Help Us Name Our Spirit
Updated: Apr 13, 2021
We aren’t haunted, we just have a spirit about us, but we don’t have a name for it. Maybe you can help. Let us explain.
Besides making our own craft distilled spirits, we also have what we believe is an in-house distillery celestial being.
Throughout our build-out we joked about “the ghost taking our tools” or moving things to the other side of the building. We all felt at different times as if someone walked by us, only to find that we were alone. We began a practice of whenever we entered the building to yell out “Wooot Wooot” to not scare the bejeezus out of one another.
After we opened, the odd happenings continued, but with a twist. We discovered that our ghost loves really loud music. Countless times each of us arrived at the distillery to find the jukebox on full blast at its highest levels. We often and without any pattern find a light on, or the fan turned on, or sometimes both. We still occasionally feel a peaceful presence when alone, as if someone has walked by our door.
When we installed a new security camera behind our bar we actually captured evidence of our little Casper playing with the lights and fan, but more importantly, we captured what we believe to be the roaming spirit. We have compiled a handful of the events captured by our “spirit cam” here. Take a look.
Notice how the floating orbs of light come from many different angles and at varying speeds. The ventilation in the room does not match the trajectory of our little orbs either. As small as the specks appear they are still large enough to make the motion detector record them! Honestly, these are all recorded when no one is in the building. The recordings have occurred in warm and cold temperatures with and without the furnace on.
One evening after closing, Will and Jake both heard a scuffling thump directly above the bar. There is a small attic space full of rafters throughout the building, but since we were required to construct a three-hour barrier between the distillery and the Taste Lounge, the space into the attic above the bar has no opening to it. We checked the building’s exterior and rooftop to find no evidence of anyone or anything gaining access into the building.
Some patrons have even taken photos on their phone cameras that have captured strange orbs of light that were not present at the time of taking the photo. It could just be a reflection, but looking at a series of photos, the greenish oval moved across the ceiling. If you have any photos inside our Taste Lounge that have any curious lights or shapes, please share them with us too.
Most recently we had a sighting by one of our guests. It was only after our ghost stories were shared that the guest confessed that they thought they saw a woman standing by the Rocket Still in the distillery when all of the lights were off.
“I was sitting in the middle of the bar facing the wall and window of the distillery. I saw a human shape walk from farther back and to the right side of the distillery moving up closer and to the left corner of the distillery as if looking through the window. It was not a reflection because it was inside the distillery and not reflecting out. Also the reflections from the window showed color and detail. There was no color to the form but just dark. The room was not in use and all lights were off. The form was darker than the room itself.” - Zach Boberg
All of these happenings combined with the City of Colorado Springs upcoming Sesquicentennial 150 Year Birthday have inspired us to research not just our building, but the area around us along with the checkered past of our amazing city. We will be sharing some of what we have learned here as updates to this post, as well as on our Facebook and Instagram accounts.
We also would like to hear from you.
Do you have any knowledge of the 500 block of E. Pikes Peak Avenue? Do you know anything about this building that was built in 1968 originally as a tire alignment shop? How about before then? We know through library records that there was a residential building here starting as far back as 1914 with William and Marie McIntyre residing. Interestingly, McIntyre is one of the owner’s maiden name, Abbie McIntyre Weien. We do not believe there is any relation.
We also know that resident housing was in the area as far back as 1887 according to this map in the Pikes Peak Library District archives.
What about the area around us? A stone’s throw away is the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Passenger Depot that was built in 1917 and is now Catalyst Campus.
We have discovered that E. Pikes Peak Avenue used to run continuously to the same E. Pikes Peak Avenue that borders the north edge of Memorial Park. The same park was the site of one of the first city parks (Prospect Lake) established by Colorado Springs founder, General Palmer. It wasn’t until sometime between 1983 and 1985 that the current dead end had been created by what is now Autosmith. Prior to that Colorado Avenue ended at the railroad station. Today it is what bends and connects to Pike Peak Avenue.
Do you know of anyone that used to live in our area or may have any photos of this area over the 150 years of the city’s existence? Please share if you do.
How about spirits? Besides our whiskey, gin, vodka, and rums, have you experienced any similar ghost stories? Please let us know. Have you seen something here? Be on the lookout during your next visit.
And lastly, while we uncover some of the mysteries of our city, neighborhood, lot and building, we want to find a name for our ghost instead of “it” or “him” or “her”.
Send us some ideas on who this may be and what we should call our 1350 Distilling Spirit.
New Discoveries on the history of 520 E. Pikes Peak Avenue
Thanks to our friends over at the 1905 Carnegie Library attached to the Pikes Peak Library on Cascade and Kiowa we have uncovered some interesting historical facts. We first checked to see if there were any documented homicides at our location. There were not, but included below are some interesting happenings over the years. We also reviewed a number of directories that list names and the individuals occupations. Lastly, we collected more recent history since our building was constructed in 1968.
1886 Map above shows the neighborhood was developed and the lot was a part of the "Edgerton Subdivision"
1895 - photo
1898 - Earliest resident on record at 520 E. Pikes Peak Avenue: A.T. Gard, clerk
1908 - R. A. Freeman
1913 - Across the street at 515 E. Pikes Peak there use to be The Mercer Inn
1914 - Previously mentioned: William and Marie McIntyre. Coincidentally, on February 16, 1914 just one block to the north at 524 E. Kiowa there was a lovers' quarrel that ended with a jealous husband, Robert Lee shooting and killing his wife, Naoma Lee before turning the gun on himself.
1909 & 1912 - J.S. Blunt
1905 to 1906 Mary. J. Savage (dressmaker) and Lulu G. Saville (maybe a nurse) lived here
1911 - J.H. Siney, meat cutter
1921 to 1922 - Mrs Ivi C Ireland
1935 - Emmett H. Farris and Lee W. Fisher (plumber) and wife, Olga
1960 to 1964 - Pearl Pastor* Pearl appears to be the longest resident at our location and the last one before the previous building was vacant and torn down. There is an indicator next to her name in all four directories indicating it was the best estimate that she lived here but the data collectors were never able to positively confirm. The assumption is that Pearl was a recluse.
Vacant 1964-1967
1968 - Weiher Alignment Co Auto Repair - William and Lois Weiher
1989 - Lois Weiher deceased - daughter Christine Walck inherit
1999 - Gerald and Linda Schneider purchase
2005 - Norvic Properties purchases building
2018 - 1350 Distilling lease begins
Current name suggestions:
Ghost of Chesty Puller
- Christopher A.
Mr. "Boulevardier"
- Kay K.
Orby McOrbster
- Skootz
Willie
"It is an homage to one of the original plot owners but also to the first military tank...Little Willie. While Little Willie was also known as the most useless tank, it probably describes the spirit's usefulness in your distilling process." By Ed D.
Sarge
- Angel