St. Elmo
St. Elmo, Colorado was founded in 1878 during the Gold Rush. It stands today as one of the most well-preserved ghost towns in the United States. It is best known for the ghost that haunts the abandoned town, also known as the spirit of Annabelle Stark. In life, she grew up in the town while it was on its downfall following the Gold Rush. Most of the residents fled looking for other work when the area dried up, but Stark’s family were one of the few families that remained in St. Elmo. She left town for a period of two years and at this time, she got engaged to a man.
However, this engagement did not last too long and she would go back to live in St. Elmo. At this time, it seemed that she accepted the fact that she would never get out of the town. By the 1930s, the towns population went from 2,000 people to less than 10. After the death of her parents, Annabelle and her brother Tony were the only two people left living in the town. They lived in the towns hotel without running water or electricity, and let debris mount inside. Their mental state began to deteriorate from living like this. Annabelle became known as “Dirty Annie” because of her unclean appearance.
Later in her life, Annabelle would be seen patrolling the city with a rifle in her hand. She never left the town until she died in 1960. It seems as though she has never left after death as well. New owners of the hotel began to clean it up. Not too long after this, Annabelle’s ghost made herself known by rearranging cleaning supplies by moving them out of a locked closest a few times.
The apparition of a woman has been seen throughout the hotel often, most notably in the 1970s, as she was looking out one of the windows. Annabelle seems as though she will never leave her town, protecting it for the rest of eternity.
(Source: Belanger, Jeff. Encyclopedia of Haunted Places. 2005.)
