HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Longmont's 1881 Zweck Hotel now houses a coffee shop and apartments — along with a Confederate officer, a vanishing magazine reader, and a disembodied girl's voice
301 Main St, Longmont, CO 80501
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Coffee shop and restaurant open to public; no admission charge for the building
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic downtown building; ground floor accessible
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1881 · Chicago-Colorado Colony commercial development · Longmont Main Street historic corridor · Late 19th-century Colorado hospitality architecture
The building at 301 Main Street opened in 1881 as the Zweck Hotel, one of the more substantial lodging properties in early Longmont. Its scale earned the designation 'palatial' in contemporary accounts — a word that reflected the ambition of the Chicago-Colorado Colony settlers who had founded the town a decade earlier and were building permanent commercial infrastructure.
In 1894, the Allen family purchased the property and renamed it the Imperial Hotel. Under Allen ownership the hotel operated for five decades as a centerpiece of Longmont's Main Street hospitality scene. The lodging operation closed in 1971, and the building transitioned to mixed commercial and residential use. By the early 21st century it housed Javastop Coffee on the ground floor, The Speakeasy restaurant, and upper-floor apartments.
A psychic investigation of the building, documented in Longmont's tourism materials and corroborated by the Longmont Leader, produced a specific structural finding: the investigators sensed a sealed doorway that was later confirmed to physically exist within the building. The sealed passage had not been publicly known before the investigation.
Sources
The Imperial Hotel's paranormal roster is unusually varied. Patrons and staff at Javastop Coffee have reported hearing a girl's disembodied voice — described as speaking directly to them rather than as ambient sound — with no visible source. A separate recurring report describes a man seen browsing magazines in the building who, when approached, is simply gone; no one recalls him leaving.
A Confederate officer apparition has been reported in the building, though the connection between a Civil War-era military figure and a Colorado hotel founded in 1881 is not explained in the available documentation. The report has circulated in Longmont's paranormal tradition and is included in the tourism office's haunted history materials.
The psychic investigation documented by the Longmont Leader produced the most verifiable finding: investigators reported sensing multiple children present in the building and described what they believed was a sealed doorway. When the building was examined, the sealed passage was found to be real. Longmont's tourism documentation notes this confirmation as supporting the investigation's credibility.
Notable Entities
Javastop Coffee operates within the ground floor of the former Imperial Hotel. Patrons have reported hearing a girl's disembodied voice and observing a man browsing magazines who disappears when approached. The building's haunted history is part of Longmont's official tourism programming.
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