THE STORY
Reported Haunting
The historic Brown Palace is one of Denver's best-known haunted hotels, with guests and employees reporting apparitions, unexplained footsteps, voices, and strange activity in guest rooms and public areas. Several different spirits have been associated with the hotel over the years, reflecting more than a century of ghost stories surrounding the property.
This 100+-year-old hotel has several ghosts in residence. Its living guests have included all sorts of folks from royalty to rock stars. Those who linger in spirit include former employees as well as guests. One ghost is Denver socialite Mrs. Louise Crawford Hill, who lived in Room 904 from 1940 to 1955. She has been known to call the switchboard when the room is vacant. Only static is heard on the other end. Interestingly, the ghost even called the switchboard from Room 904 when the room was under renovation and had no phone, furniture, or lights. An old-fashioned train conductor is another of the hotel’s ghosts, and the dining room, called Ellyngton’s, is haunted by a ghostly string quartet. When an employee caught the formally attired musicians playing in there, he warned them, “You’re not supposed to be in here,” but the ghosts only replied, “Oh, don’t worry about us. We live here.” Some of the other ghosts here include a uniformed waiter in the service elevator, ghostly children who run up and down the halls, and the sound of a crying baby that comes from the boiler room.