My grandson has finally arrived! Elijah was born last week and he’s a handsome and cuddly little fella! Even though he was early, I was in Colorado, waiting to meet him, having left Texas weeks before. It was a beautiful drive, as always, through the heart of New Mexico, but I did keep an eye on the Points of Interest signs and signs for towns I’ve never heard of before. When I travel between Colorado and Texas I often drive near the ghost town of St. Elmo. Located off Hwy 285 by Chalk Creek near Colorado Springs, St. Elmo is where Miss Annabelle Stark still walks the streets in her white, gossamer gown, tied to a place, and possibly a time when her father was a wealthy and popular cattleman and business owner in this once-booming silver and gold mining metropolis. Annabelle lived with her parents and two brothers, but she did leave to attend college and was considered a fashionable young woman.

As often happens in mining towns, the more than 2000 residents moved on in the early 1920s when the mines stopped producing, but the Starks decided to stay. The Starks purchased homes and properties as the miners and their families left, but without a town, the properties did were not worth much. Then in 1922, the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad (DSP&P), which brought many of the miners and families to the area in the first place, changed its route and no longer traveled to St. Elmo. Still, the Starks stayed on, desperate to hold onto their dreams for the little town, but their dreams never materialized. Annabelle, however, is often seen peering out windows of the remaining buildings, or flitting across a dirt road from one stand of trees to another, still doing her best to protect the family’s properties.

What holds Annabelle Stark to this quiet, little ghost town? Do we “return” to the places we love after death, or do we simply stay when we die? Why did she choose not to marry and move? By all accounts, Annabelle was an attractive and charming young woman who certainly had a bounty of handsome suitors available, but many claim that she remained single. There are stories that say Annabelle was once engaged to a man in Salida, Colorado but the engagement was broken with no explanation. However, the Colorado Central Magazine lists Annabelle’s name as Annabelle Stark Ward, which would seem to imply that she was once married and perhaps divorced or widowed.

Annabelle had two older brothers, and this might possibly explain the fact that she rarely attended any social functions without her family. One brother, Roy, and her mother, Anna, may have passed away years earlier, but Annabelle and her brother, Tony, who was once a telegraph operator for the DSP&P, remained in St. Elmo. They operated the Home Country Hotel and Stark Brothers Store, which also housed the local post office. In later years, Annabelle was often seen patrolling her properties with a shotgun. She may have become rather eccentric, refusing to bathe or clean her home. It is not surprising that she died after a short time in a mental hospital around 1958. After all, they had removed from her beloved town where she had lived for most of her adult life! 

As a former gold rush state, Colorado has more than its fair share of ghost towns and St. Elmo is said to have been one of the “busiest.” At one point, St. Elmo had over 150 mine claims and was on its way to becoming a bustling city. Of course, Cripple Creek, Colorado, which is also located in this Southern sector, had over 4500 acres of mining claims. Nevertheless, St. Elmo was busy and happy. St. Elmo was started in the 1870s at the height of the gold rush and was possibly named after a popular fictional character from the 1859 book St. Elmo by August Jane Evans. In the book the main character, St. Elmo Murray, experiences a spiritual awakening through the influences of a woman named Edna Earl. The book may be as romantic and exciting as the town of St. Elmo once proved to be, which might also explain why Annabelle Stark refuses to leave.