I live right off this road.
history.denverlibrary.org
The David Wolpert House: Dissecting A Riverdale Road Ghost Story
In recent years, Riverdale Road—an 11-mile-long thoroughfare connecting Thornton to Brighton—has become the subject of many blogs, YouTube videos and even
local TV news segments on the paranormal.
Riverdale Road's reputation as "the most haunted road in the country" comes from a handful of stories passed down over the years. There's the ghost jogger who taps on the sides of passing cars...the phantom Camaro with one headlight...the hitchhiker in white who disappears into the night.
Perhaps the story that yields the most intrigue involves a mansion owner who went insane and set his home aflame with his family inside. The family perished in the fire...and the man was never seen again.
We decided to look into Riverdale Road's history to see if such a horrific fire had in fact occurred. Our findings led us to the David Wolpert House.
YES, THERE REALLY WAS A FIRE
At around 1 a.m. on November 28, 1975, a home located at 9190 Riverdale Road became engulfed in flames. The two-story brick home, believed to have been built in the 1860s, was severely damaged. On December 4th, the
Denver Post reported:
No fatalities or injuries were reported as the home had not been inhabited at the time of the fire. According to
The Forgotten Past of Adams County, Volume 1, there was good reason for this:
WHO BUILT THE MANSION?
Just a few months prior, in January 1975, Dr. Hugo Rodeck (former director of the University of Colorado Museum from 1939 to 1971) had submitted a National Register of Historic Places nomination form for 9190 Riverdale Road. His application form, preserved by the
Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP), describes the home's physical appearance and its history, attributing the building to an early Colorado settler named David Wolpert:
A look at William B. Vicker's
History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado reveals that David Wolpert came west from Ohio in 1859. He was lured by gold discoveries in the Rockies and traveled to New Mexico and then Colorado, visiting Pikes Peak, South Park and Fairplay. Wolpert and a party of sixteen men
Wolpert married Catherine Henderson on January 20, 1864. The couple had two daughters, Lucille and Mary, and a son David. David Wolpert, Sr. died on October 21, 1909, at the age of 75, and Catherine died in 1915. The couple is buried in
Riverside Cemetery.
HOW DID THE FIRE START?
What is unclear is how the fire started, and if there were any investigations into its cause. The only newspaper report of the fire on Denver 4, 1975, in the
Denver Post does not allude to any suspicion of arson. There were, however, business interests in the 145-acre parcel that the Wolpert House stood on.
On January 25, 1975, a story titled "Drive To Save Old Home Started" in the
Rocky Mountain News revealed just why Dr. Hugo Rodeck and wife
Orian Sallie Lewis Rodeck had been working so hard on behalf of the Adams County Historical Society to preserve 9190 Riverdale Road:
Instead, the area where the Wolpert House once stood is now the site of the Pelican Ponds Open Space.
One of Riverdale Road's favorite spooky tales can probably be attributed to the 1975 David Wolpert House fire. After all, a historic brick mansion in the country devastated by a mysterious fire in the middle of the night has all of the makings of a perfect ghost story.
As for the other chilling Riverdale Road stories? The story of their origins awaits your
research!
More stories about Riverdale Rd.