Check Out Colorado Murder House Built on Indian Burial Ground
WARNING: Under no circumstances should you enter this property. By doing so you risk bodily harm and/or prosecution for trespassing on private property.
An old, stone house in Colorado is rumored not only to be the site of a murder, but legend has it that it’s also built on an old Indian burial ground and that it is extremely haunted.
Location of Supposed Colorado Murder House
The house is still standing in a mountainous area in Colorado just south of the popular college town of Boulder. While it is not technically in a town, the house is near the beautiful mountain town of Eldorado Springs, Colorado, in Boulder County.
History of Supposed Colorado Murder House
The house has a rich history, and rumors of a grim history as well. When you approach the house you are greeted by a plaque that reads the following:
The stone building before you is all that remains of this historic homesite. Sylvester Doudy, who was the first settler in the area, built the original wooden portion of the house sometime around 1858. Doudy raised cattle and built and operated both a gristmill and a sawmill. The catastrophic flood of 1864 scoured the valley, washing out the mills, but the house stood fast.
In 1869 John Debacker purchased the house and surrounding land for $500. Debacker, a native of Belgium, originally homesteaded the land east of this site in 1859. He was a successful farmer who found a lucrative produce market in the gold mining towns of Central City and Black Hawk.
In 1874 Debacker built the two-story stone addition to the house. The rear wall of the original cabin was also constructed of stone. A ditch which supplied water for irrigation and domestic use ran through the southern portion of the house. The ditch waster also powered a water wheel which operated a cream separator and a washing machine.
The rock walls behind the house extended for miles and were constructed by drifters when the mining boom broke. Unemplopyed miners would clear the fields and construct the walls in return for lodging and meals.
In 1901 John Debacker retired and turned the property over to his daughter, Emma, and her husband John Dunn. The Dunn family raised dairy cattle and remained in the house until John’s death in 1953. The Dunn children were captivated by their grandfather’s stories which told of early Indian encampments, indicating that miners and farmers were not the first people to live in this area.
The city of Boulder purchased the property in 1969 and subsequently removed the original cabin due to its unsafe condition. The remaining homestead is now part of the open space land system which protects Boulder’s natural heritage and provides valuable lands for wildlife, recreation and agriculture.
However, legend has it that the house has a much darker past.
Grim History of Supposed Colorado Murder House
As a kid, I would visit this house frequently as it is located near my grandmother, father, and uncles' former home. It has been said that not only was the house built on an old Indian burial ground but that one of the owners of the house went crazy and threw his wife out of one of the windows, killing her.
Whether or not it is an actual murder house built on an Indian burial ground, you can take a virtual tour of the Doudy-Debacker-Dunn House below: