Central City Masonic Cemetery: The Lady in Black of Gilpin County

Central City sits in a steep gulch about 35 miles west of Denver, the town that grew from Colorado’s first big gold strike in 1859. Its pioneers are buried in a cluster of small cemeteries on the hillsides just north and west of town, toward Bald Mountain: the Masonic, Catholic, City, Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias grounds among them. The Masonic cemetery, in use from the 1860s, has become the most famous because of one legend.

That legend, the lady in black at John Edward Cameron’s grave, has been retold by Legends of America, regional newspapers and radio stations for years, and it appears on almost every list of Colorado’s haunted places. This guide sets out the story, what we could and could not confirm, the town’s history and how to visit respectfully.

Central City and its cemeteries

In 1859 John Gregory found gold in the gulch that now bears his name, and within weeks thousands of prospectors had poured in. Central City grew up at the heart of the diggings, with Black Hawk just downhill and Nevadaville over the ridge, and the district soon earned the nickname ‘the richest square mile on earth’. A great fire in 1874 destroyed most of the wooden town, and it was rebuilt in the brick and stone you see today.

The rebuilt town’s landmarks have ghost stories of their own. The Teller House hotel, built in 1872 for $84,000, survived the fire and welcomed President Grant in 1873, when a path of silver ingots was laid to its door; its bar holds the ‘Face on the Barroom Floor’, painted by Herndon Davis in 1934. The 1878 Central City Opera House, saved by volunteers in 1932, is said to be haunted by a miner-turned-performer and by footsteps in its balcony.

As the town grew, its lodges and churches opened their own burial grounds on the slopes above it. Gilpin County has eleven historic cemeteries, and four sit close together near Bald Mountain Road at the north end of Eureka Street. The Masonic cemetery came into use in the 1860s. Its stones lean and crack after more than 150 mountain winters, but local accounts stress that the damage is age and weather rather than vandalism.

When the mines played out, the population fell away. Tourism, the opera house and, more recently, casinos have kept it going. The Gilpin Historical Society, founded to protect this history, now runs the annual Cemetery Crawl, in which volunteers in period costume tell the stories of people buried on the hill.

The lady in black and other stories

The woman at John Cameron's grave

The story goes that every April 5 and every November 1, the anniversary of his death, a beautiful woman in a black satin or Victorian-style dress walks up to the grave of John Edward Cameron and lays flowers by his headstone. Some versions say she planted a rosebush that bloomed every spring and left columbines, Colorado’s state flower. Those who see her say she vanishes toward Bald Mountain when anyone approaches.

In the most-repeated version, a group of twelve people waited at the grave one November 1. At sunset she appeared; when two men tried to grab her, she ran and disappeared into the hillside. Older tellings add that she stopped coming in 1888 and that the sexton saw her again two years later.

Who was John Cameron?

Here the record runs thin. The legend says Cameron was a handsome young bachelor whom many young women in town hoped to marry, but who only had eyes for a woman who lived out toward Bald Mountain. His death date differs between tellings: our older guide and several websites say November 1, 1885, from ‘paralysis of the heart’; Legends of America says November 1, 1887. Radio station write-ups admit nobody knows who he or the woman really was.

We could not find a first-hand account or an early newspaper report of the woman in black. The story is best treated as a cherished local legend, told and retold, rather than a documented event.

The boy behind the trees and the lights

The Denver Gazette’s 2024 roundup adds two more reports: a little boy seen following visitors and hiding behind trees, and orbs of light in photographs taken in the cemetery. Legends of America also tells of a nearby, unnamed Central City cemetery where a woman judged a witch by her neighbors is buried, with a green mist said to hang near her grave.

Ghosts in town

Down in Central City, the Opera House is said to be haunted by Mike Dougherty, a miner who became a popular performer in the 1860s, with a fleeting smell of liquor and nudges backstage. At the Teller House, legend says the couple behind the Face on the Barroom Floor can be heard talking. In Black Hawk, Lucille Malone is said to haunt the Gilpin Hotel after leaping from its balcony. These are local stories, collected by Legends of America.

Where to look

• John Edward Cameron's grave: the focus of the legend; look for fresh flowers on April 5 and November 1.
• The slope toward Bald Mountain: where the woman is said to vanish.
• The neighboring hillside cemeteries: the Odd Fellows, City and Catholic grounds close by.
• Central City Opera House: in town, home of the town’s best-known theater ghost.
• The Teller House bar: for the Face on the Barroom Floor.

Visiting the Central City cemeteries

Central City is about an hour’s drive west of Denver via US 6 and the Central City Parkway or Highway 119 through Black Hawk. The cemeteries are on the hillsides just above town; follow Eureka Street north past the Opera House toward Bald Mountain Road. The roads are steep, partly unpaved and can be icy from fall to spring, and the elevation is over 9,000 feet, so bring water and warm layers.

The cemeteries are historic burial grounds rather than attractions, with no staff, lighting or facilities. Visit in daylight, stay on paths, and never touch, lean on or move a headstone; many are fragile. If you go on April 5 or November 1 hoping to see the lady in black, be quiet and respectful: these are real graves of real families.

The Gilpin Historical Society runs two good ways to hear the stories. Its annual Cemetery Crawl, usually in late August, brings costumed volunteers to the graves of townspeople; in 2024 it was held at the Odd Fellows cemetery at the north end of Eureka Street. Its Creepy Crawl, on several October evenings, is a 90-minute walking tour of five historic buildings in town, with stories of murders and ghosts; in 2026 tours left from the Century Casino on Main Street every half hour from 6:30 PM, with tickets sold online.

• Visiting Historic cemetery reached by a dirt road above Central City; visit by day
• Tours The Gilpin Historical Society runs an annual Cemetery Crawl in late summer and the Creepy Crawl walking tours in town each October

Tips for your visit

• Go in late summer or early fall, when the roads are clear and the aspens are turning.
• Book the Creepy Crawl or the Cemetery Crawl for the best telling of the town’s stories.
• Walk up from Eureka Street rather than driving the narrow cemetery roads if you can.
• Have dinner in town afterward and look in on the Face on the Barroom Floor.
• Pair the trip with Denver’s haunted places, an hour east.

More haunted places nearby

• Cheesman Park, Denver: Denver’s former cemetery and most famous haunted park
• Goldminer Hotel, Nederland: a small haunted hotel in the mountains to the north
• Haunted places in Denver: the city’s ghost stories, an hour east
• Haunted hotels in Colorado: where to stay
• Haunted places in Colorado

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.

• Legends of America: Gilpin County, Colorado hauntings
• KOOL 107.9: Central City Masonic Cemetery's woman in black
• Denver Gazette: 10 'paranormal' places to visit around Colorado (2024)
• Denver Gazette: Haunted hotels, cemeteries and more, 7 spooky spots to visit around Colorado this fall (2024)
• Gilpin Historical Society: Creepy Crawl
• The Mountain-Ear: Whispers from the past, the 35th annual Cemetery Crawl (2024)
• Roadside Thoughts: Masonic Cemetery, Gilpin County (USGS GNIS location)