Where the Past is Present

After her death on October 14, 1952, her house stood vacant and gave way to neglect. In 1983, when developers wanted to tear it down to make space for a parking lot, many people from the neighborhood—including Paul W. Stewart, founder of the Black American West Museum, and some people who had been delivered by Doctor Ford when they were born—came together to raise enough money to save the house from demolition. In February 1984, the 200-ton brick house was moved by a giant trailer from Arapahoe Street to California Street, where it was lovingly renovated and now houses the museum. It’s now a protected historical site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But that isn’t the end of the story of Justina Ford’s home. “A fun point of interest” about the house, as reported by Real Estate Metro Denver, is that “The museum is reportedly haunted.” Museum visitors, staff, and volunteers report seeing Doctor Ford walking from room to room. An affectionate touch to someone’s cheek or hair is sometimes experienced. Pictures are known to be knocked from the walls if Doctor Ford is displeased. And according to authors Daniel Diehl and Mark Donnelly in their 2010 book Haunted Houses: Guide to Spooky, Creepy, and Strange Places Across the USA, Doctor Ford appears to children as “a full-bodied, solid apparition, with enough substance that she has actually led children around by the hand.” Can it be that she loved life and her work too much to leave her home?