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Posted By: Dave Marks
Related Subjects: Ghost Stories
19th St. Castle 1318 19th St
By Jill Pope
Here's an odd little story that was relayed to us. The "19th Street Castle" is the elaborate tan stuccoed home located across the street from Holliday Park. This home was built in 1914 for Thomas Heaney, a prominent businessman in Cheyenne. Before the home was completed Reverend Wesley Dumm purchased it and had the construction completed. He and his family resided here from 1915-1929. The Dr. Devine family moved into this home until 1944. Currently it is divided into apartments. A resident in the 1990s reported that the ghost here is known for violently shaking the bedposts of the four-poster bed and drinking all the beer out of the refrigerator! He said the spirit looks like a kindly, older gentleman and he believes it to be Reverend Dumm, the first resident of the home.
Posted By: Dave Marks
Related Subjects: Ghost Stories
CITY NEWS 18th & Carey
By Jill Pope
I spoke to Shawn, the store manager of City News Book Store at 18th St & Capitol Ave. this week. She said they have lots of ghost activity. They feel like it's a male spirit, possibly the doctor that used to work in the building years ago. Pretty much every employee that has been there in the past couple years has had experiences.
The ghost sets off their alarm sometimes. They've learned that if they acknowledge "him" the alarm goes off. When they call the alarm company they do not show a security problem. He also likes the children's books. There's one that makes noises of various farm animals when you push the button. The animal sounds will play on their own, and if they say hello and acknowledge the ghost, the animal sounds stop.
They often find whole sections of books turned around, or magazines moved. At first they thought maybe a customer was doing this. It was odd because the Obama books were always being turned! The staff began really watching the customers to see if someone was rearranging things. They could never find anyone turning the books, but it continued to happen like twice a day. At closing time they would check over the displays, and then diligently set the alarms. When they came in the morning they'd find books moved. They never feel threatened by the spirit. One employee heard a voice right behind her. When she turned to answer no one was there. She ran away hysterically!
Posted By: Jill Pope
Related Subjects: Ghost Stories
The following is a story I received from a local resident, in her own words:
When we bought our house on south Bent, the couple who owned said that they had problems with the garage door always opening by itself. I never gave it a second thought.
Karly was only 2 when we moved into the house and right away she kept talking about "the man". She would tell us that a man would come into her room at night and sing to her. She even had us set a place at the table for him. I hadn't seen or heard anything so I thought it was just an imaginary friend.
A few months of living in the house and I started noticing weird things. Stuff would be missing or moved to strange places. The ghost loved to put things under the kitchen table for some reason. The first time I saw him, I went into Karly's room to check on her and he was standing next to her bed. He was oriental, with shoulder length straight hair and he wore a long black coat. Kind of like a trench coat. He was not scary, and he looked fairly young. (Maybe early 20's). From then on we started calling him the "Chinese Man."
He always seemed to be around day or night. We would always catch a glimpse of him walking around the house. My son Bret always said that he would come into his room at night and say I love you. I remember waking up a lot of times to him standing in the corner of our bedroom. The neighbors across the street saw him one night when were over there visiting. We were in the garage and Larainne looked across the street; she asked me who was still at our house? I told her no one, but when we looked across the street we could see him watching us from the living room window. One year when we went to Arizona, Andy came over to feed our fish. He said that the first day he came over the entire bedroom doors were open. (That's how we left them) and the Aquarium light was on. The next day all the doors were closed and the aquarium light was off. A few days after that the doors were open again and all the lights in the house were on.
The Chinese man loved to turn on lights and the TV (especially) in the middle of the night. One night we woke up to our bedroom light on and all three TV's on.
Things would always turn up missing. One year I made Birthday invitations out for Karly's Birthday. I put them on the TV so she could take them to school the next day. In the morning I noticed that they were not on the TV anymore. We search the entire house and never found them. The Chinese Man was always taking things like hair brushes, keys, clothes and then we would find them later underneath the kitchen table.
Probably the most bizarre thing that ever happened was when we first started talking about moving. We noticed that there was a funny smell in the Bret's room and then the carpet on the stairway was always wet. Since the house was a bi-level, there were no pipes running underneath the floor where the carpet was wet. Then we noticed that the banister was wet as well. We had a plumber come to the house but they could never find the cause of it. It wasn't water, because it was kind of a slimy-sticky goo and it smelled a little like syrup. I know it wasn't my kids doing it because we would come home from being gone all day (the whole family) and the carpet would be soaked. I got so tired of it I decided to tell our ghost out loud that we really hated it when he did that. And as mysteriously as it started it stopped.
When we were moving out of our house, my husband and I were sitting in the kitchen and we had cleaned out all of the cupboards that day so all of the cabinet doors were open. They all slammed shut at the same time! I think he was upset because we were leaving.
Now I did do some research on our old house and come to find out where our house is now used to be a tent camp for Chinese immigrants who were here building the railroad. None of the workers lived to be very old because of the harsh weather. A friend of Karly's, who lived behind us also said that they have a Chinese ghost in their house as well.
Posted By: Jill Pope
Related Subjects: Ghost Stories
Among the assortment of theories in paranormal studies is the theory that ghosts may be imprinted upon an existing surface of a building, such as a wall or a door frame. Similar to a taped recording, the ghost will reappear at different intervals. Removing or altering the surface can cause portions of the recording to fade, eventually disappearing entirely. But the occurrences in this building turn this theory around.
Nick the phone technician was programming a phone system at the Senior Center. However something was interfering with Nick's programming efforts. The phone was actually programming itself. Nick called the main office and described what was occurring. They told him that was impossible. Nick said he had 4 witnesses on his end. He unplugged the phone system for two minutes and then reconnected it; now the memory was completely erased, which is not supposed to happen. Every time he would set down his tools and flashlight they would be moved when he went to grab them again. He was extremely frustrated.
This activity went on for days. Not ever believing in the supernatural Nick was forced to accept that something paranormal was at play here. Finally at his wits end, he yelled at the ghost and much to his surprise the phone system began to work. He finished up the job, but as he went on to new jobs the ghost actually followed him! After two long days of phone systems lighting up erratically, and tools being moved, and nothing working appropriately for Nick, he again spoke out loud to the ghost. While on his way to work he said "fine if you want to work with me that's just great, but you need to follow directions. These people count on their phones, so just do what I tell you". When he got to the job site and began working on the phones, much to his dismay he started having problems with the system programming itself again. He yelled at the ghost and immediately all of the books on the shelf next to him slammed to the floor. Nick was really frightened, but that was the end of the ghostly apprenticeship!
Have you heard this story or another version of it? Do you have a ghost story to share? Click on "Comments" to tell your tale!
Posted By: Jill Pope
Related Subjects: Ghost Stories
DAVIS BUILDING
"Rich & poor, high & low, good & bad, people meet death but once. All have their appointed time to die ... [oft-times with] no warning of the coming of the dread reaper ... [Their] souls ... hurled into eternity where bodily pain is not felt," so claimed Cheyenne's The Daily Leader Newspaper of June 4th, 1876. The heartless murder of an innocent young girl in the heart of downtown Cheyenne stunned the residents.
It was a pleasant Saturday evening in early June when fifteen year old Jennie Martin, her friend Minnie Montgomery, and Jennie's little niece walked hand in hand up 17th street on their way to the Catholic Church. Shortly after the hour of 8 o'clock in the evening, as they were crossing Eddy Street (changed to Pioneer Street in 1913), a shot rang out. Still clasping her niece's hand Jenny Martin fell dead on the spot. The bullet had entered her right temple. Minnie screamed out in horror as people gathered around. It was too late to save the young lady. Jenny Martin was buried in Lakeview Cemetery (lot 335 space 8) on June 22, 1876.
Immediately following the shooting a few women who were out for a stroll on Ferguson Street, one block to the east, encountered a man running at a fast pace heading towards the depot. Suspecting that he would catch a train Sheriff O'Brien arrested him within an hour. His name was Butler and he was labeled a hoodlum, but he was soon released. No one stood trial in this death, no motive determined, no justice found.
At the moment of her demise, Jenny's head was turned slightly towards the Underwood & McGregor building, where the Davis Building now stands. Perhaps it is here that Jenny's spirit lingers since the tragedy of her death. This could certainly explain the unusual events reported in the Davis Building which was erected in 1895. There have been many businesses at this location over the years. At least three grocery stores were here. Inside the lobby of the building hangs a vintage photo taken by Walker of Kimrey & Nagle Grocers, circa 1907. The signs advertise "queensware, grain, fruits & hay". A horse and buggy are parked beside the building. Today Avalon Correctional Services is located here.
Some years ago, prior to learning of Jennie's untimely death, tenants of the Davis building reported unusual occurrences within their walls. Over the years people from the Goodwill Juvenile facility and later the Frontier Correctional Systems were housed in the Davis Building. They were disgruntled when posters of their favorite rock bands were destroyed. Their beds would be found disheveled and occasionally flipped over. Standing outside of the building the residents have watched as their cigarettes are put out in front of their eyes, as if an invisible hand is passing along snuffing them out. At the same time they realize the air surrounding them has suddenly become bitter cold. If the wholesome Jennie Martin is residing in the Davis building, it appears that she disapproves of the habits of her peers. She may have a lighter taste in music, and smoking is something she's not tolerating.
To further substantiate that this spirit is Jennie, a former counselor who worked at the facility for many years reported seeing an entity that she described as a teenage girl.
This building has housed different rehabilitation facilities over the years. In the 90s it held residents that were mentally disabled. On the 3rd floor was a juvenile program for runaways and troubled children. Because of the nature of this facility the building was locked down with high security. One night around 11:00 pm the police brought a new girl in. During the "in-take" process they always took a Polaroid picture for the file. Peggy had this teenage girl stand in the center of the hallway and snapped the picture. She was interviewing the girl while another staff member was processing her paperwork. The second staff person began tugging on Peggy's arm and then pointing to the picture. There was a clear image of a man in the air above the girl. His whole figure could be seen except for his feet. He wore a hat and a vintage suit (Peggy called it a zoot suit). They told the girl the photo did not come out, and then took another copy for the file. Peggy took the original Polaroid to the staff meeting in the morning so that the rest of the employees could view the apparition. All were amazed even though the residents often reported seeing a man in the hall. Prior to this event there was often talk of the building being haunted. They called him the "Goodwill Ghost".
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