Ridge Home Information (Denver, Pueblo: universities, gated, moving)

[my11e2]

No one has mentioned the other Ridge campus. It was on the east side of Wadsworth Pkwy between what is now W 102nd Ave and W 104th Ave (neither of which existed then). I don’t know much about it myself, but I grew up north of there in the 70’s and could see some of the old red brick buildings from where I played along the creek just to the north (walnut creek I think). It was mostly houses or small house like buildings as I recall. The really big house had a huge 2 or 3 story window that looked west and they would put up a really big Christmas tree every year. Not really much information in this post, but I wanted to call out that there was another campus.

[galjes]

I grew up in arvada too. My friends and I used to go into ridge homes all the time. I heard rumers of tunnles too, we would search and search, but we never found any... I like to belive that they where there, it's more fun that way. One time my friend candy and I where in one of the buildings and we heard a girl crying, it was comming from a room that looked like it might have been a bathoom, when we looked no one was there and then we heard a loud bang and we ran out of the place screaming. It was creepy. But in my opinoin there was deffanatly something... well many things haunting that place.

[Scott5280]

There was part of the faclity close to Simms and 64th this was an extension of the main Arvada campus, my mother was an occupational therapist who worked for Ridge home --for a period in the late 60's before I was born and again in the early 90's...I myself would accasionally visit her at work and help here administer her treatments..kind of heartbreaking to see how these mentally and physically disabled kids go through their lives...The developmentally disabled are the nicest group of people...Very important to get them involved in art therapy and Special Olympics...Ridge itself has struggled with funding for the past fifteen years..I am not sure what's going on today really.. the infrastucture..buildings ect..seemed to be pretty out dated..

[sgibson]

Has anyone heard of a mass murder by a 13 yr old boy who ended up there by mistake? apparently he murdered seventeen kids back in the 60's. This is coming from a UFO/haunting web site and they also mention a janitor in the 80's who went crazy from working in those surroundings for so long he killed a nurse? Probably just web mumbo jumbo but you never know! the web site is Obiwan's UFO-Free Paranormal Page > Hauntings > Ridge Home Detention Center (Colorado)

[PorcelainPrincess]

Originally Posted by sgibson

Has anyone heard of a mass murder by a 13 yr old boy who ended up there by mistake? apparently he murdered seventeen kids back in the 60's. This is coming from a UFO/haunting web site and they also mention a janitor in the 80's who went crazy from working in those surroundings for so long he killed a nurse? Probably just web mumbo jumbo but you never know! the web site is Obiwan's UFO-Free Paranormal Page > Hauntings > Ridge Home Detention Center (Colorado)

I have read this girl's story before. And I do believe 100% it's bs. I have searched everything I could for records of any of this happening. Also since my grandma and great aunt worked at Ridge in the 60s, when talking to my great aunt about some of the creepier sides of Ridge, you would think she would have mentioned that.

I have heard some strange stories of the place. Such as it is haunted by what was called "The Ridge Home Runner" Before I explain this story let me give a bit of insight to the story teller of this one. I have run my history and pictures of Ridge Home on my sites for probably 10 years now. I do occasionally get some people who I do honestly believe should pay a visit to Pueblo's Mental Hospital and check in for a bit. This story teller was one of them.He first claimed to be the owner of Ridge and told me he was going to do something about my trespassing and had me on tape on the grounds.

I told him that it was nice to meet the State of Colorado (Because at the time, they still owned the land) and that I was actually given permission to be there from some of my contacts from the state.

Then shortly after he turned into "The Ridge Home Runner." He told me how the runner was a boy from Wheat Ridge High in the very early 70s. He was an athlete for the school who loved to jog on the rail road tracks each day. One day when he was listening to his walkman and jogging, he was killed by a train. He now is said to haunt Ridge Home.

Next, he claimed to be the state trooper who had first arrived on the scene.

Besides all his multi-personalities, I knew this story was bs. Why? Because the walkman wasn't invented until 1979.

Originally Posted by Bitpicker

"Ridge Home" was a state institution that was opened in the 1920's.]

Sorry to jump in on this, but Ridge Home opened earlier than that. The building you say is the "Original Building" (The Education and Training Building is as old as this one as well) when it was burnt down in the 90s by a security guard (And to debunk this now, no one was living there at the time, only a black cat in the attic that fire fighters did save) it had a corner stone was found intact and was taken in 1992 by the Colorado Historical Society. So they have it now, but it does say:

"A.D. 1910 State Home and Training School for mental defectives, founded by the State of Colorado through the efforts of Ella Parish Williams of the State Board of Correctives."

And the first patient arrived at Ridge Home in July 5, 1912:

"Weekly Ignacio Chieftain 7-5-1912
The State Home for Mental Defectives has opened at Arvada under the direction of A. P. Busey, superintendent of the State Insane Asylum at Pueblo. "

You are correct about the one in the orange, it was built in 1955. Though, I fail to understand the hospital here in the 60s when there was a full hospital on the grounds, which I have no clue as to what happened to that building. The most I saw in here was rooms, central living rooms, and a large gym.

Also the area in the gray, also was a power house. Back when all this was built, mental hospitals/asylums were all a self contained little city. They had most everything they needed confined within the land.

Originally Posted by galjes

I grew up in arvada too. My friends and I used to go into ridge homes all the time. I heard rumers of tunnles too, we would search and search, but we never found any... I like to belive that they where there, it's more fun that way. One time my friend candy and I where in one of the buildings and we heard a girl crying, it was comming from a room that looked like it might have been a bathoom, when we looked no one was there and then we heard a loud bang and we ran out of the place screaming. It was creepy. But in my opinoin there was deffanatly something... well many things haunting that place.

There were tunnels there. I watched the place when they tore everything down which was sad to see but I did notice they didn't rip them out so they are still there but covered in. They were, as it has been said before to move patients from building to building in bad weather. Of course I also wondered if they moved the laundry and other things through here to disrupt patients less. But the tunnels went from building to building. I had one guy write me with claims they went all the way to Golden to transport patients to do illegal experiments on them by the military. lol I hear some of the strangest stories. But this is untrue.

Anyways for those interested, or who haven't seen it on my site, this is Ridge Home from the early 60s. I think 61.

[MVpara]

Originally Posted by PorcelainPrincess

It has been federally documented that there was abuse, in front of Feds. no less. But how much this was blow up, who knows. It says two orderlies used "excessive force" to make a man stop banging his head on a wall. This was in the end of Ridge, early 90s.

I do agree about the people who worked there. My grandma loved the kids there very much. My great aunt also worked there. My grandma was there for over 8 years. Ridge Home scared my mom when she was little because, yes, at her age and that time, she was scared of the people there.

But my grandma also had a group of friends who worked there with her, trying hard to change how people were treated. She didn't like how they were being treated. In her day, which was the 60s and 70s at Ridge, she was the one who had to drug them. She said they were basically living drugged.

Another great aunt of mine had a baby who was born with Down Syndrome. When he was born, the doctors told her she should hand him over to Ridge Home. My grandma begged her not to, told her she would even take care of him if she didn't want him. He was born in the early 60s. So he never ended up in state care.

He instead ended up becoming a great member to Arvada. He was in the Sentinel for the work he did with horses and the family farm. No one believed someone of his mental state could do things like that back then.

I believe the reason people were as they were at Ridge is because, yes while most the staff loved them, there just wasn't enough staff or trained well enough staff to help them. Because they could have been helped and didn't have to be stuck as severally disabled as they were.

As far as the whole ghost thing. I can't fully say I believe that stuff. I believe in the left over feelings and sort of like feelings and memories imprinted on places. I think people who are more empathetic than others can feel it stronger. But I am not fully sure on the ghost thing.

EDIT - I have to add too. You can't say there was no abuse, there was no perfectly normal kids dropped off there, you can't say how much everyone cared because the fact is, Ridge was opened in 1912, so yes, it could have happened so much more than you know. Ridge Home was open and running for over 90 years. The histories of asylums, state homes and other places for mentally disabled show that back in the early 1900s they couldn't tell the difference between mentally disabled and mentally insane. They thought they were all the same. When Ridge Home was first opened, you couldn't leave. You would have to die or be transfered to Pueblo. Pueblo was an insane asylum then.

But no, don't anyone buy into the Ridge Home was all bad, Ridge Home was nothing but abuse because it wasn't. They took the kids out on the hills to have camps, they would try to give most the people there as normal of a life as they could. But some of the people just didn't care.

Granted I can say I'm sure it wasn't all bad things do get exagerated but in all reality not one person has admitted to what happened,so far the employees that have come forward with their stories seem to be trying to make themself look good instead of admitting they were just as much a part of the problem.The Federal Department of Justice did an investigation of all institutes not just Ridge Home for humane treatment and just so happens they pegged Ridge Home for abuse,they didn't just pull it out of a hat.Also when they did get busted in 1985;which I believe is about the time line these so called innocent employees said they worked(abuse doesn't happen over night it goes until you get busted).In 1985 the government found one resident with a femur protruding through the skin,one with a left arm swollen;loose and floppy at the shoulder.Now here's a kicker;out of all these innocent employees why couldn't any of them explain why another patient suffered 2nd degree burns or maybe they can explain why they government found that patients muscles were withered from lack of activity,some were over medicated and many others also had unexplained injuries.The government didn't threaten to cut off funding because of a few issolated incidences.
I'm sure these employees know that the superintendant also ran the insane asylum in pueblo prior to Ridge in which he got into some trouble there also....wierd....the affidavits made charge that the institue was filthy,infested with vermin and patients were over worked in result of premature death..sounds like a stand up guy to me;he would hurt a fly hmm.
Again abuse doesn't happen over night it had to have been happening for awhile and granted back in the day when ridge home opened they didn't know much about the disabled or the difference between the insane and methods were different then than they are now but come on! Ridge got busted in 1985 and take it from a counselor of the disabled;a good majority depending on the severity of the disabillity will not talk about abuse freely.
Don't get me wrong I'm sure a lot of employees were innocent but none of the employees have stepped up to report the abuse,there is not one report from the employees and of course none from the patients,when they closed the patients who were able to live on their own are having a hard time because there was minimal documentation on them,now why would that be if those individuals needed care or recieved care.
My sources are news reports,government reports,personal knowledge and common sense not a former employee or stories from websites I started out not knowing anything about Ridge Home but I'm persistant and found what I was looking for mainly because I'm investigating reported paranormal phenomenon revolving around the ones who died their also my team captured a clear as day EVP Saying "we can get out of here" funny enough it was caught in the are said to be the field by where ridge stood.
Feel free to listen for yourself at Mountain Valley Paranormal (Mountain Valley Paranormal) | MySpace
Those of you searching for more information try looking deeper than just the place itself such as former employees or government involvement ..good luck with your search.

[PorcelainPrincess]

Originally Posted by MVpara

Granted I can say I'm sure it wasn't all bad things do get exagerated but in all reality not one person has admitted to what happened,so far the employees that have come forward with their stories seem to be trying to make themself look good instead of admitting they were just as much a part of the problem.The Federal Department of Justice did an investigation of all institutes not just Ridge Home for humane treatment and just so happens they pegged Ridge Home for abuse,they didn't just pull it out of a hat.Also when they did get busted in 1985;which I believe is about the time line these so called innocent employees said they worked(abuse doesn't happen over night it goes until you get busted).In 1985 the government found one resident with a femur protruding through the skin,one with a left arm swollen;loose and floppy at the shoulder.Now here's a kicker;out of all these innocent employees why couldn't any of them explain why another patient suffered 2nd degree burns or maybe they can explain why they government found that patients muscles were withered from lack of activity,some were over medicated and many others also had unexplained injuries.The government didn't threaten to cut off funding because of a few issolated incidences.
I'm sure these employees know that the superintendant also ran the insane asylum in pueblo prior to Ridge in which he got into some trouble there also....wierd....the affidavits made charge that the institue was filthy,infested with vermin and patients were over worked in result of premature death..sounds like a stand up guy to me;he would hurt a fly hmm.
Again abuse doesn't happen over night it had to have been happening for awhile and granted back in the day when ridge home opened they didn't know much about the disabled or the difference between the insane and methods were different then than they are now but come on! Ridge got busted in 1985 and take it from a counselor of the disabled;a good majority depending on the severity of the disabillity will not talk about abuse freely.
Don't get me wrong I'm sure a lot of employees were innocent but none of the employees have stepped up to report the abuse,there is not one report from the employees and of course none from the patients,when they closed the patients who were able to live on their own are having a hard time because there was minimal documentation on them,now why would that be if those individuals needed care or recieved care.
My sources are news reports,government reports,personal knowledge and common sense not a former employee or stories from websites I started out not knowing anything about Ridge Home but I'm persistant and found what I was looking for mainly because I'm investigating reported paranormal phenomenon revolving around the ones who died their also my team captured a clear as day EVP Saying "we can get out of here" funny enough it was caught in the are said to be the field by where ridge stood.
Feel free to listen for yourself at Mountain Valley Paranormal (Mountain Valley Paranormal) | MySpace
Those of you searching for more information try looking deeper than just the place itself such as former employees or government involvement ..good luck with your search.

Sort of funny how you quote me... Are you saying I haven't done research on Ridge Home? That I have gotten everything of my research came from former employees or stories from websites?

If that is what you are saying, please try again.

[MVpara]

I don't recall saying that about you at all and you can quote me on that and the previous post,all I did was clarify on the discrepancies or missing information if you will;there is no reason for you to get emotional otherwise you have no business here I started this post to find out information and share information not to attack those who might have found out more information or add to it.Along with my research I did find another forum about Ridge Home stating that you are no longer able to post there because you have been kicked off the site,let's not make this another incident.

[Mike from back east]

Work this out via DM, not in the public forum.

[PorcelainPrincess]

Originally Posted by MVpara

I don't recall saying that about you at all and you can quote me on that and the previous post,all I did was clarify on the discrepancies or missing information if you will;there is no reason for you to get emotional otherwise you have no business here I started this post to find out information and share information not to attack those who might have found out more information or add to it.Along with my research I did find another forum about Ridge Home stating that you are no longer able to post there because you have been kicked off the site,let's not make this another incident.

No I just wondered if that is what you were saying since you quoted me. Because of this "Those of you searching for more information try looking deeper than just the place itself such as former employees or government involvement ..good luck with your search." However, I wasn't getting emotional. So Mike, there is no argument, there is really nothing to work out. I understand how on the internet things can come out worse sounding than they are.

And yep I know exactly what forum you are talking about. That forum's owner is a joke and that is why I was kicked. I moved onto another forum with my friends who were also kicked. None of us were not kicked for being rude, or for a valid reason at that and one of my good friends who was a mod was even kicked for no reason. He was then later begged to come back by the owner of the forum. So no, just by asking you a question and telling you to try again isn't going to have me kicked from a forum, maybe that one you were talking about, but doubtful from anywhere else.

Last I remember, the ban list no longer has my name or one of the other Colorado guys who was banned. That forum isn't about Ridge Home though.

Anyways... MV, let me say this... When you do read reports of the abuse, you gotta think a bit differently. I remember a few years back, 7 news did a story on the Jefferson County school buses. They fudged up the story so bad. But if you didn't know anyone who worked there you'd think, they were bad people! But then you also wouldn't have noticed how one of their examples included how one lady went into a bus, showing she did no inspection of the bus. Then when she left the bus, she was wearing different clothes. And no she didn't change on the bus.

The only thing I am saying here is that people will probably NEVER know what REALLY happened there expect the some of the remaining people who did work there. But they still may only know a fraction of it. Unless we build us a time machine and go watch for the years it was open, I don't think we will ever totally uncover what did happen. Not fully.

I can say though, during the time when my grandma did work there, there was people who did care. Many of the people I do talk to have a genuine love for those people they did care for, and they did work there after my grandma. Just it is hard to make things like abuse clean up when you don't have the backing of your admin. Then the majority of the people who do work with you are used to the anything-goes attitude and they sure as heck won't stop what they are doing, maybe out of habit, maybe because that is what kind of junk person they are.

I knew I knew your name though, I forgot you were the one who started this thread. And if you do end up anything like me... You aren't done yet. You never will be. I swear, each time I think I have found the end of my searching, I have no more to go on, more comes up or people out there ask me more questions that get me moving. Been 10 years since I started, and I haven't stopped yet. I doubt I ever will because I don't think I will ever know everything I want to know.