June 5, 1929 was a typical summer morning in Virginia Beach. The sun hung in the sky, brutally casting down its rays upon the shore. The humidity clung heavy in the air but the breeze of the Atlantic brought refreshing relief. Curtains fluttered in the open windows of the cottages that dotted the boardwalk and the American aristocracy strolled along the wooden planks in their impractical attire. The famous and wealthy would escape to Virginia Beach as a retreat from their day to day lives and The Cavalier Hotel, which sat on a hill overlooking the north end of the resort, had become the refuge. However, this morning would be different from the others as onlookers observed an old man dangling from his sixth floor window, his hands clinging to the sill until he could hold on no more. He came tumbling through the air to land on the cement below, a life defined by successes and debatably succumbing to the pressures of prohibition, to come to an end in such an inglorious manner.
Adolph Kuhrs was born on February 4, 1847 in Barman, Prussia (in modern day Germany). In 1862 he began an apprenticeship at Dortmund Brewery and learned a trade that would define the rest of his life. Not long after the death his parents, he immigrated to the United States in 1868, reportedly as a stowaway. When coming through immigration in Baltimore, Maryland, Adolph’s last name was “Americanized” and changed to “Coors.
He worked odd jobs, briefly settling in Illinois before making his way to Colorado. There, he met fellow immigrant Jacob Schueler and in 1873, they purchased an abandoned tannery in Golden, Colorado. It was in this building that the Golden Brewery was founded. By 1880, Adolph Coors bought out Jacob Schueler and gained full control over the brewery. In the years to come, the popularity of the beer the brewery produced increased expediently.
However, a wrench would be thrown in to the production when, in 1916, Colorado passed laws prohibiting the production and sale of alcohol, with the Federal government following suit in 1920 (this would become the famous Prohibition Era in the United States). What was once a quickly growing empire based on alcohol was now scrambling to figure out how to make ends meet. The Coors Company began producing porcelain, malted milk, cement and mannah (a nonalcoholic beer substitute), though none would bring the same success as the alcohol they once produced.
In late 1928, Adolph Coors set off to Florida to vacation with his family for the winter months. In March 1929, the Coors made a stop off in Virginia Beach at the exclusive Cavalier Hotel before heading home to Colorado. He was registered in a room with his wife and in an adjoining room was his daughter, Mrs. Augusta Colibraum. Adolph seemed to be in good spirits and was reported to have been in the best of health.
On the morning of June 5, 1929, without a word to his wife, he arose early and opened up their sixth floor window. Without hesitation, he climbed through and disappeared. Witnesses say they saw him clinging to the window for a brief moment before plummeting to the ground below. He hadn’t left a note or anything indicating the reason for this sudden act. Coroner Dr. R.W. Woodhouse officially declared Adolph Coors’ death to be a suicide and chose not to order an inquest. His stunned family tried to understand why this happened; some saying it was an accident, others suspect more heinous motivations like murder. The most widely accepted theory was that Adolph Coors was so distraught over the lack luster success of his company during prohibition that he decided to end his own life. But whatever the reason was, Adolph Coors took it to his grave. In articles found on the back pages of newspapers, Adolph Coors would be listed as a ceramics manufacturer, giving no indication for what his name would become synonymous with in the years to come.
To this day, there are some who believe that Adolph Coors never left The Cavalier. Occasionally, guests will report hearing strange banging sounds on the cement where he landed so many years ago or seeing an apparition of an old man wandering the lobby or the sixth floor. One guest reported seeing him in the snapshots of a wedding she attended at the hotel in the 1970’s.
Whatever the reason that brought Adolph Coors’ sudden demise, his name has become synonymous with beer and also as one of the most famous ghosts of Virginia Beach. If you happen to find yourself wandering the north end of Pacific Avenue late one night, glance up to the sixth floor of the old Cavalier Hotel. You just may see a haunting face of an old man peering through a window, still trying to reach out to the living to help put his soul to rest.
References:
“Adolph Coors.” NNDB: Tracking the entire world. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. [http://www.nndb.com/people/339/000164844].
“Adolph Coors (1847 – 1929) – Find A Grave Memorial.” Find A Grave – Millions of Cemetery Records. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?GRid=2133&page;=gr].
BeerSlugger.com » Fathers of American Beer: Adolph Coors.” BeerSlugger.com . N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. [http://beerslugger.com/fathers-of-american-beer-adolph-coors/].
Frankenberry, Rita. “Historic Cavalier to make paranormal experts feel at home | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com.” HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. [http://hamptonroads.com/2010/03/historic-cavalier-make-paranormal-experts-feel-home].
“Haunted Places in Virginia.” Haunted Places To Go! Haunted Houses, Haunted Hotels,. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. [http://www.haunted-places-to-go.com/haunted-places-in-virginia.html].
Sheppard, Nancy E. “The Cavalier Hotel (At Night).” 2011. JPG file.
Sheppard, Nancy E. “The Cavalier At Night (2).” 2011. JPG file.
The United Press. “The Pittsburg Post-Gazette.” Google News. N.p., 6 June 1929. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. [http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EXAbAAAAIBAJ&sjid;=F0sEAAAAIBAJ&pg;=5414,3564860&dq;=adolph+coors+cavalier&hl;=en]. Article found on page 48 of the newspaper
The Virginian-Pilot. “Suicide at the Cavalier Hotel | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com.” HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. [http://hamptonroads.com/2006/11/suicide-cavalier-hotel].
Unknown, Unknown. Adolph Coors. N.d. n/a, Unknown. BeerHistory.com. Web. 25 Mar. 2011.
