An 1881 Longmont landmark where a performer's mysterious death left a ghost child and greenroom spirits behind
302 Main St, Longmont, CO 80501
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by event; dining available at Dickens Tavern
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic downtown building; main floor accessible
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1881 · Chicago-Colorado Colony settlement era · Longmont historic downtown · Early Colorado press and banking history
The Dickens Opera House opened in 1881 as one of Longmont's most substantial commercial buildings, occupying a prominent corner on Main Street. Within a few years it had absorbed the operations of the Longmont Ledger newspaper and hosted the Farmers National Bank — a measure of the building's central position in the young town's civic life.
A 1905 expansion enlarged the facility and added performance capacity, and the building became home to Longmont College for a period, lending the structure an educational dimension alongside its entertainment functions. The opera house format — a ground-floor commercial space below an elevated stage and performance hall — was standard for the era, and the basement level contained dressing rooms for performers.
The building has operated under various configurations over the decades. By the early 21st century, Dickens Tavern occupied the historic space, maintaining the performance venue tradition while offering dining and bar service. The venue is included in Longmont's haunted history programming organized by the city's tourism office, which has documented the structure's paranormal reputation in detail.
The Spirit Trackers Paranormal Investigation Team conducted a formal investigation of the building, producing findings that the city's tourism documentation has cited in public materials. The venue sits within Longmont's historic downtown corridor, which developed rapidly after the town's 1871 founding by the Chicago-Colorado Colony.
Sources
The building's paranormal reputation centers on the basement dressing rooms, where a female performer died at some point in the venue's history. The circumstances of her death have never been definitively established — accounts circulating in Longmont describe it as either a murder or a suicide, and the ambiguity appears to be genuine rather than embellished. Longmont's tourism office cites this case in its official haunted history materials without resolving it.
The Spirit Trackers Paranormal Investigation Team conducted a documented investigation of the Dickens Opera House and reported findings that include a ghost child in the basement area and what investigators described as mischievous presences concentrated in the greenroom. Staff and performers have reported similar experiences independently of the formal investigation.
The Dickens Tavern's own ghost stories documentation describes multiple spirits associated with different areas of the building. The greenroom in particular has accumulated reports of objects moving, unexplained sounds, and a general sense of an unseen presence interacting with people preparing for performances.
Notable Entities
Longmont's tourism office documents organized haunted history programming at the Dickens Opera House, covering the building's paranormal reports from the basement dressing rooms to the greenroom. Check the venue and visitlongmont.org for current tour scheduling.
The Dickens Tavern operates within the historic building, offering dining and drinks in the same space where performers have reported inexplicable presences. The basement and greenroom areas are accessible during certain events.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Loveland, CO
Loveland's Rialto Theater opened in May 1920 as a silent movie house and operated continuously through most of the 20th century, closing and then reopening in 1995. A projectionist named Clarence Herrin died of a heart attack in the projection booth on October 8, 1957, while threading the final reel of 'Island in the Sun.'
Cripple Creek, CO
The Butte Theater on Bennett Avenue is a historic Cripple Creek opera house rebuilt after the April 1896 fires that devastated the city. Associated with the Imperial Casino, it has operated as a performance venue for more than a century and is reportedly haunted by a ghost named Jack, linked to the nearby fire department.
Colorado Springs, CO
Completed in 1923 at a cost of $424,910, the Colorado Springs City Auditorium is a Classical Revival civic landmark at 221 E Kiowa Street. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995, it served as the city's primary venue for concerts, theater performances, and graduations throughout the 20th century.