Platteville
Weld County
Platteville traces its origins to Fort Vasquez, an 1830's fur trading post now restored as a
Colorado Historical Society museum on the south side of town. After the Denver Pacific Railroad
reached this site on the Platte River, Platteville was founded in 1871.
Platteville is located adjacent to the bank of the South Platte River. Platteville lies on US-85 at
East-West Colorado Highway 66 between Greeley and Fort Lupton and is approximately 15
miles Southwest of Greeley and 37 miles Northeast of downtown Denver. Platteville is 9 miles
East of I-25 and is 33 miles from Denver International Airport. Platteville is 4,820 feet above sea
level.
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A bump in the night
Do you believe in ghosts? The residents of this house do
Source: The Greeley Tribune
Mike Peters, peters@greeleytrib.com
October 31, 2005
PLATTEVILLE -- When the leaves swirl in the autumn night, and the full moon hides behind the
wisps of dark clouds and skeleton branches of trees crackle in the dark, the music begins on
the second floor of the house on Cherry Avenue.
Like the tinkling notes of a turn-of-the-century jazz piano, Jane Mamer hears it coming from the
upstairs. But there is no piano in the Mamer house.
"It started a couple of years ago," Mamer said. "But when I'd go to see what it was, I'd get to the
bottom step of the stairs, and the music would stop."
If there was ever a haunted house, this 125-year-old, gray brick, two-story house would be a
perfect fit.
Inside, the house is filled with antiques and furniture that Jane and her husband, Steve, have
purchased from estate sales all around the U.S. The front room has civil war memorabilia,
paintings of Civil War generals and even old flintlock rifles.
Jane is an accountant for Ball Aerospace in Boulder, and her husband works at Morning Fresh
Organics in Platteville. And they believe they are living with a ghost.
In the old house there is a parlor, bedrooms upstairs, a kitchen and a large addition attached to
the house on the west side, added long after the original was built.
It's from that addition that Jane and Steve have seen the shadow.
"We call him 'Ace,' " Jane said, "after A.C. Campbell, who once lived in the house with his family."
That was in the 1930s, when Campbell -- known as "Ace" -- ran a butcher's market in Platteville
until his death in 1961. At the Platteville museum, records show Campbell was well known in
Platteville, and photos show him as tall and thin.
That's the way the shadow in the parlor looked to the Mamers.
"I first saw him one day when I was sick and lying on the couch in the addition," Jane said. "He
appeared at the doorway of the parlor and looked at me. I told him I was OK, and he went away."
Jane describes Ace as tall and thin, with turn-of-the-century work clothes.
Steve was a disbeliever, until he injured his arm one day and was lying on the same couch. He
saw Ace standing in the doorway, wearing the same era of clothing, but in a more formal style.
And then there's the "Sugar Bowl Incident." One night in the kitchen of the house, the sugar
bowl somersaulted in the air.
"It just suddenly flipped completely over and landed upright," Jane said. "No sugar was spilled,
but the lid to the bowl was thrown clear across the room and smashed to pieces."
Both Steve and Jane saw it, and neither can explain.
And the picture in the TV room: A few years ago, a friend was staying with them, when a large
photo suddenly fell off the wall. He thought nothing of it, putting it back. Then, while with his
girlfriend in the same room a couple of weeks later, he was telling her about the picture, and at
that moment, it fell again. The Mamers removed the picture and no longer have anything
hanging in that spot on the wall.
It doesn't bother Jane or Steve that they believe something might be haunting their house. Ace
doesn't seem malevolent and appears to be checking on them when they aren't feeling well.
And Jane recently wrote a short story about their visitor.
As for the rinky-tink music that plays in the upstairs, Jane doesn't worry about it. She knows how
to stop it: Just walk to the bottom of the stairs.
Staff writer Mike Peters' column about Weld County people appears Mondays in the Tribune.
His humor column, the Gnarly Trombone, appears Saturdays.
Jane Mamer sits in her parlor room, where she has heard turn-of-the century music playing
upstairs that goes away when she approaches the staircase. Mamer lives on Cherry Avenue in
Platteville with her husband, Steve. In addition to the inexplicable music, they say they have both
seen a ghost and have had other strange experiences since moving into the house on
Halloween 12 years ago.
http://www.greeleytribune.com/
Back to home page
Weld County
Platteville traces its origins to Fort Vasquez, an 1830's fur trading post now restored as a
Colorado Historical Society museum on the south side of town. After the Denver Pacific Railroad
reached this site on the Platte River, Platteville was founded in 1871.
Platteville is located adjacent to the bank of the South Platte River. Platteville lies on US-85 at
East-West Colorado Highway 66 between Greeley and Fort Lupton and is approximately 15
miles Southwest of Greeley and 37 miles Northeast of downtown Denver. Platteville is 9 miles
East of I-25 and is 33 miles from Denver International Airport. Platteville is 4,820 feet above sea
level.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
A bump in the night
Do you believe in ghosts? The residents of this house do
Source: The Greeley Tribune
Mike Peters, peters@greeleytrib.com
October 31, 2005
PLATTEVILLE -- When the leaves swirl in the autumn night, and the full moon hides behind the
wisps of dark clouds and skeleton branches of trees crackle in the dark, the music begins on
the second floor of the house on Cherry Avenue.
Like the tinkling notes of a turn-of-the-century jazz piano, Jane Mamer hears it coming from the
upstairs. But there is no piano in the Mamer house.
"It started a couple of years ago," Mamer said. "But when I'd go to see what it was, I'd get to the
bottom step of the stairs, and the music would stop."
If there was ever a haunted house, this 125-year-old, gray brick, two-story house would be a
perfect fit.
Inside, the house is filled with antiques and furniture that Jane and her husband, Steve, have
purchased from estate sales all around the U.S. The front room has civil war memorabilia,
paintings of Civil War generals and even old flintlock rifles.
Jane is an accountant for Ball Aerospace in Boulder, and her husband works at Morning Fresh
Organics in Platteville. And they believe they are living with a ghost.
In the old house there is a parlor, bedrooms upstairs, a kitchen and a large addition attached to
the house on the west side, added long after the original was built.
It's from that addition that Jane and Steve have seen the shadow.
"We call him 'Ace,' " Jane said, "after A.C. Campbell, who once lived in the house with his family."
That was in the 1930s, when Campbell -- known as "Ace" -- ran a butcher's market in Platteville
until his death in 1961. At the Platteville museum, records show Campbell was well known in
Platteville, and photos show him as tall and thin.
That's the way the shadow in the parlor looked to the Mamers.
"I first saw him one day when I was sick and lying on the couch in the addition," Jane said. "He
appeared at the doorway of the parlor and looked at me. I told him I was OK, and he went away."
Jane describes Ace as tall and thin, with turn-of-the-century work clothes.
Steve was a disbeliever, until he injured his arm one day and was lying on the same couch. He
saw Ace standing in the doorway, wearing the same era of clothing, but in a more formal style.
And then there's the "Sugar Bowl Incident." One night in the kitchen of the house, the sugar
bowl somersaulted in the air.
"It just suddenly flipped completely over and landed upright," Jane said. "No sugar was spilled,
but the lid to the bowl was thrown clear across the room and smashed to pieces."
Both Steve and Jane saw it, and neither can explain.
And the picture in the TV room: A few years ago, a friend was staying with them, when a large
photo suddenly fell off the wall. He thought nothing of it, putting it back. Then, while with his
girlfriend in the same room a couple of weeks later, he was telling her about the picture, and at
that moment, it fell again. The Mamers removed the picture and no longer have anything
hanging in that spot on the wall.
It doesn't bother Jane or Steve that they believe something might be haunting their house. Ace
doesn't seem malevolent and appears to be checking on them when they aren't feeling well.
And Jane recently wrote a short story about their visitor.
As for the rinky-tink music that plays in the upstairs, Jane doesn't worry about it. She knows how
to stop it: Just walk to the bottom of the stairs.
Staff writer Mike Peters' column about Weld County people appears Mondays in the Tribune.
His humor column, the Gnarly Trombone, appears Saturdays.
Jane Mamer sits in her parlor room, where she has heard turn-of-the century music playing
upstairs that goes away when she approaches the staircase. Mamer lives on Cherry Avenue in
Platteville with her husband, Steve. In addition to the inexplicable music, they say they have both
seen a ghost and have had other strange experiences since moving into the house on
Halloween 12 years ago.
http://www.greeleytribune.com/
Back to home page
