Durango’s rich Western history as a 19th-century railroad and mining town includes sordid stories of brothels, gunfights in the streets and bands of outlaws.
Some of the town’s oldest, and purportedly haunted, homes can be found along East Third Avenue.
Kathy McKenzie with the La Plata County Historical Society said many of those homes date back to the late 1880s.
“A lot of the oldest homes are nonexistent because of the July 1, 1889, fire,” she said. “Most of those houses were not brick and mortar. They were made of wood and were destroyed.”
She said the Joy Cabin, an Animas City dwelling constructed in the 1870s, is said to be the oldest intact structure left in the Durango area.
If you’ve lived in Durango for any amount of time, it’s likely that you have heard stories about hauntings at businesses and homes around town.
It begs the question: Do the spirits of Durango’s miners, painted ladies and cowboys still linger here?
Andy Langefels, a real estate agent with Re/Max Pinnacle, grew up in Durango listening to ghost stories.
He was always skeptical about the existence of spirits ... until he was alone one night about four years ago in a house he was trying to sell.
“It happened on the final walkthrough of a house in town,” he said. “I went through the house alone, it was completely empty. I feel like I saw something. I got out quickly and never went back inside by myself.”
Out of respect for the home’s current owners, and in fear of stigmatizing the property, Langefels didn’t want to share the address of the property.
“If you asked me to go back into that house vacant, I wouldn’t do it,” he said. “There was an energy level there that felt like a definite presence and I wasn’t welcome.”
Langefels said some buyers ask if a property is haunted or if someone has died there. He typically gives that information if it is public knowledge.
Real estate laws vary state to state, but most require sellers to disclose “material facts” about a house, such as structural concerns or if there is mold and mildew present.
Colorado Real Estate Commission statute does not require agents to disclose whether or not someone has died on the property.
But what if the seller’s reason for moving involves the paranormal?
It is at the agent’s discretion whether or not to reveal that information.
A 2017 survey conducted by Realtor.com, which queried more than 1,000 responses, found that 33 percent of people are open to living in a haunted house, 25 percent might be and 42 percent are not open to the idea.
So what should you do if you find yourself living with spectral house guests?
Tessa Thomas-Peterson, founder of Four Corners Paranormal Investigations, said your first step should be to communicate with the spirit.
“If it is positive, you can try to get rid of it or coexist with it,” she said.
She said there are different reasons ghosts haunt homes, including attachment to the property or unfinished business.
Four Corners Paranormal Investigations, founded in 2012, offers free paranormal investigations for homes and businesses.
“We offer our help to people on this side and on the other side,” she said. “Ghosts do not have to stick to one place. Spirits can come in from other places to homes and move around.”
Thomas-Peterson said she has mostly encountered friendly spirits in the Four Corners.
“We find out their name and their story, and sometimes they just want to be left alone,” she said. “There are negative ones out there. Whatever you are in life is what you are after death.”
Thomas-Peterson said a home afflicted by paranormal activity can be smudged with sage to expel the spirits.
“Make sure all of your windows and doors are closed, and sage every room,” she said. “Use Palo Santo, or holy wood, after around the windows and doors to prevent any negative entities from coming back in.”
She said that you have to be forceful if you are being terrorized by a negative entity.
“During those steps, you have to put your foot down and let the spirit know it can no longer exist there, and only love and light can,” she said.
mrupani@durangoherald.com
