Haunted Histories: An Evening of Storytelling

Join us for an evening of ghostly storytelling at the Museum.

A haunted history from the Forest Queen:

Object ID: 2025.8.64 showing the Forest Queen on the right. It was built in 1882 by the Kochevars.

One of the most well known ghosts in Crested Butte is Elizabeth of the Forest Queen. There are several versions of her story, and if you attended one of our Elk Avenue Walking Tours this summer, you might have heard one of those versions. Throughout all of the Elizabeth stories we’ve heard, the common theme is that it was heartbreak and betrayal that caused a jovial brothel worker to jump from the second story of the Forest Queen into Coal Creek below.

The version of Elizabeth’s story told by Nancy Williams in Haunted Hotels of Southern Colorado (available in the museum gift shop) suggests that Elizabeth and her lover conspired to save all of their money for a better life together elsewhere. But when Elizabeth gave her beloved all of her savings, he snuck out of town and never returned, leaving her despondent. Her ghost is now said to bang doors, slam cupboards, and rattle pots on the corner of Second and Elk.

Have you ever encountered the ghost of Elizabeth? With all of the renovations on the Forest Queen, do you think her ghost still remains?