One day, while sitting in the elegant Art Deco martini bar of the Oxford, one might turn and see a man sitting at the bar in a full USPS uniform. It’s not unusual to see men and women of all attire in the historic hotel in the LoDo neighborhood of Denver. It attracts all kinds. What’s strange, however, would be the full bottle of beer left behind by this man, who had appeared to drink the entire bottle. After muttering about getting gifts to the children, the man disappears. A ghostly postal worker enjoying a spirited drink while sitting at the bar is a common appearance in the oldest boutique hotel in the city.
Research has uncovered the story of a postal worker in the 1930s who was interrupted in the middle of his delivery of Christmas gifts in Central City. He never made it to his destination, with his body being discovered after the snow cleared up in the spring— complete with the undelivered Christmas gifts.. They say his drink at the Cruise Room at the Oxford may have been his last, and he continues to keep trying to make that important delivery in the afterlife.
The postman isn’t the only ghost to walk the halls of this elegant hotel in downtown Denver. The hotel has a long history, the Cruise Room specifically being an illicit speakeasy during prohibition days, with tunnels and false wall panels preserved in the bar. The hotel was built in 1891, when downtown Denver was beginning to build its iconic skyline against the backdrop of mountains in the distance. As the Oxford aged, it adapted with the local stylings- Art Deco designs in the 1930s, a stint as a seedy flophouse in the 1950s, and finally a renovation that brought it to its current glory in the 1980s. The cruise room itself was modeled on the lounge of another haunted location on the water, the RMS Queen Mary, at the time the height of glamor and prestige.
One staying at the Oxford would first love the convenience of the hotel’s location near all of the sights in downtown Denver, including the Union train station. Secondly, they would marvel at the vintage fixtures, modern amenities, and an aire from the building of sophistication. But the postman isn’t the only spirit sticking around the brick walls and chandeliers.
Throughout the entire building, lights will turn on and off, as will the sinks in bathrooms and bathroom stalls will lock on their own on employees and guests alike.
A tragic tale that lead to hauntings of the building is focused on room 320, where a murder-suicide occurred in the late 1800s. A woman named Florence Montague shot her husband and then herself in the now-cursed room. Like something out of a Stephen King novel, the room is now considered cursed. Sheets will be ripped violently off the bed while guests sleep soundly. Other guests have reported having their arms roughly pulled one direction or another without anyone in the room to be the culprit. Guests and staff have told stories about room 320 since the Edwardian age, but the question remains: Would you check in to find out if Florence still walks the halls?
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Born in Death Valley and raised on the prairie, Deborah is a Wyoming-based paranormal researcher and University of Wyoming graduate. Her interests lie in folklore, history, symbolic interaction and research. She also researches the paranormal academically and is a graduate student studying sociology.