Larkspur
The town of Larkspur is located just north of the Tri-Lakes area in Southern Douglas County.
The town itself sits at an elevation of 6680 feet however the surrounding terrain changes in elevation significantly.
Situated in the foothills along the front range of the Rocky Mountains and bordering the Pike National Forest, the area
boasts rural living in a beautiful mountain setting.
The area is home to the annual Renaissance Festival that attracts visitors from all over the country from mid June
through August. With quick access to Interstate 25 and an easy commute to Denver or Colorado Springs, all of the
amenities of the big city are not far away.
http://www.adguild.com/Community.htm
Old photo of Larkspur
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Spur of the Moment Restaurant and Bar
8885 Spruce Mountain Road
Larkspur, CO 80118
(303) 681-2990
These 3 photos taken by www.hauntedcolorado.net
Larkspur Cafe: This building, built in 1923, was once a private residence and was later moved closer to the road and a
little north to the present location on Spruce Mountain Road.
In the 1940's, the cafe served hamburgers and beer. Later, a dance floor was added to the north and the name changed
to the Spur Inn.
The Spur was primarily for the youth of Larkspur with 3.2 beer and pool tabled for entertainment.
Today, the famous bar-restaurant is known as the Spur of the Moment and offers the best hamburgers and buffalo
burgers in Douglas County.
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The mysterious, ruggedly handsome cowboy who visits the Spur of the Moment restaurant doesn’t worry if it’s after hours
and the doors are locked.
Most ghosts don’t.
Many who work at the small restaurant and bar in this tiny Douglas County town are convinced that one of their patrons
hasn’t bought a drink in years.
Instead, the cowboy, who is invisible most of the time, makes mischief- pulling peoples’ hair, tipping over buckets,
changing television channels and moving bar stools.
The folks at the Spur see the cowboy as both protector and tease. Some think he is the ghost of area rancher Fred
White, who died in 1993. The ghost, like White, wears a bandana that is no longer common cowboy attire.
They are intrigued by the cowboy’s presence, but the idea of a ghost does spook them once in a while.
“I like the place. I would never want to get rid of it, but I am a little scared when I’m here at night,” said restaurant owner
Barbara Sheldon.
Sheldon said strange things began happening soon after she and a partner renovated and reopened the business,
housed in a 1920’s-era house, in December 1994.
The ghost first appeared around 1995 to bartender Michelle Thomas, who was washing dishes about 12:30 am. She
noticed the cowboy standing 8 feet away.
He was leaning in the kitchen doorway, his left leg cocked.
With bright eyes and wrinkles on the sides of his face, he looks to be around 40 years old or so.
He wore a bandana, dark hat, jeans and cowboy boots. Thomas looked away for a split second, and when she turned
back he was gone.
“I’ll never forget it,” she said.
Thomas ran screaming to the back room of the restaurant, where Sheldon was doing paperwork. Sheldon told Thomas
she was crazy, but as the bartender began describing what she had seen, she began to believe.
“You can tell when someone is scared,” Sheldon said.
Later, when the story was recounted and someone in the bar expressed skepticism, a 10-gallon bucket flipped over,
unaided, onto its top.
Sheldon said the restaurant’s former cook reported the second sighting. The cook, relaxing inside the restaurant, after
work, spotted the cowboy leaning against a wall, leg cocked, smiling. The cook, thinking it was a person but knowing he
had locked the restaurant door, walked over to where he had seen the man but couldn’t find him.
Sheldon’s partner, Peggy Whalen, said she was in the bar one night when a customer’s head kept jerking back as if
someone was pulling his his foot-long ponytail. When the customer asked the person to stop, the ponytail flipped over
his shoulder onto his chest. But no one was behind him.
The customer “left immediately,” Sheldon said.
Sheldon has heard barstools move when she’s the only one in the bar. She’s listened nervously as the buttons for the
dining room lights clicked one by one and the lights went off.
Bartender Stacey Nolan isn’t sure she believes in ghosts, but she’s convinced something weird happened one afternoon.
The TV behind the bar began changing channels, even though nobody in the bar was within reach of the remote control.
The restaurant’s second television, in an adjoining room, suddenly went on. Both televisions switched channels to
cartoons. The volume of the bat television rose for a minute, then fell, and about five minutes later the television in the
other room went off.
When longtime Larkspur residents Brenda and PeeWee Anderson heard about the ghost, PeeWee immediately thought
of his old friend, Fred White, who died in November 1993 at age 74.
White always wore a bandana and a dark hat, just like the ghost, said Brenda Anderson.
Spur employees sense the ghost is benevolent, much as Brenda Anderson said White was.
Anderson remembers times when White would drive by the Spur and see children waiting outside for their parents. White
would drive to Castle Rock to get the children hamburgers, she said.
A psychic and ghost expert recommended by the Colorado Psychic Center said the folks at the Spur are describing
events often associated with a ghost. He recommends showing the apparition respect and acknowledging its presence
so it stops doing things to irritate them.
And be grateful, he said.
“They’re great security guards….and they work cheap.”
SOURCE: The Denver Post (Rockies Edition), August 24th, 1996,
Page B2, by Virginia Grantier.
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Spring Valley Cemetery Walking Tour
Saturday, June 21, 2008
11:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Please plan to attend and meet Spring Valley residents of the last century. "Irish" Pat Murphy, Eva Thompson, Anna
Russell and some of the Gwillim Family will be present to extend greetings and the stories of their lives on the high plains
of Douglas County.
This afternoon is presented for your enjoyment by the Spring Valley Cemetery Association and the Larkspur Historical
Society. We will begin our day at 11:30 AM. You are invited to bring a picnic lunch. Soft drinks and coffee will be
provided. At noon you may begin your tour to meet the denizens of the cemetery. At 3:00 P.M. the program will expire.
Directions to Spring Valley Cemetery
From Franktown on Highway 83: Go south from Franktown to Lorraine Road (Douglas County 82); turn right or west to
Spring Valley Road (Douglas County 61); Turn right (north) on Spring Valley Road and go 1/2 mile to the cemetery
entrance.
From Colorado Springs on Highway 83: Go north on Highway 83 to Lorraine Road (Douglas County 82); turn left or west
to Spring Valley Road (Douglas County 61); turn right and go 1/2 mile to cemetery entrance.
From I-25 Castle Rock: South on I-25 to Greenland Exit (Exit 167); turn left, go under bridge and immediately turn right at
Best Road (Douglas County 80); follow Best Road and continue east to intersect Spring Valley Road (Douglas County
61) and follow Spring Valley Road to Cemetery.
From I-25 Castle Rock: South on I-25 to Greenland Exit (Exit 167); turn left, go under bridge and immediately turn right at
Best Road (Douglas County 80); follow Best Road and continue east to intersect Spring Valley Road (Douglas County
61) and follow Spring Valley Road to Cemetery.
From I-25 Colorado Springs: Go north on I-25 to County Line Road (Exit 163 - Douglas County 404); turn right and follow
east to Spring Valley Road; turn left at Spring Valley Road and continue to entrance of cemetery.
Please join us for an exciting, interesting day of local history.
For additional information, please call Penny Burdick, (303) 688-0654
www.larkspurhistoricalsociety.com
lhs@larkspurhistoricalsociety.com
Back to home page
The town of Larkspur is located just north of the Tri-Lakes area in Southern Douglas County.
The town itself sits at an elevation of 6680 feet however the surrounding terrain changes in elevation significantly.
Situated in the foothills along the front range of the Rocky Mountains and bordering the Pike National Forest, the area
boasts rural living in a beautiful mountain setting.
The area is home to the annual Renaissance Festival that attracts visitors from all over the country from mid June
through August. With quick access to Interstate 25 and an easy commute to Denver or Colorado Springs, all of the
amenities of the big city are not far away.
http://www.adguild.com/Community.htm
Old photo of Larkspur
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Spur of the Moment Restaurant and Bar
8885 Spruce Mountain Road
Larkspur, CO 80118
(303) 681-2990
These 3 photos taken by www.hauntedcolorado.net
Larkspur Cafe: This building, built in 1923, was once a private residence and was later moved closer to the road and a
little north to the present location on Spruce Mountain Road.
In the 1940's, the cafe served hamburgers and beer. Later, a dance floor was added to the north and the name changed
to the Spur Inn.
The Spur was primarily for the youth of Larkspur with 3.2 beer and pool tabled for entertainment.
Today, the famous bar-restaurant is known as the Spur of the Moment and offers the best hamburgers and buffalo
burgers in Douglas County.
``````````````````````````````````````````````````
The mysterious, ruggedly handsome cowboy who visits the Spur of the Moment restaurant doesn’t worry if it’s after hours
and the doors are locked.
Most ghosts don’t.
Many who work at the small restaurant and bar in this tiny Douglas County town are convinced that one of their patrons
hasn’t bought a drink in years.
Instead, the cowboy, who is invisible most of the time, makes mischief- pulling peoples’ hair, tipping over buckets,
changing television channels and moving bar stools.
The folks at the Spur see the cowboy as both protector and tease. Some think he is the ghost of area rancher Fred
White, who died in 1993. The ghost, like White, wears a bandana that is no longer common cowboy attire.
They are intrigued by the cowboy’s presence, but the idea of a ghost does spook them once in a while.
“I like the place. I would never want to get rid of it, but I am a little scared when I’m here at night,” said restaurant owner
Barbara Sheldon.
Sheldon said strange things began happening soon after she and a partner renovated and reopened the business,
housed in a 1920’s-era house, in December 1994.
The ghost first appeared around 1995 to bartender Michelle Thomas, who was washing dishes about 12:30 am. She
noticed the cowboy standing 8 feet away.
He was leaning in the kitchen doorway, his left leg cocked.
With bright eyes and wrinkles on the sides of his face, he looks to be around 40 years old or so.
He wore a bandana, dark hat, jeans and cowboy boots. Thomas looked away for a split second, and when she turned
back he was gone.
“I’ll never forget it,” she said.
Thomas ran screaming to the back room of the restaurant, where Sheldon was doing paperwork. Sheldon told Thomas
she was crazy, but as the bartender began describing what she had seen, she began to believe.
“You can tell when someone is scared,” Sheldon said.
Later, when the story was recounted and someone in the bar expressed skepticism, a 10-gallon bucket flipped over,
unaided, onto its top.
Sheldon said the restaurant’s former cook reported the second sighting. The cook, relaxing inside the restaurant, after
work, spotted the cowboy leaning against a wall, leg cocked, smiling. The cook, thinking it was a person but knowing he
had locked the restaurant door, walked over to where he had seen the man but couldn’t find him.
Sheldon’s partner, Peggy Whalen, said she was in the bar one night when a customer’s head kept jerking back as if
someone was pulling his his foot-long ponytail. When the customer asked the person to stop, the ponytail flipped over
his shoulder onto his chest. But no one was behind him.
The customer “left immediately,” Sheldon said.
Sheldon has heard barstools move when she’s the only one in the bar. She’s listened nervously as the buttons for the
dining room lights clicked one by one and the lights went off.
Bartender Stacey Nolan isn’t sure she believes in ghosts, but she’s convinced something weird happened one afternoon.
The TV behind the bar began changing channels, even though nobody in the bar was within reach of the remote control.
The restaurant’s second television, in an adjoining room, suddenly went on. Both televisions switched channels to
cartoons. The volume of the bat television rose for a minute, then fell, and about five minutes later the television in the
other room went off.
When longtime Larkspur residents Brenda and PeeWee Anderson heard about the ghost, PeeWee immediately thought
of his old friend, Fred White, who died in November 1993 at age 74.
White always wore a bandana and a dark hat, just like the ghost, said Brenda Anderson.
Spur employees sense the ghost is benevolent, much as Brenda Anderson said White was.
Anderson remembers times when White would drive by the Spur and see children waiting outside for their parents. White
would drive to Castle Rock to get the children hamburgers, she said.
A psychic and ghost expert recommended by the Colorado Psychic Center said the folks at the Spur are describing
events often associated with a ghost. He recommends showing the apparition respect and acknowledging its presence
so it stops doing things to irritate them.
And be grateful, he said.
“They’re great security guards….and they work cheap.”
SOURCE: The Denver Post (Rockies Edition), August 24th, 1996,
Page B2, by Virginia Grantier.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Spring Valley Cemetery Walking Tour
Saturday, June 21, 2008
11:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Please plan to attend and meet Spring Valley residents of the last century. "Irish" Pat Murphy, Eva Thompson, Anna
Russell and some of the Gwillim Family will be present to extend greetings and the stories of their lives on the high plains
of Douglas County.
This afternoon is presented for your enjoyment by the Spring Valley Cemetery Association and the Larkspur Historical
Society. We will begin our day at 11:30 AM. You are invited to bring a picnic lunch. Soft drinks and coffee will be
provided. At noon you may begin your tour to meet the denizens of the cemetery. At 3:00 P.M. the program will expire.
Directions to Spring Valley Cemetery
From Franktown on Highway 83: Go south from Franktown to Lorraine Road (Douglas County 82); turn right or west to
Spring Valley Road (Douglas County 61); Turn right (north) on Spring Valley Road and go 1/2 mile to the cemetery
entrance.
From Colorado Springs on Highway 83: Go north on Highway 83 to Lorraine Road (Douglas County 82); turn left or west
to Spring Valley Road (Douglas County 61); turn right and go 1/2 mile to cemetery entrance.
From I-25 Castle Rock: South on I-25 to Greenland Exit (Exit 167); turn left, go under bridge and immediately turn right at
Best Road (Douglas County 80); follow Best Road and continue east to intersect Spring Valley Road (Douglas County
61) and follow Spring Valley Road to Cemetery.
From I-25 Castle Rock: South on I-25 to Greenland Exit (Exit 167); turn left, go under bridge and immediately turn right at
Best Road (Douglas County 80); follow Best Road and continue east to intersect Spring Valley Road (Douglas County
61) and follow Spring Valley Road to Cemetery.
From I-25 Colorado Springs: Go north on I-25 to County Line Road (Exit 163 - Douglas County 404); turn right and follow
east to Spring Valley Road; turn left at Spring Valley Road and continue to entrance of cemetery.
Please join us for an exciting, interesting day of local history.
For additional information, please call Penny Burdick, (303) 688-0654
www.larkspurhistoricalsociety.com
lhs@larkspurhistoricalsociety.com
Back to home page
