Manitou Springs has been long thought of as a hotbed of spiritual energy and activity. The Indians considered it to be sacred ground so much that the name they gave it means "great spirit". It is no wonder that this little Victorian town nestled in the shadow of Pikes Peak has so many ghost stories and legends connected to it. Join your ghost hostess Fannie Cakes and her trusty sidekick Johnny Nolan on a tour you will just die for!

 

The Man of Many Hats
He was once the most renowned resident of this small town of Manitou. A man who owned a grocery store, a shoe shop and the town drug store. He was the town druggist, physician, undertaker, trustee, justice of the peace, mayor and president of the school board. With all that to do you would think the doctor wouldn't need a hobby. Yet he still had time to father 14 children, and that was before they had viagra!

The Dream of the town Doctor was to build a home... No... A castle. So he set out to build a castle fit for a king. The land he chose to build his castle already had residents who had been dwelling there undisturbed for years. But when your someone as well to do as this town Doctor you don't let something like that stop you. Even if the place you've chosen is the town cemetery. He simply moved all the graves to a new location, which is now, Crystal Hills Cemetery.

In 1881 he completed his humble abode and named it after the red clay found in the area that was used to build it. This castle would later be compared to Castle Frankenstein. A reputation he might just be too proud of today. Come on a Manitou Legends Tour and find out why....Aren't you dying to know??

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