Cheesman Park in Denver

Imagine a big beautiful park filled with trees and lush green grass, a beautiful pavilion, an oasis in the middle of a big city. That would be Cheesman Park in Denver. This 320 acre park has quite a history.

It all began in 1858 when a man by the name of William Larimar sat aside 320 acres in newly formed and rapidly growing city of Denver. He had it sat aside with the intention that it be used as a cemetery. He named it Mount Prospect Cemetery.

Within the acreage is a hill that overlooks the rest of the acreage. It was decided the plots on the crest of that hill would be used for burial of only the very wealthy and influential residents of Denver. The area on the far edges of the cemetery was to be used for paupers and criminals, and the area in the middle was for the ordinary citizens of Denver.

The first residents of this fine cemetery were a Hungarian immigrant by the name of John Stoefl along with his brother-in-law. Seems the men had a bit of a disagreement and the John killed his brother-in-law. After a short trial where John was pronounced guilty, he was dragged away by a mob and hung. Hey! Justice was real swift in those days! He and his brother-in-law were then taken to Mount Prospect and unceremoniously dumped in the same grave! That would suck to have to spend eternity in the same grave with the person that murdered you!