[24] The house was razed in the 1970s and a condominium building now stands on the site. Thanks to the poor treatment of the dead, park visitors are constantly reporting frightening encounters with apparitions, the overwhelming feeling of oppression, and even disembodied voices whispering "Get out!" The city built a temporary wooden fence around the cemetery and in 1894, grading and leveling began in preparation for the park, though several of the open graves wouldn't be filled in until 1902. The land we know today as Cheesman Park, just east of Capitol Hill, was sold to the city of … Opened about 120 years ago, the park was built at the place of an old cemetery. The area at the south edge of the park, near the intersection of 8th and Williams Streets, once used as the Chinese cemetery was used as the city tree and shrub nursery until 1930 when a WPA project converted it to an addition for the park. “In 1893, the task of moving 5,000 graves began under the management of undertaker E. P. McGovern. Originally a graveyard for Vagabonds, Vagrants, and Native Americans, a local undertaker was commissioned to move the bodies in 1890 but it became a gruesome spectacle for onlookers instead, as exposed bodies were dismembered and trampled by … Mount Prospect Cemetery opened on the 160-acre site in 1858. IMG_0154. There have been numerous stories of ghostly encounters in and around the park. Finally shrubs were planted and the holes filled in where coffins were removed. #3 Denver Botanic Gardens Park Updated: 2019-12-17 The Denver Botanic Gardens is a public botanical garden located in the Cheesman Park neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. It’s often considered haunted, with numerous ghost stories to read about online. Why would this beautiful place be considered haunted? Cheesman Park highlighted on a map of Denver's neighborhoods. Please stay safe and call ahead to get the latest information. John E. Wood, the representative of the Health department, also came up. [9] The famed Olmsted Brothers designed the landscaping surrounding the memorial; in 1912 an esplanade with formal parterres for flower plantings was installed between the memorial and Williams Street parkway to the east. The contractor who was tasked with moving the graves was paid by the casket. After the cemetery became unsightly and unused, it was converted to a park in 1890 and completed in 1907. U.S. National Register of Historic Places, Colorado State Register of Historic Properties, "Cheesman Park Historic Landscape Assessment and Master Plan", "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form", "Cheesman Park: 8th Avenue to Colfax, Downing to Josephine", http://www.denvergov.org/tabid/435096/Default.aspx?CN=%25capitol+hill%25, "Cheesman Park neighborhood in Denver, Colorado (CO), 80206, 80218 detailed profile", "A Denver House that Inspired a Horror Film", "Wild West History: Haunted Cheesman Park in Denver: Built on the Graves of Arapaho Indians and Denver's Pioneer Families", Denver Public Library: Denver Area Cemeteries, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cheesman_Park,_Denver&oldid=992162230, Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado, Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado, National Register of Historic Places in Denver, Articles using NRISref without a reference number, Articles with dead external links from May 2015, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The cemetery opened in 1858 and the first burial occurred the following year. It’s in the heart of the city between the capitol hill and congress park neighborhoods. IMG_0157. [5] Hacking the bodies up, McGovern sometimes used as many as three caskets for just one body. Prospect Cemetery and in recognition, Teller renamed the area Congress Park. From Mapcarta, the free map. McGovern was to provide a "fresh" coffin for each body and then transfer it to the Riverside Cemetery at a cost of $1.90 each. He then pulled another box to the edge of the grave, and into this he tossed one bone, some earth an portion of the coffin. However, the unscrupulous McGovern soon found a way to make an even larger profit on the contract. For the first few days, the transfer was orderly. In November 2008, during initial construction of a new parking structure for the Denver Botanic Gardens between York and Josephine Streets, human bones and parts of coffins were unearthed. 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