Hunting for Hauntings - Mid-Atlantic Tourism Group Demonstrates the "Spirit" of Hospitality

Ghostly Sites - Maryland

The following are just a few spirited samples, but to find more, visit our links page.

National Museum of Civil War Medicine (48 E. Patrick Street/P.O. Box 470, Frederick, MD 21705, 301-695-1864) (website: www.CivilWarMed.org)

The building that houses the museum functioned as an undertaker’s establishment for nearly a century – including the years of the Civil War. Visitors and staff have reported seeing shadowy figures in person or on surveillance cameras, feeling “cold spots” in various parts of the building and sensing “presences.” Not all of the vibes were good ones, so when the museum was renovated recently, the staff brought in a paranormal specialist to “cleanse” the building. Since that time, all the negative energy seems to have left; these days, most reports are of “orbs” that appear in photographs.

Point Lookout State Park/Point Lookout Lighthouse (Route 5, Scotland, MD 20687, 301-872-5688) (website: www.dnr.state.md.us)

This park sits on a peninsula at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay and today provides countless opportunities to enjoy the “great outdoors.” But 140 years ago, the area was one of the two largest Civil War prison camps in the country and thousands of soldiers died there. Park rangers and visitors alike have reported seeing a ghost “running” across the street near the site of the camp’s old smallpox cemetery and hospital. Elsewhere in the park, researchers have recorded 24 different ghostly voices in the now-abandoned Point Lookout Lighthouse, and mortals have reported cold spots, odd smells, unexplainable footsteps and strange apparitions there. Several images have appeared in photographs of the building, including what appears to be a Civil War soldier leaning against a wall.

USS Constellation (Pier 1, 301 E. Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, 410-539-1797) (website: www.constellation.org)

This historic ship is reported to be home to three wandering spirits. The first is Commodore Thomas Truxton, a former captain who died peacefully in his bed in Philadelphia but who apparently returned to the ship in the afterlife. The second is a “ship’s boy” murdered by one of the crew. And the third is a sailor named Neil Harvey, who turned coward during a battle and who was put to death as a result. All three ghosts have been reported to manifest themselves as apparitions. But today’s staff is quick to point out that they haven’t had any personal encounters with these ghosts, and most attribute the stories to the creativity of a former employee. But who knows?