When we could see them no longer, Rubin and I quickly ran toward my apartment as fast as we could, never looking back. You never know what secrets are just below Cheesman's surface. Cheesman Park is located at Franklin and 8th Streets and is open from dawn until 11:00 p.m. ©Kathy Weiser – Legends of America, updated October 2019. He was buried on March 20, 1859. The Roman Catholic area was sold to the Archdiocese and named Mount Calvary Cemetery, although the Catholic Church eventually sold the land back to the city in 1950. Rather than utilizing full-size coffins for adults, he used child-sized caskets that were just one foot by 3 ½ feet long. Last month, workers digging a new irrigation system … To say the least, we were petrified! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Then he led me to a couple areas of the park where slightly sunken plots are noticeable. The park was finally completed in 1907, without ever having moved the rest of the bodies. However, most of those buried in the cemetery were vagrants, criminals, and paupers. Only a portion of the park rests on cemetery land, today, with other sections turned into residential areas, Congress Park, and the Botanic Gardens. Cheesman Park is located in central Denver, southeast of downtown. Those who could afford to began to transfer the bodies to other cemeteries throughout the city. After the cemetery became unsightly and unused, it was converted to a park in 1890 and completed in 1907. The park was originally named for the US Congresswho gave permission to change the cemetery to a park and was renamed Ch… Before then, the recently established Denver was home to the large Prospect Hill Cemetery, which spanned the area that is now the Denver Botanic Gardens, Congress Park, and — you guessed it — Cheesman Park. The influential citizens of Denver’s society were most often buried elsewhere, leaving the graveyard to burials of the poor, criminal, and diseased. Surviving family members were given 90 days to move the bodies of their loved ones to a nearby cemetery. The contractor who was tasked with moving the graves was paid by the casket. Cheesman Park is one of Denver's oldest neighborhoods — a small, densely populated area bordered by Colfax Avenue on the north, York Street on the … He said he was spoken to there by what he said was a ‘middle-aged guy wearing ripped up pants, no shirt, and a cowboy hat. Moments later we were surprised when we saw a kid riding a bicycle with a chain dangling from his pocket. Haunted history: from cemetery to Cheesman Park Kelly Jensen DENVER - The 80 acres of Cheesman Park where today dog-walkers, joggers, and outdoor enthusiasts gather, … A year later, the cemetery’s name was changed to the Denver City Cemetery. Afterward, the city built a temporary wooden fence around the cemetery, leaving it in shambles with open holes still displayed. Located in the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood, Cheesman Park is a lush 81 acres that didn’t make its debut until the late 1890s. Have you ever stumbled across an unmarked grave or seen a spooky spirit in Denver's Cheesman Park? As they grew closer, I could see that the pale man’s jaw was broken. Though Denver consisted of only 150 buildings at the time, about 1,000 spectators attended the Stoefel hanging. Lee is also fascinated with ghosts. Astor, who had been looting the graves as he moved the bodies, immediately ran from the graveyard and failed to return to work the next day. The government then offered the land to the City of Denver who purchased it for $200. In actuality, the property didn’t belong to the Town Company either; rather the land legally belonged to the Arapaho Indians. Which brings us to this century. Two years later, in 1909, Gladys Cheesman-Evans, and her mother, Mrs. Walter S. Cheesman, donated a marble pavilion in memory of Denver pioneer, Walter Cheesman. No matter if you are chasing spirits or you're just enjoying a stroll through the beautiful oasis, it's best to watch your step (and keep your dog from digging). In addition, it's said on moonlit nights, if you stand on the west steps of the pavilion the grave-filled cemetery of the 19th century will appear before you. Prospect was claimed by a cabinet-maker named John Walley, who also just happened to be an aspiring undertaker. What lurks beneath the surface of Denver’s beautiful Cheesman Park? Many were never moved and are still on the grounds. These experiences became the basis for a 1980 Hollywood horror film called The Changeling.. Residents in the nearby neighborhood report seeing distraught apparitions, hear knocking on the walls, and some have even seen a woman holding her severed head sitting in their dining room. Courtesy of U.S. Air Force via Senior Airman Marcy Glass. Construction crews in the 1960s were still exhuming bones in the park area, and there could be up to 2,000 thousands of bodies, or parts of bodies, right beneath the surface of Cheesman, today. Loved ones could claim their own and bury them elsewhere, but most of the bodies were left unclaimed. He is also a musician and recording artist trying to make a living in this field part-time. There are 80 acres of the beautiful lush green park nestled in an urban setting, bordered on 3 sides by private homes. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Afterward, we talked about what we saw for a long time, both confident that we had seen and talked to “the walking dead!”, So, if you ever go out to Cheesman Park at night, know that you just might be questioned by a ghost in a hospital gown who continues to look for his killers. In their haste, body parts and bones were literally strewn everywhere and in the disorganized mess, “souvenir” hunters began to loot the open graves and coffins. In its earliest years, it was a neighborhood where the wealthy resided in immense and gorgeous mansions. Just then I heard a rattling chain behind us and said, “Rubin, can you hear that?” As I looked around, he replied that he hadn’t heard anything. I don't really need help but I do need to tell this story, even though it's not all that dramatic. Cheesman Park is located in central Denver, southeast of downtown. “There, I heard it again!” I exclaimed as I heard the chain jingling. Before it became Cheesman Park, in 1890, named Congress Park. Afterward, his body, along with his brother’s were dumped into the same grave at the edge of the cemetery. It was obvious looking at the land that these hadn’t been actual graves in decades. Real estate developers soon began to lobby for a park rather than an unused cemetery. In 1875, twenty acres at the north part of the cemetery were sold to the Hebrew Burial Society, who then maintained it, while much of the rest of the graveyard grew tall with weeds. “The ones who did this to me. "The Denver Republican newspaper ran a story on March 19, 1893, with a headline that read: 'The Work of Ghouls!' As I handed him a cigarette, he said, “Did you see them?”. It's my favorite park, you may say. However, the unscrupulous McGovern soon found a way to make an even larger profit on the contract. But, Denver grew past its mining and railroad hub town needs into a burg with more amenities, power, and prestige. Yet more reports tell of strange shadows and misty figures that seem to wander through the park in confusion. This week, it’s time to fact-check this ghost story! Still, he didn’t hear it and we could see no one. In November 1858, Larimer set aside 320 acres for a cemetery, which is now the site of present-day Cheesman and Congress Parks. What lurks at Cheesman after the sun goes down? Last week, I wrote about Russell Hunter’s paranormal experiences while renting a Denver home near Cheesman Park in the late 1960s. Since the late 1800‟s, the area of Cheesman Park has been a place for the citizens of Denver to come and relax in peace. The Park has inexact borders, as it is framed on 3 sides by private residences, but is located in center of the Cheesman Park neighborhood, between Humboldt Street on the west, Race Street and Denver Botanic Gardens on the east, 13th Avenue on the north, and 8th Avenue on the south. The outermost edge of the cemetery was reserved for criminals and paupers, while the middle class was to be interred somewhere in between. Vincent Scully, former Yale University art historian, described the 1898 Cheesman Park as one of the finest urban spaces in America. The Cheesman Park area neighborhood is considered to be one of the single oldest ones located within Denver. Know what? 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