Ep. 56 - Murder Room at the Oxford Hotel

Mining and railroads transformed Denver from a small town on the plains to a regional metropolis. Hotels were a necessity for the influx of business people and tourists. We featured the history and hauntings of the Brown Palace Hotel on the main feed several months ago and the man who designed that hotel, Frank E. Edbrook, also designed the Oxford Hotel. This is the oldest hotel in Denver, Colorado and has been home and witness to decades of history. One piece of that history was a murder that took place in Room 320. That room is now known as the Murder Room and, of course, it seems to be haunted.

The population of Denver boomed in the 1870s and soon it was the third largest city in the West. By 1890, 100 different railroads had their hub in Denver and flowed up into the mountains or out into the plains. In 1891, three men decided that the city needed a first-class hotel within walking distance of Union Station. These men were entrepreneur and owner of Vindicator Consolidated Gold Mining Company and Zang Realty & Investment Company, Adolph Zang; President of Cordes and Feldhauser Carpet Company, Philip Feldhauser; and banker William Mygatt. The Oxford Hotel was built at 1612 17th Street out of red brick and in the shape of a "U." It rose five stories and had 400 rooms, which proved to not be enough so and addition was built to add 50 rooms. The hotel was a high-end establishment that boasted steam heating, electric and gas lighting, and its own power plant. The hotel had two vertical railways as well, which was the term for the elevator at the time. The elevator would carry guests all the way to the roof for a bird's eye view of the city. The hotel advertised as being fireproof. Rooms cost $2 with a bath or $1 without. There were bathrooms on each floor and private water closets. There was a library, barbershop, pharmacy, Western Union office, and dining rooms inside the hotel. 

Mygatt would sell his shares in the hotel with The Panic of 1893. Despite this nationwide economic depression, the Oxford Hotel continued to hold on and by the turn-of-the-century, it was thriving. So many people would come that they had to turn many people away. In 1902, a two-story addition was added to the southwest and another five-story annex building was added in 1912 to the northwest with 200 more rooms. 

In 1930, The Cruise Room bar was opened in place of a previous bar that was opened in 1891 and was widely known for its martinis. The interior was modeled after a lounge on the Queen Mary. Prohibition shut it down officially, but it ran as an illicit speakeasy with secret paneling and tunnels. The day after Prohibition was ended was the day the Cruise Room opened officially and it has operated continually since then, even when the hotel hit rough patches and this is because it is under independent management. The Cruise Room was restored in 2012 by owner Dana Crawford and the focus became on mixology with offerings like "Pineapple Julep", "Whiskey Clover Smash", and "Pomegranate Sling." During World War II, troops would arrive in Denver at Union Station and stay at the hotel. The 60s and 70s saw the hotel become a jazz center.

And then, the hotel fell into decline because the entire area went into decline, particularly with rail travel slowing down. The hotel became a boarding house in the wrong part of Denver. The downtown of Denver was really no place to be and then it was revitalized. Larimer Square was reimagined and this spread and soon LoDo was a hip place to be. The old Union Station was recreated into a place of cuisine. The restoration of the Oxford started in 1979 when Charles Callaway purchased it and closed its doors for restoration. He was joined by the mastermind behind the restoration of Larimer Square, Dana Crawford. Carpets were matched to the original design and chandeliers were stripped of paint to reveal sterling silver details. The Oxford reopened its doors as Denver’s Grand Boutique Hotel on June 19, 1983. More renovations would follow and today the hotel is back to its extravagant splendor. So, the hotel still rents high-end rooms that include room 320.

What's special about room 320? That room is the murder room, and staying there for the evening means you more than likely will not be alone. I visited the hotel several years ago on a return trip to Denver. The lobby is beautiful, and I noticed that the front desk still issued real keys complete with long tassels. A fireplace was a few feet from the front desk with a couple of plush leather seats in front of it, and the rest of the lobby had nice furniture as well, most of it antiques. Originally the lobby had frescoed walls, stained glass accents, fine oak furniture, and silver chandeliers. The decor is wonderful from the handcrafted wood to the iron fixtures and original tile. To the left of the lobby is The Cruise Room bar that is reportedly haunted by the ghost of a postman. He sits at the bar and drinks sometimes. During my visit to the hotel, we heard about the crime that took place here and the resulting haunting.

In 1898, in this hotel, there was a murder-suicide in Room 320. Upon first entering the room, one sees a small living room area with a large flat-screen TV. A small hallway leads to the left and there is the bedroom at the end of that, with a bathroom to the left. The room is opulent and very charming. Nothing feels off about it. The headboard has an inset brass plaque that reads "Come sweet dreams; the hours of sleep beguile." This is from a French nursery rhyme. Seems quaint, right? Except a murder took place here. The story goes that a woman and her married lover were about to go on a romantic overland stagecoach trip. They got in a fight, A really, really bad fight, and he tells her, I'm done. I'm going back to my wife. I'm done. I'm a successful businessman. I don't need this. Well, she shoots him in the stomach. It took him three days to die. After she shot him in the stomach, she shot herself in the heart. This was really grisly. And sensational. They had a Western Union telegraph office in the hotel and the news went out everywhere. The New York Times wrote about it the next day, so you can see that this was a really big deal. People were all into the sordid details. 

Shortly after the murder, guests started reporting a ghost, the ghost of the woman. Her name was said to be Florence. A guide on a ghost tour that I took in Denver told me, "Now, the very first time I told this story, I scared the living hell out of some poor bastard who was not in my group. I didn't see him, so I'm like, okay, group, let's talk murder-suicide. The haunted room is 320. This guy turned around and said, 'What?' So I'm like, 'Sorry, sir. I know you're, enjoy your evening. We're sorry to bother you. We're telling ghost stories. It's fun.' The guy said, 'I heard you're telling ghost stories. You said there's a haunted room. What room?' I answered, '320.' And he said, 'That's my room.' Oh, snap. 'Oh, sir, I'm sure you're fine. This ghost only shows up to certain people.' He looks scared and responds, 'No, God, what people?' I answered, 'Single men.' The color drained from his face because he fit the bill.

The tour guide continued, "Room 320 used to be a different room. The Rocky Mountain News had a bird's-eye view sketch of the crime scene along with pictures of all the people, hand-drawn, so they're kind of silly, but I mean, it's a full two-page article, really tiny print. They knocked down a ton of walls, so what used to be this room is now two rooms. Back then, they just wanted a bed, a chamber pot, and maybe a shaving mirror. Now we need a TV." 

So, yes, single men staying alone in this room are basically dropped into the middle of the fight that ended the man's life. Most of the activity is along the lines of a typical haunting with creaking floorboards and the bathroom lights turning off and on by themselves. The faucets will turn on and off on their own. But when a man is here by himself, he may just report hearing footsteps walking behind him in the room. When he turns, he sees nothing. So he'll start walking again and all of a sudden, he's pushed. Men report being pushed into the wall, lamps knocked to the floor and feeling something tugging on their arm. Hotel staff have observed half-dressed men running downstairs to the front desk to demand a different room. They'll stammer, "Something's in there, you need to move me, you need to get me out now!" And no one can blame them for running from the room after they've felt the covers pulled up and something has gotten into the bed with them. The door to the room deadbolts itself from the inside. The hotel often had to use the extra key to get back in. 

Kevin's stories. (pg. 77)

The Oxford Hotel is a grand historic hotel in the middle of downtown Denver. Does it hold ghosts from a violent moment in time? That is for you to decide!