Prepare for a scare: Auraria's hauntingly tragic past
Oct 25, 2006
In researching the history of the long-gone town of Auraria and the older buildings that remain on campus, Metro State
History Club President Charlie Smith said that what struck him was the extent of the tragic history of the area, “from the
lawlessness of the early town to the 1908 shooting of the priest in St. Elizabeth’s. And the Tivoli, well, it has a history of
its own.”
All this tragedy no doubt will make great fodder for Auraria’s Ghosts, Spirits and Hauntings, a haunted history tour to
be led the night of Oct. 30 by Smith and the other members of the history club.
The club has been researching the area for the past three weeks using books and newspaper archives and
interviewing Metro State history professors, including Chair and college archivist Stephen Leonard and Adjunct Kevin
Rucker, who leads historical tours of LoDo.
“It’s solid research,” said the club’s advisor, Visiting Professor Ellen Slatkin.
Joining in the frightfully educational tour will be the Cryptoscience Society, a new student organization devoted to
scientific investigation of “the hidden.”
“Crypto comes from the Greek word kruptos for hidden or unacknowledged,” said Jason Cordova, president of the
group. The Cryptoscience Society is interested in everything from UFOs to spirits to “cryptozoology,” meaning mystery
animals such as Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster.
Last Saturday, society members toured the campus with paraFPI, a Colorado paranormal investigations group that
Cordova says has an international reputation.
“We spent a lot of time in the Tivoli and walked through campus with a psychic,” Cordova said. “We collected a lot of
data, including four ‘orb’ photos.”
Cordova explains that orbs are round balls that resemble a ball of light, which implies that they are some sort of
manifestation of an entity that’s haunting a place.
At the end of the tour, the society will present their findings at the Tivoli. Snacks will be provided.
The tour and presentation are free and open to anyone interested in Auraria’s “ghoulish history and unexplained
hauntings.” Participants should meet at 6 p.m. on the south end of Ninth St. Park.
Of course, Ninth Street Park will be part of the Haunted Auraria tour!
http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/artman/publish/haunted_twv4102506.shtml
Ninth Street Historic Park At the heart of the Auraria Campus, thirteen restored Victorian cottages and one turn-of-
the century grocery store serve as a picturesque reminder of the city's earliest days. The structures on Ninth Street
Historic Park, built between 1872 and 1906, comprise the oldest restored block of residences in the city.Ê Ninth Street
houses now serve as campus offices. A self-guided walking tour at each building provides information on architecture
and early residents. There is no charge for visiting the Park.
http://carbon.cudenver.edu/public/studserv/ahecevents.html
© Copyright 2006 by Metropolitan State College of Denver.
All rights reserved. Metropolitan State College of Denver Office of College Communications, 303-556-2957.
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