Cripple Creek Fire and Police Departments

Posted: 02.26.2025 | Updated: 04.29.2025

The prospect of riches drove the development of the West. Snaking gold mines coursed through the earth, making businessmen rich while laborers risked dying for a pittance. 

As mines dried up, all that remained were ghosts of the past to tell tales of boomtowns like Cripple Creek. Today, the Teller County city is a shell of its former glory days, with a population of specters that may rival the some 1,000 living that call it home. 

At the heart of the former gold camp sits two buildings, sandwiched between 1st and 2nd streets. The Cripple Creek Fire and Police Departments serve the small contemporary community. However, their respective hubs whisper the echoes of past lives. Spirits wander the halls of each, both mischievous phantoms of no known origin. 

Pesky poltergeists and otherworldly tricksters keep Cripple Creek’s finest at attention. There are plenty of haunted places in Colorado. Those nestled in Cripple Creek speak to a fascinating history that started with a proclamation that drew thousands to an otherwise empty plot of land near the base of Pikes Peak.

During a Denver ghost tour with Denver Terrors, curious travelers venture into the unknown to uncover the spectral forces that manifest within Cripple Creek’s local police and fire departments.

Why are The Cripple Creek Fire and Police Departments Haunted?

A developing gold rush town experiences all the pains of progress in a short span of time. Violence erupts as ruffians assert their dominance and dens of sinful energy establish themselves to cater to the working population. The Cripple Creek Fire and Police Departments are likely experiencing the echoes of the boomtown days, their respective spirits likely lost when many risked everything in the pursuit of gold.

Quick Facts

• The fire department’s ghost seems to appreciate music
• Cripple Creek was once home to 20,000 people
• Violence erupted when laborers went on strike
• The name is believed to reference cows that fell into a creek

The Gold Rush Booms to Colorado

It all started with a rancher’s chance find on the southwest slopes of Pikes Peak. Bob Womack, who moved from Kentucky with his brother William, spent his off-hours prospecting for gold. In 1890, Bob uncovered a significant lode in Poverty Gulch east of modern-day Colorado Springs. Despite the rancher’s claim, Colorado remained untapped, and speculation suggesting a fake mine uncovered years earlier bred skepticism. 

By 1891, additional lodes were discovered by other miners, drawing more attention to Poverty Gulch. Despite being the forefather of the Colorado Gold Rush, Bob sold his claim for a paltry $300 and died nearly a decade later. Gold fever swept across Colorado, eventually making its way about 70 miles west. 

A Town at the Base of Mount Pisgah

Seeing value in their land, Horace Bennett and Julius Myers sectioned off part of their ranch to accommodate prospectors. A main street cut through the ranch, establishing the heart of a future boomtown.

Sure enough, wooden buildings soon lined dirt roads as pop-up businesses took advantage of those flooding into the region. By 1892, despite adopting the name Fremont early on, the town was incorporated as Cripple Creek.

Newspapers touted Cripple Creek and the surrounding lodes as a sort of get-rich-quick scheme. Within two years, the town’s population blossomed to 6,000 people. When the railway came to town in 1895 and further expanded in 1900 to reach Colorado Springs, an even bigger boom brought 16,000 more.

Violence and Death Stains Cripple Creek’s Past

Though there was promise of a good life in Cripple Creek, the town still oozed the lawlessness of the Wild West. Drinks flowed through the town and gambling soon became the best way to pass the time. 

On a particularly rowdy night, a shot rang out in the Newport Saloon. When the smoke cleared, successful prospector Sam Strong lay in a pool of blood, lifeless. On another night in the Ironclad Dance Hall, pianist Reuben Miller became collateral damage during a shootout.

Throughout the late 19th- and early 20th centuries, violence and death weren’t uncommon in Cripple Creek. When the Red Light District was established, it brought a new dark energy to the region. It also marked another notable death, when Madam Pearl DeVere succumbed to a morphine overdose. 

Miners slaving away for coins rose up against their minimum wages, resulting in a veritable war. A state militia marched on Cripple Creek, aiming to cease the violence between workers and the town’s deputies. Though very few lives were lost, it had a potentially negative impact on the land. 

It may even be why two public safety hubs in contemporary Cripple Creek are dealing with untraceable spirits and their mostly harmless mischief.

The Ghost of the Cripple Creek Fire Department 

Established early on in Cripple Creek’s history in 1893, the local fire department played a significant role in the fire that completely leveled the town three years later. Long before a city of bricks was built, Cripple Creek was mostly wood and log structures. 

That proved problematic in April 1896, when a fire started (allegedly in a brothel) and swept through the mining town. The Cripple Creek Fire Department led inbound departments from other towns, hoping to salvage Cripple Creek. 

Unfortunately, the town was largely burned to the ground. At least six people were said to have succumbed during the inferno, despite the department’s best efforts. Could one of them be who remains tied to the fire department, over 120 years later? 

Known only as Jack, the ghost that wanders the halls of the brick building is an unknown presence with no evident connection to the building or fire department. Maybe it’s a former firefighter, looking to join in on a harrowing rescue.

 It would certainly explain his affinity for tidying the office. Jack moves items around and leaves drawers and cupboards open, possibly in frustration over his stagnant existence.

It’s not all bad for the meandering specter, though. In his downtime, he finds his way to The Butte Theater next door. It’s unknown if his ghostly fingers tickle the ivories of the Butte’s piano, but it seems no coincidence that his apparition is a common sight within the venue.

Hauntings at Cripple Creek’s Police Department

As Cripple Creek grew, it went through the expected growing pains of a boomtown. The population increased rapidly, but law enforcement numbers struggled to keep up. Saloon shootings overwhelmed the town’s law enforcement, eventually becoming so common people rarely reported on them. 

During the 1896 fires, while the fire department fought the blaze, local law enforcement was preoccupied with looters. When laborers went on strike, deputies stepped in to stave off outbursts. At the height of the strikes, laborers threatened then-Sherrif Henry Robertson with lynching. He immediately stepped down, knowing the desperation of the workers would be his end.

All of this further emphasized the need for a stronger police force, which did develop over time. Watching over the relatively small populace today, the Cripple Creek Police Department has a slight problem that not even the strictest officers can deal with.

Though plagued by years of violence, the police department is surprisingly not infested by malevolent entities. However, like the fire department, the specters are rather mellow. Mischievous, of course, but still mellow.

Dispatchers manning the station at night have spoken of moving objects and impossible voices echoing through the halls. One dispatcher, Diann Pritchard, has even heard footsteps coming down empty hallways.

Could the specter in the fire department be the same benevolent soul keeping watch over the police department? Considering Jack’s origins remain a mystery, and the two buildings are down the street from one another, connected by the ever-thinning thread of history, it’s always a possibility.

Haunted Denver

Cripple Creek’s long and storied history makes for the perfect location for haunting tales and spooky stories. The city’s streets, once filled with hopeful prospectors and nefarious ne’re-do-wells, and some of the most haunted places in Colorado are energized by the chaos of once-thriving boomtowns.

While ghosts of another age continue their hunt for purpose and wealth, some have settled into the 21st century quite nicely. The specters that have found a home in the fire and police departments seem unbothered by the contemporary world. Rather, it’s as if they wish to play an active role in it. 

Book your Denver Terrors ghost tour for the chance to walk the fine line between realities. Hear stories from beyond the grave and watch for a chance encounter with an ethereal presence. Brush up on Colorado’s ghostly history on our blog and be sure to follow us on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.

Sources:

• https://denvergazette.com/outtherecolorado/adventures/8-haunted-spots-in-cripple-creek-colorado/article_c434d18e-651b-590b-b54d-fa35da28c8e5.html

• https://westernmininghistory.com/towns/colorado/cripple-creek/

• https://www.cspm.org/cos-150-story/cripple-creek-labor-strikes/

• https://5280fire.com/home/colorado-fire-apparatus-stations/teller-county/cripple-creek-fire-department/

• https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cripple-creek-fires-1896

• https://westernmininghistory.com/10459/bandits-and-badmen-cripple-creek/#:~:text=Thousands%20of%20goods,to%20restore%20order.

• https://www.iaedjournal.org/who-you-gonna-call