Denver's 1892 Italian Renaissance tower — one of the city's tallest when built — where a janitor fell to his death and a jealous-rage killing left two reported presences that office workers still describe today
730 17th St, Denver, CO 80202
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Public lobby; building is primarily private offices and condominiums
Access
Wheelchair OK
Downtown office building with elevator access; marble lobby open during business hours
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1892 · Denver's tallest building 1892–1911 · Designed by Andrews, Jaques & Rantoul of Boston in Italian Renaissance Revival style · National Register of Historic Places (1978, NRHP #78000845) · Denver Landmark designation (1977) · Site of multiple documented deaths and violent incidents 1902–early 20th century
The Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York commissioned the building at 730 17th Street in 1892 as its western regional headquarters, at a moment when Denver's downtown was shifting away from its mining-boom origins toward a more permanent commercial center. The Boston firm of Andrews, Jaques & Rantoul designed the structure in Italian Renaissance Revival style — nine stories of steel-framed construction faced with Pikes Peak granite on the lower two floors, Roman brick above, and white terra cotta banding separating the upper levels into horizontal registers. The interior featured a marble lobby with a barrel-vaulted mosaic ceiling, bronze stair rails, and Tiffany stained glass. Mechanical innovations at the time of construction included eight elevators, independent electrical and water systems, and an artesian well in the basement that still powered the elevators decades later.
At 125 feet, the Equitable was Denver's tallest building on completion and held that distinction until the Daniels and Fisher Tower surpassed it in 1911. Its address on 17th Street — which Denver's financial community called the Wall Street of the West — made it an anchor for the professional class that moved into the neighborhood after the silver bust of 1893. Among its notable tenants was Mary Lathrop, the first woman to argue a case before the Colorado Supreme Court, who maintained her law practice in the building.
Over the first half of the twentieth century the building accumulated a record of violent incidents. Janitor Andrew Anderson fell to his death cleaning windows from the ninth floor in 1902 — his body found the following morning. In a separate incident, Martha Ewart attempted to shoot attorney Joseph Kitteredge Choate in his fourth-floor office, alleging a broken engagement. A third case, involving William Peck and the fatal shooting of George Kroening over a marital dispute, also took place within the building; newspaper accounts from the period name both men but details differ across sources.
The building was designated a Denver landmark in 1977 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 9, 1978 (NRHP #78000845). A 1935 fire from a discarded cigarette caused significant damage to one section. The structure was converted to individually owned condominiums in 2000 and continues to house professional offices in energy, law, and financial services.
Sources
The paranormal lore at the Equitable Building clusters around the violent events documented in its early history. Office workers, night security staff, and maintenance personnel have described a woman in period clothing appearing in hallways — sometimes visible, sometimes only sensed — accompanied by the scent of early 20th-century perfume and, in several accounts, the sound of crying or pleading. The apparition is young and described as appearing frightened or confused.
A second presence described by the same category of witnesses is male: a figure in a dark suit, perceived as angry or agitated, associated with doors slamming without apparent cause, forceful footsteps in empty corridors, and a hostile feeling reported specifically by women working alone after hours. The two presences are linked in building tradition to the shooting incident that took place in one of the upper offices — an event that contemporary accounts confirm involved a male perpetrator and a female victim, though details on names and exact year differ across the sources that have reported it.
Andrew Anderson, the janitor who fell from the ninth floor while cleaning windows in 1902, is associated with a third category of report: sounds of a man screaming from the direction of the elevator shaft, and occasional sightings of a figure in work clothes near the elevators. The building's original artesian-fed elevator system — still in service decades after construction — gives the shaft area a mechanical presence unusual in modern buildings.
The equitable building appeared in Ghost City Tours' Denver itinerary and in local paranormal writing collected in Kathleen Barlow's compilation Spirits and Scandals. None of the supernatural accounts have been independently verified, but the underlying historical incidents — the fall of Anderson in 1902, the Ewart shooting attempt, and the Peck-Kroening killing — are documented in period sources.
Notable Entities
The Equitable Building's marble lobby and carved granite exterior are accessible during business hours. The building appears on Denver ghost tour itineraries and is a notable stop on downtown architectural walks. Ghost City Tours includes the building on its Denver walking tours.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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