Photo Essay: Ghosts of the Brown Palace

Contributed by: Stan Dyer on 11/23/2007

I love historic buildings. They are so full of history. The Brown Palace was built in 1892 and has seen so much Denver history in its 115 years. It is easy to see why people talk about ghosts, spirits and hauntings when speaking of structures so old. To walk into the Brown Palace atrium is almost like walking through time. Naturally, there are some stories to tell, but one never really expects to touch one, and one never really knows what to think when it appears out of thin air. It happened Thanksgiving Day, 2007.

Just for fun, my girlfriend and I booked a Thanksgiving stay at the Brown, and we requested a "ghost" room. The Brown doesn't advertise their ghost stories much and you really have to probe to get any information at all. Even on the hotel tour, not much is mentioned about such things and they don't talk about the von Puhl murder anymore. I never expected much to come of our request, and I felt somewhat silly when the staff seemed humored that we would even mention it. Nonetheless, they accommodated us and booked us in Room 635, the Suicide Room.

As the story goes, a lone man booked a night in the room and, for no apparent reason, decided to kill himself in the bathtub. He was found by hotel staff the next morning. They jokingly comment, "He checked in, but he never checked out". Since the suicide, reports of sightings in the room have occurred and a number of guests requested to be moved to other rooms. Of course, the staff smile as they convey the information so as not to appear to condone such behavior or to appear to believe in the supernatural, and I just shrugged it off. I really never expected anything to happen, but I thought it would be fun just to say I stayed in a room with such a history.

Before visiting the Brown, I did some supplemental research of my own. I wanted to know about the people who stayed there and those historic stories that every building has. I discovered many famous people visited the hotel through the years. Diplomats, presidents, princesses, actors, actresses and celebrities all stayed at the Brown. Those are the kinds of spirits I expect to see. When any celebrity visits a hotel, the aura remains behind. From that point on, when people enter the building, the hall or the room, there is that sense of touching history just knowing personality has walked those same paths. Common people visit too, and it's the common people who tend to leave more unusual stories.

In my research, I discovered that uniformed waiters from a different era are seen from time to time on the service elevators, but disappear when the elevator reaches the ground. There is also talk of a conductor seen on occasion in the atrium near where the railroad ticket counter used to be. The sounds of babies crying have been heard in the boiler room, and unusual occurrences have taken place in certain rooms.

Room 904 was the residence of Louise Crawford for 40 years. After she died, her suite was remodeled and offered for guests. Rumor has it that as the remodel was taking place, every time a tour went through the room, the switchboard would ring from the room even though there was no longer a phone. When the operator answered, all that was heard was static.

One of the best stories is of Isabelle Springer and the love triangle that ended in murder. She was 20 years younger than her husband was and quite flirtatious. She had a number of indiscretions to her record, but none as serious as when two of her extramarital suitors came to visit her at the same time at her residence at the Brown Palace. It didn't take long before the two ended up in the bar and a pistol was drawn. Five shots were fired and three hit Sylvester Louis von Puhl who died of his injuries. That was 1911.

I did not even know about the Suicide Room until staff upgraded me there and told me the story. At first, the room seemed somewhat creepy, but I fell asleep easily and slept like a baby in the wonderful lap of luxury the Brown offers. As I checked out, I was asked if saw anything and I had to reply, "No", but, later, as I walked out through the hotel lobby, my girlfriend confided in me.

Apparently, she got up in the middle of the night to use the facilities. She said she wasn't certain what she saw or if she really saw it all. She wondered if it was just the product of "suggestion". Yet, as she sat there in the lightly lit room, she had a vision. Just for a moment and in full vivid color, she saw the image of a slightly overweight, middle-aged man slumped over in the tub. He was covered in blood and there was blood all over the wall. Just as quickly as the vision appeared, it was gone. She said she remembered thinking that this would keep her up the rest of the night. It didn't. As she spoke of it, I believed her. She is a practical woman and she was even doubting herself, trying to write it off as happening so quickly that she couldn't even be sure it was true. I wish she had told me sooner. I was jealous that she didn't share the fun with me.

Was there a ghost? She says she saw something real and vivid. I believe her. The spirits of celebrity guests will always grace the halls of the magnificent Brown, and we will always be able to walk where the great and powerful once tread, but it's not very often we are visited with a vision like the one my girlfriend saw. I'm going to remember Suite 635 at the Brown and I'm going back.


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Showing 1 of 1 comments
Submitted By: Joan-Marie Reed
posted on 11/23/2007 @ 8:16:08 PM
Rated Story
Oh, spooky! That is a cool story. The Brown Palace sounds like a magical place. I wonder if I can talk my boyfriend into taking me there? Thanks, Stan.
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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Stan Dyer

Arvada , CO

Stan Dyer has posted 866 stories and 103 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Stan Dyer 's average story rating is 4.92.
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