A BRIEF HISTORY ON MY CONNECTION WITH CHEESEMAN PARK
I attended Cheeseman Academy from 1st grade through 6th. My class was the last to graduate from the school, in fact.
Cheeseman Academy was situated on the fringe of Cheeseman Park. It was housed in a glorious old brownstone mansion. It had started out as a girl’s school, complete with dormitories, in the early 1900s. I’m not sure when it became a co-ed private school, but a woman named Ms. Miller owned and ran it for years and years. She died when I was in 5th grade I believe. Maybe 4th. Her son and his wife took over the school when I was in 6th grade, then decided it was too much, the building was too old and needed too much upkeep, enrollment was dropping so…they opted to shut it down.
THE DREAMS
For a long time I used to have horrible dreams featuring Cheeseman Academy. Dreams not inspired by terrible teachers or bullies I had to contend with, but just by the feeling I sometimes got while at the school. Sometimes it was just a plain spooky place to be.
I’d dream about a malevolent spirit. One that lived up in the attic, a place that in real life students were rarely allowed to go. When we were, it was always in the presence of a teacher, never by ourselves. It would torment me in my dreams…fly down at me as I was walking upstairs, stalk me in the gym, make me not want to be left alone in certain classrooms… I loved attending the school when I was little, but I sure wasn’t always happy to dream about it.
I had the dreams on and off until Cheeseman was finally torn down sometime in the ’90s. I haven’t dreamt of the school since then..nor of the ghost.
CHEESEMAN’S HISTORY AS A CEMETERY
At one point, Cheeseman was the old city cemetery. Mt. Prospect Cemetery was its name. In 1890 an Act of Congress mandated that this parcel of property was not supposed to be used for a cemetery but was supposed to be a park. Bodies were removed –paid for by relatives if they could afford it and were wanting to claim family members.
However, in the area known as Potter’s Field , where the poor and indecent were buried, who was there to pay for their removal? The city of course. And they paid a man named E.P. McGovern $1.90 a body.
But McGovern had to use children’s caskets because a bad mining accident in Utah created a shortage of adult caskets. But since adult bodies wouldn’t fit in the children’s caskets, he sized them to fit. As you might expect, some discrepancies in billing resulted.
The health commissioner of the time decided to halt further removal of bodies and to seal the land. Some now wonder if this sealed the fate of the park that was to come…
GHOST ACTIVITY IN AND AROUND THE PARK
Sine Cheeseman Academy resided on the edge of the park, we were there almost every day. (Winter excluded.) But on nice fall and spring afternoons it was the rule not the exception to go for an outing to the park.
Some have reported strange feelings or interactions while in the park. Such as laying on the grass and feeling like they couldn’t get up, like something was holding them down. I never felt anything while I was in the park…only while I was in the school.
And others who live in the houses or condos and apartments that line the park have felt similar things. Some have been more friendly than the ghost who inhabited my dreams, but some have provided quite a shock.
WHERE IS CHEESEMAN PARK IN DENVER?
Cheeseman Park is located between E. 8th Ave and E. 13th Ave and Race St. and Humboldt St.
FUN FACTS
- Cheeseman Park’s history was partly the inspiration for the movie Poltergeist.
- The Denver Botanic Gardens is also by the park. Because the DBG was also erected over the old cemetery, some people have reported experiencing paranormal activity there too. In fact, an old coffin and remains was recently unearthed when the DBG started construction on a parking garage.
Thanks! I will give that a try. I hope to touch base with old friends and people familiar with St. Phils like you have with Cheeseman. Appreciate your input!
Not sure how helpful I was PJ, but I hope you can reconnect. Good luck!
Hi, Courtney;
I graduated from Cheeseman when it was still Peter Pan Academy. That was 1965-1966 and it was the last year for the school’s name to be Peter Pan and it was changed to Cheeseman Academy. I remember it because I had thought that it would have been so cool to graduate from Cheeseman than Peter Pan. I vividly remember the days we played at the park. Mrs. Oughtred taught English class, I think. She was a big woman with a ruler that she would carry with her. I never saw anyone being punished by her but I watched my step in her class. Love the website you have. Kay
Hi Kay! So glad you shared your memories of Peter Pan/Cheeseman too. I did not know Mrs. Oughtred, but she sounds intense. I would’ve been afraid of her I bet. (I was terrified of an art teacher named Ms. Grissom, who was actually a very nice woman but she did scare me. Plus, my handwriting stunk and I could never get compliments from her on that like she gave to others…even though I tried sooooo hard!) Still, it was a great school and I’m so excited another alum found my post and shared some memories. Thank you.
This site has opened a flood of memories. I am a business man now with a family and living a normal life but when I think back about my years at Cheeseman Academy it’s almost like a fantasy world. It’s almost like there were many souls at that school and on that property, many more than just the students and staff. The memories are magical and some are pretty dark. It’s like a place that time forgot, even though it was the late 70’s, I feel like I went there in the 1870’s. I remember learning French in 3rd grade. Singing Frère Jacques, frère Jacques, Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?! … Learning Tap dance in the gymnasium? The daily walks over to Cheeseman Park, seeing young couples in bell bottoms rolling around in the grass making out. It was the 70’s after all… but what freedom we had just running in this huge park. This would never happen now. I remember the art room upstairs where we all sat at a long table and did crafts. Elmer’s glue on colored paper then covering it with glitter to create a masterpiece. My mom loved these. I even remember getting pulled out of class and going into a small room with the art teacher doing side art projects? Strange. There was a teacher there that was very strange. He would just tip the tables over in class and we would have wars, one side against the other throwing stuff at each other. He was like a kid. But a bad kid. For a field trip we walked down the street to some strange little theater and saw some small time armature Frankenstein play. Very creepy but fun. I remember coming back from the park one day and stepping into one of the old bathrooms with the old fashioned commodes that had the tank 7ft in the air with a chain hanging down. I saw a boy in there that had been gone for a few weeks. I asked him why and he said it was because his dad had died. I had never really talked to him before but I felt bad and told him it’s going to be ok, his dad was with God now. He said he doesn’t believe in God anymore because his dad has died. I remember growing up a little at that moment as I was faced with such a heavy thought. We were both in third grade but he was standing there with the wisdom of a man.
There was something very wrong in the attic. I remember the yearly Christmas tradition of meeting in the gymnasium and breaking off into groups to search the house for Santa Claus. A teacher would be dressed up as Santa and would hide somewhere. Somehow I broke off from the group and decided to climb the top stairs the attic which was clearly forbidden but something always seemed to be pulling me to go up there. As I reached the top of the stairs I turned to see a magnificent large room with sunlight beaming in on the jumbled mess of stacked furniture and other relics that seemed like they were hundreds of years old. I remember shuddering so hard with fear that I could hardly see. I wasn’t alone up there and it wasn’t Santa. I remember not being able to move for a second and then I couldn’t keep up with my feet as I ran down. It seems like I found Santa just after that crouching on the fire escape just outside the art room upstairs. This vision is also coming back to me as a little creepy. But as we all gathered to escort him down into the Gym the memories turn to the typical sounds of joy and laughter as we all cheered the magic of Christmas in this magical place.
I remember being dressed as a mouse with a white shirt and black shoes with mouse ears waiting to go on stage for a play at the museum surrounded by butterflies and beetles. It must have been The Pied Piper. The stage was huge. I also remember every day they would ask a few boys to volunteer to escort the school owner Mrs. Miller across the street to her huge home to and from school. This was a thrill as we would walk up to the large mansion and step inside. So dark and quite. We would always get a sugar treat for this service.
I don’t know if it’s a memory or something more sinister but I remember a door to the basement in the back of the gym near the kitchen. I remember somehow being down there and seeing a small bed in the corner. A man was living down there? I think it was the janitor but if not then I don’t know how to explain this memory.
Clover necklaces… Jaws at the movies…. Charlie’s Angles on TV…. My parents worked late so I was always there for the after school hours where we all just sat in the lunch room and talked or practiced card tricks. The house got very dark then. Even walking past for main stairs gave me the chills when I looked up to where the dark classrooms were. I used to be tormented by migraines when I was younger and remember lying in the room near the lunch room just crying for hours while the teachers took turns holding a wet rag on my head until my mom could come get me. The after school hours were also when I would also try to sneak back to the secret staircase in the back of the house that led up to a closet in a classroom upstairs. Again something was always calling me…. I remember asking a girl to my birthday party…. Never did that before but was happy when she came.
I’m almost glad this school is gone now because these precious memories along with the thousands of others from other kids are now locked in time not to be tarnished and in a way my childhood will be protected forever.
I’m thinking you must’ve gone there around the same time I did. Maybe a little before, but some of your memories brought back some more of mine. I remember Charlie’s Angels being huge, and clover necklaces! And you are SO right about we had freedoms kids today would be amazed at. And I’m glad you said something about the attic spooked you too. Actually, reading your Santa tale from it gave me chills. And the toilets!!!! Oh man, the bathrooms, especially the ones behind the gym, were so old…yet charming. I used to love using them. So many different wild memories. And I like the way you view it being torn down. I hadn’t considered it that way, but somehow it keeps it special. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your memories too!