St Elmo Colorado - Haunted Colorado Ghost Town

St Elmo, Colorado - Page 2

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In 1934, Roy Stark passed away and his mother, Anna, died a short time later. The only residents left were Annabelle and Tony who lived in the dead town without indoor plumbing or electricity. Rarely bathing or changing clothes, they neglected the old hotel, letting the place pile with trash and discarded items, but continued to run the Home Comfort Store. The store, said to have been "sour-smelling", contained faded tins of outdated food and stale tobacco.

In 1947 when the book Stampede to Timberline was published by Muriel Sibell Wolle, which stated that St. Elmo was a ghost town, Tony and Annie were incensed claiming that it was not the tattered store or their eccentricities that drove away business, but rather Mrs. Wolle's statements in the book.

St Elmo in 1984. Today, St. Elmo is one of the most

preserved ghost towns in Colorado.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

Though Annabell was always said to have been kind and generous to the few who still frequented the store, the locals began to call her "Dirty Annie" because of her filthy clothing and tangled hair. She was also known to have roamed the old town, with rifle in hand, to protect her property. The town officially died on Sept. 30, 1952, when the post office closed.

Eventually, Tony and Annabelle were sent away to a mental institution, for their own safety and that of others. However, after just a few weeks, a sympathetic friend convinced the authorities that they were of no harm to anyone and they were released. Tony died a short time later and Annabelle was sent to a nursing home in 1958 where she died in 1960. Their property was left to the sympathetic friend who had helped them.

Shortly after Annabelle's death, the friend's grandchildren were said to have been playing in a room of the hotel, when suddenly all the doors in the room slammed shut and the temperature dropped nearly 20 degrees. The terrified children refused to play in the hotel again.

Another one of the grandchildren, a young woman in her twenties, decided to take on the hotel as a project, cleaning out the rooms, making minor repairs, and washing down the walls and floors. After cleaning up for the day, she and her friends would put away their tools and cleaning supplies, only to find them in the middle of the floor when they returned the next day. After this continued to occur, they started placing the items in a padlocked closet, but still they would be in the middle of the floor when they came back.

On another occasion, a skier was said to have seen a very attractive woman in a white dress framed in the second story window of the old hotel. The owner was away on vacation, so who could it have been? The young woman's eyes were focused on something in the distance and when the skier followed her gaze, she saw a group of snow mobilers who were riding through the street. The skier flagged down the group, informing them that snowmobiling was illegal in St. Elmo. The group apologized and rode away. When the skier looked back at the hotel, the woman nodded to her, then turned away and vanished.

The legend of Annabelle's ghost lives on with the part-time residents of St. Elmo, believing that she continues to protect her property from vandals or trespassers.

Mercantile Store Today, Kathy Weiser, September, 2006.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

Saint Elmo today has numerous structures that have been preserved and are all privately owned. It is one of the best preserved ghost towns anywhere in Colorado and still has a few residents. The remaining structures include a general merchandise store, which still operates from May through October, a church, a school building, and many other business structures and cabins.

Unfortunately on April 15, 2002, a fire in Saint Elmo destroyed six of the buildings, including the old Town hall and Jail and the Stark family dwellings.

On July 6, 2002 the Saint Elmo Property owners passed a resolution to donate the Town Hall, as well as the Saint Elmo School House, to the Buena Vista Heritage Museum. The Museum plans to work closely with the Association and residents to preserve and protect Saint Elmo.

The Museum is seeking donations to rebuild the Town Hall and to restore the School House. All donations are tax deductible. If you would like to donate money or services to this great cause please contact the Buena Vista Heritage Museum at: http://www.buenavistaheritage.org.

There are many great four wheel drive trails throughout the area, rock hounders will find quartz and aquamarine, and camping and upper-mountain fishing abounds.

Directions: To get to Saint Elmo, from Buena Vista, take US 285 south to Nathrop, and then County Road 162 west for approximately 16 miles to Saint Elmo

St Elmo Town Hall in 1934.The Town Hall burned down in April, 2002 and is being restored by the Buena Vista Museum with helpful contributions.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

StElmo13-Weiser-08-03.jpg (281x211 -- 21993 bytes)

All that's left of the town hall today after the fire in April, 2002, Kathy Weiser, August, 2003.

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