Two thousand souls lie beneath our feet. That’s the chilling truth about Cheesman Park. This beautiful Denver park isn’t just green lawns and majestic trees. It’s a resting place for thousands. A history buried beneath the soil.
Cheesman Park in Denver began its existence not as a park but as Mount Prospect Cemetery. Opened in 1858 it was built on land that had previously been sacred burial grounds for the Arapahoe Indians. General William Larimer disregarded this. He established Denver and claimed the land for a cemetery. This 320-acre plot later became Cheesman Park Congress Park and the Denver Botanic Gardens.
The cemetery had a notorious reputation. It was segregated. Paupers and criminals were buried in one corner. Wealthy citizens rested on the hilltop. One early tale speaks of John Stoefel. A Hungarian immigrant he was hanged for murder. His body along with his victim’s was unceremoniously buried together. This gruesome start contributed to the cemetery’s nicknames: “Old Boneyard” and “Boot Hill”. Another infamous resident was gambler Jack O’Neal. Some say he was Stoefel’s victim others tell a different story. Regardless his death only added to the grim legacy.
In 1872 the US Government revealed that the cemetery was on federal land. They sold it back to Denver for a paltry $200. The name changed to City Cemetery. By then the site was dilapidated. Headstones lay broken cattle grazed among the graves. A smallpox hospital nicknamed the “Pest House” was built nearby. Mass graves for its victims were dug behind it.
By 1890 the City Cemetery was a disgrace. Denver received permission to transform it into a park. Families had 90 days to move remains. Many went to Riverside or Fairmount cemeteries. The Catholic section was sold to the Denver Diocese becoming Mt Calvary Cemetery and later the Denver Botanic Gardens.
Thousands of bodies remained unclaimed. The city hired E P McGovern to exhume them. He was to move them to Riverside Cemetery. His gruesome efficiency earned him $1.90 per body. He used child-sized caskets for adult remains. He often mixed bones from multiple bodies. Grave robbing occurred as a result. The Denver Republican exposed this scandal in a headline “The Work of Ghouls”. McGovern’s contract ended abruptly. The park was completed in 1907 with some 2000 corpses remaining.
The park’s current name came in 1909. Mrs Cheesman donated funds for a marble pavilion in her husband’s memory. Walter Cheesman a railroad entrepreneur and water baron. The pavilion stands as a stark contrast to the park’s haunted history. As recently as 2010 irrigation work uncovered skeletons. In 2008 construction of a parking structure revealed more remains.
Today Cheesman Park is a tranquil space a vibrant community gathering place. But beneath the surface the past still rests. A reminder of the souls left behind a history forever intertwined with the soil beneath our feet.