Tuesday, May 31, 2011

"To understand the living, you have to commune with the dead"-Minerva, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

From convicts and criminals, to a local hero turned villain, and a deadly event regarding one its early occupants, this building has a frightening and haunted past… and ghostly PRESENT.  According to ghost whisperer and tour guide of Haunted History After Dark, Grace, except for one benevolent and gentle spirit, who protects the area around the bell tower, this structure has seen its share of grizzly tales and still has many angry entities that refuse to leave.  No wonder.  It was fiery and fatal incident in 1880, in the heart of Old Town, that caused this building to constructed in the first place.
This structure rose in this busy district of the city in 1881. It housed the first Hook and Ladder boys of the town, what we know now as the Fire Department. It was not only the fire station, but it was also the town hall, drunk tank, and jail. Horse thieves, an occasional “soiled dove” , and after 1896, a bootlegger or two, may have spent some “thinkin’ ” time behind its walls. But, one of the most infamous occupants of the jail not only worked there as one of the first Hook and Ladders boys, but made Larimer County and Colorado history, as one of the most murderous, while “in his cups” on a Wednesday afternoon in April of 1888. The lights of the city went out that day. And when they were turned back on at 9 P.M. that night…
Walk with the spirits who are dying to meet you on the Haunted History After Dark tour and learn the rest of this frightening tale. You’ll be crossing your fingers they leave the lights on for you!  Discover what deadly and tragic event on a chilly Saturday night in February of 1880, stirred the grief stricken town to build this structure.  With Grace’s talent and gift, experience up close haunted Old Town through the words and emotions of its spirits who speak to her while on the tour. Minerva from John Berendt’s novel,  Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil said it best, “To understand the living, you have to commune with the dead.”
Tours run Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights at 8:30pm. Contact hauntedhistoryafterdark@yahoo.com for more information. Come prepared to be scared.