Art Photograph of Virginia Dale Cafe neon sign

Virginia Dale Cafe Neon Sign Blog

In Abandoned by Debbi FadliLeave a Comment

Once I started to google some history on the Virginia Dale Café to blog about the really old, I mean really old Virginia Dale Café neon sign, well geez what an unusual surprise of bizarre history. Usually, when googling or researching out some history, especially in Colorado, you assume you will find info about what cowboy or Indian lived in that neck of the woods, but not this time. The ghost town of Virginia Dale was once a stage stop on the Overland Trail, founded in the 1860s by outlaw Jake Slade, who was know to drink heavily and start shit. According to Wikipedia (OMG WIKIPEDIA but, when all else fails it’s like a google encyclopedia), he was a former stagecoach station manager in eastern Colorado, where he got into some quarrel with this guy named Jules Beni. In the disagreement, Beni shot Slade five times, but not fatally, so Slade tied Beni to a fence and shot off his fingers…OMG, then his head and allegedly kept his ears as a trophy….OMG. Well, as for Slade, he was said to have been hung and his wife, whom Virginia Dale is named after, had his body….OMG…and put in a casket, which she kept under her bed….OMG, that’s according to the legend in Colorado. Crazy huh, it is the Wild West after all.

Sometime after that the cafe, post office and gas station, where a lot of truckers used to stop by was a family owned and operated by Calvin and Jean Schulz until the 90s when he passed away. Today its just a place on the map.

So Virginia Dale is pretty much a ghost town and that tough old Virginia Dale Cafe neon sign still sits firmly at the top of the once was post office. Not only can you tell that the Virginia Dale Cafe neon sign is really old by just having the bulbs instead of the bent neon, but by Virginia Dale being written in cursive writing, which today no kid under 17 years of age will be able to read.

There are so many ghost towns in Colorado but this one has a creepy story to go with it…Do you think the ghost of Slade or Beni  linger around the property? Do you really think there is such a thing as ghosts? ?There are all sorts of stories by tourists passing through a Colorado ghost towns, like that they can smell the old man’s pipe walking through the lobby in an old hotel or hear what appears to be running water in the middle of the night, but no actual ghosts. Camping anywhere around that area I bet have some good ghost stories to tell around the campfire.

This great old historic Virginia Dale Café neon sign is a classic and to have that printed on metal with a delicate floating frame will just add so much character to your environment and is a great conversation piece as well. For more decor options, such as this image printed on a tote bag or a throw pillow, you can call us: 970-963-9333 or shoot us an email:  info@roadsidegallery.com.