The town is located deep in the heart of the Colorado Rockies, founded in 1878 as a mining settlement.  Two years later, it earned the right to be called a town when gold and silver brought people into the area.  Originally called Forrest City, after the post office complained because of the abundance of towns already named similarly, a town-founder named Griffith Evans decided on St. Elmo because of the romantic novel of the same name he was reading at the time. 

In 1881, St. Elmo became a stop for the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad line before it continued on through Romley and eventually through the historic Alpine Tunnel.  It served as an important tool for the town’s survival in the way of supplies, and the endless supply of ore that seemed to be shipped from the mountains in return.  The same year, Anton Stark, a cattleman, brought his herd to the railroad and fell in love with the quaint town.  He wasted no time in sending for his wife and children, and from that point onward, St. Elmo seemed to depend on the Stark family for its survival.

Stark became a boss in one of the mines and Anna, his wife, ran the general store (and within it, the post office and telegraph office) and Home Comfort Hotel, both of which resided in the middle of Main Street.  As with other towns dependent on mining, St. Elmo was over-ran with men and the raw gruffness that came with them, including the saloons, dance halls and other such ‘pleasures’ to occupy their time.

Some say it was this rowdy behavior that caused Anna Stark to keep such a tight rein on her children, others say she was like that long before St. Elmo.  Regardless of the reasons, Tony, Roy, and Annabelle were unable to associate with average townspeople, except in the capacity of the chores they did, often times helping Anna mind the store or hotel.

 St. Elmo continued to prosper for several years, but seemed doomed to failure.  The mines were ored out and the men needed work, so they eventually drifted off to seek their fortune elsewhere, as is the story with so many turn of the century towns.  The closure of the Alpine Tunnel in 1910 destroyed the town the Starks loved so much.  It’s said that the rest of the population rode the last train out of town.  The Stark family stayed behind, determined to breathe life back into St. Elmo.

They unsuccessfully rented out cabins to try to entice tourism into the area, and failed.  For many years, the sons tried to influence developers to no avail.  With her husband’s death, Anna realized her family was flailing and she sent Annabelle off to the next town for employment while they remained behind to keep trying to rebuild the town.

 Hardly any time passed when Anna wrote that she’d met a young man, was going to get married and move off to Trinidad.  History doesn’t document the reason as to why, but the marriage never took place and a crushed Annabelle returned to St. Elmo only two years later and she stayed for the rest of her life.  Some say she’s still there, today, watching over her beloved home.

 None of the three children ever married, or left the town.  Roy died in 1934, Anna followed soon after.  Rather than revive, St. Elmo continued to die a little more each day, yet Annabelle and Tony stayed on, unwilling to give up.  With the added hardships of no electricity or plumbing, they neglected themselves and their cleanliness.  Perhaps because Anna had always been so strict on chores, they let refuse accumulate in spite of the stale and often foul odors that emanated from such piles of garbage.  It wasn’t unusual to see Annabelle in filthy clothing, unkempt and unbathed when she journeyed to the next town for supplies.

 To these residents, she soon became known as “Dirty Annie.”  Though she wasn’t oblivious to the name-calling she endured, she continued to be kind and especially generous to children with the candy and soda at the hotel store.  She remained determined to protect what remained of St. Elmo, and it wasn’t unusual to see her trudging around the property, rifle in hand.

 It was because of behavior like this that residents grouped together and sent brother and sister off to a mental institution.  A friend took pity and managed to have them both released after a few weeks, promising authorities that they were harmless.  Soon afterward, Tony died, and eventually Annabelle went to a nursing home where she died in 1960.

 While most ghost towns die in a similar manner, few are as loyal to them as the Stark family.  Ghost towns present the aura of mystery because of tragedies that fell upon the town, and perhaps due to the amount of people who lost their lives in battles or shoot-outs of some sort.  In St. Elmo’s case, while the mining was depleted and the removal of the railroad caused the town’s death, there’s more than the quiet stillness.  Many believe it to be haunted by the ghost of Annabelle Stark, and possibly her mother Anna, as well.

 The friend that saw the release of Tony and Annabelle from the mental institution received the property after their deaths.  As her grandchildren played in a hotel room one day, the doors slammed shut and the temperature dropped 20 degrees in seconds.  They refused to ever play there again.

When a group of people decided to clean up the hotel to try to make it worthy again, they were surprised time after time to come in the next morning and find their cleaning supplies already taken out of the closet and placed in the middle of the floor, even after a lock was purchased for the door and the items were secured by several witnesses in the evenings.

Skiers and trespassers have reported seeing a young woman at the windows of the hotel looking out, sometimes angry, sometimes mournful, and is usually thought to be the ghost of Annabelle Stark, watching over her beloved town.

The legend of Annabelle lives on, and if you venture into St. Elmo, Colorado anytime soon, be mindful of the laws in the area!  You never know what Annabelle will do to protect her property!