The Haunted Mary Reed Building

Posted: 03.24.2025 | Updated: 04.29.2025

The Mary Reed Building at Denver University (DU) towers over a stunningly beautiful 125-acre campus as a testament to the generosity of late philanthropist Mary Reed. Despite the fact that it’s located on a college campus, it proves there are some things beyond this world that just can’t be studied. 

Be careful when you stare in the darkness; something stares right back. Curious about what stares back from the darkness of Denver?  Book a chilling Denver ghost tour with Denver Terrors! Catch up on our blog as well for more spooky stories from America’s haunted locations.

Is the Mary Reed Building Haunted?

The Mary Reed Building, formerly known as Mary Reed Hall, gives off a prestigious appearance one might expect on a college campus. However, what lingers inside makes it the one spot where custodians refuse to work after dark. 

History of the Mary Reed Building

The Mary Reed Building is named after Mary Reed. A former resident of Ohio, she moved to Colorado Springs where she met Verner Zevola Reed, a mining tycoon and one of Colorado’s most successful businessmen. The couple married in 1893 and had three children together: Joseph, Verner Jr., and Margery. 

Mary’s husband, Verner, died in 1919 and left her with an estate worth $400 million in today’s money. She decided to apply it to philanthropic causes as her children went on to build their own lives. This included her daughter Margery, a DU alumna and assistant professor in the English department. 

However, every parent’s worst nightmare came true for Mary when Margery unexpectedly died in 1925. Some say the cause was from a trip she took to Peru. Others gave a suspicious glance to her husband who stood to gain a fortune from Margery’s death. 

It’s not known if Mary held the same suspicions. Nonetheless, she commissioned the construction of Margery Reed Hall, a memorial hall built in her daughter’s honor. A few years later, in 1931, she donated $500,000 for a desperately needed new library to be constructed. This time, it was to be her namesake: Mary Reed Hall. 

Mary continued to put her money to philanthropic use. She donated money to DU, as well as education and healthcare organizations across Colorado before she died in 1945. Today, her namesake building spans over 60,000 feet with its central tower overlooking the campus grounds. 

Its interior is filled with gothic arches, long narrow hallways, and massive furniture, while Mary Reed’s regal portrait hangs in the Renaissance Room; an eerie reminder of her ever-looming presence for those familiar with the stories surrounding the building. 

Hauntings of the Mary Reed Building

The Mary Reed Building is said to have been haunted for decades due to a number of terrifying phenomena experienced by students and staff.

Mary Reed Building Hauntings

• books flying off shelves
• strange noises 
• a ghostly figure of a woman spotted on the staircase
• elevators, as well as lights acting on their own accord. 
• a chair in the basement archives often feels warm, as if someone had been sitting in it

A student stated she was in the building with her friends late one night when they heard shuffling coming from an empty hallway. One of them even heard an accompanying growling sound. This was after they already had a strange experience on the elevator, where the doors closed completely, then sprang wide open.

Another account tells of a custodian who was suddenly pushed from behind when locking up the building. She turned around to face her aggressor, but no one was there. She began to walk away again when the invisible force pushed her again. 

Other students experienced the same hostile presence pushing them down the staircase. One was staying in the building’s Renaissance Room after dark when she felt the overwhelming urge to leave. When she did, an overwhelming pressure on her back forced her out of the room, causing her to run out of the building. 

The DuPont Room

Another ghost said to haunt the Mary Reed Building is Marcella Miller DuPont, whose parents were wealthy Colorado pioneers. She donated the DuPont room to DU in 1966, where she spends her afterlife enjoying a good read alone in the dark, seated in a high-back leather chair. 

A source tells the story of a student who worked in the building. He entered the DuPont Room late one night and switched on the light. To his fright, an elderly woman in a vintage dress stood up and said hello.

Needless to say, he bolted for the front door and out to his car, leaving the light on. He took one last look behind at the building as he sped off and noticed something through the windows — the light in the DuPont Room was turned off.

Haunted Denver 

Denver sits nestled against the front range of the stunning Rocky Mountains, with a vibrant urban energy that boasts a variety of venues, entertainment, and activities. This same energy intertwines with something else, however. It’s another kind of energy that sends a cold shiver up your spine. 

Denver University stands five miles south of Downtown Denver. One of America’s most renowned educational institutions, it’s a microcosm for the stunning beauty and pulsating social life of Denver. 

Decades worth of rumors have also turned its most beloved library into a prime example of how the city stands on the threshold between life and death. It’s called the Mary Reed Building, and it stands to this day as one of the most terrifyingly haunted locations in Colorado. 

Ready for an up-close-and-personal experience with what lingers in the shadows of the haunted city of Denver? Book a Denver ghost tour with Denver Terrors! Make sure to also read our blog for more chilling stories, and stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Sources:

• https://duclarion.com/2022/01/exploring-du-a-history-of-mary-reed-hall/
• https://stories.du.edu/magazine/departments/features/time-capsule/
• https://duclarion.com/2007/10/beware-the-ghost-of-mary-reed-lurks-3/
• https://duclarion.com/2024/10/boo-lieve-it-or-not-a-case-for-mary-reeds-ghost/