Haunted Places in Maryland: 10 Sites With Real History

This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The best-documented haunted places in Maryland are tied to three things: Edgar Allan Poe's unexplained death in Baltimore in 1849, the bloodiest single day of the Civil War at Antietam in 1862, and the colonial history of Annapolis and Frederick. Below are 10 haunted places in Maryland, each split into what the record supports and what is only told as legend. Most ghost reports here come from ghost-tour companies and paranormal websites, not from independent documentation, and we say so wherever that is the case.

Quick answer if you're short on time: Of the haunted places in Maryland listed here, Poe's grave at Westminster Hall, Fort McHenry, and Antietam National Battlefield are the easiest to visit and the best documented. The Poe House has no documented ghost reports at all, and the Barbara Fritchie House is a private rental.

1. Westminster Hall and Burying Ground (Baltimore)

The graveyard was established in 1787 by the First Presbyterian Church, and a church was built directly on top of it in 1852, so that brick piers straddle the graves and form underground “catacombs.” Edgar Allan Poe was buried here in October 1849 in a modest grave and moved in 1875 to a monument near the entrance, funded by public donations. For decades an unidentified “Poe Toaster” left roses and cognac at the grave on January 19, Poe's birthday, a tradition that reportedly ended in 2009. The ghost reports here, such as figures in the catacombs, come from tour operators. The mystery that is documented is Poe's death. He was found delirious on October 3, 1849, and died on October 7 at Washington College Hospital. No death certificate or medical record survives, and the only firsthand account, from Dr. John Moran, changed over the years. Alcohol, cooping (a voter-fraud scheme), rabies, and other causes have all been proposed, and none is proven.

Can you visit: Yes. Westminster Hall is managed by the University of Maryland School of Law, and the burying ground is open to visitors. Check current hours and tour schedules.

2. Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum (Baltimore)

The small rowhouse at 203 North Amity Street is where Poe lived from about 1833 to 1835. It opened as a house museum in 1949 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972. We found no documented ghost reports tied to the house, which makes it a good example of the difference between a place that is famous for a person and one that is famous for a haunting. People include it on Poe tours because of the history, not because of a ghost story. If you are curious about other Baltimore objects with a dark reputation, see our article on the 1890 Ouija board patent.

Can you visit: Yes, as a museum, though its hours have been limited to a few days a week (listed as Thursday to Sunday). Confirm before you go.

3. Admiral Fell Inn, now The William Fell (Fells Point, Baltimore)

The inn at the foot of Broadway is made up of eight adjoined brick buildings from the 1700s. They have been a boarding house called The Anchorage in the early 1900s, a seamen's YMCA that served about 50,000 sailors from 1929 to 1955, and a vinegar bottling factory until 1970. It reopened as the Admiral Fell Inn in 1985, and it was rebranded The William Fell in April 2025. The ghost stories, phantom sailors, a Lady in White, and a phantom party heard during a 1990s hurricane, come from ghost-tour sites and not from any documented incident.

Can you visit: Yes, as a hotel. Review sites show conflicting operating status, so confirm before you book.

4. Fort McHenry (Baltimore)

British ships bombarded the fort for about 24 hours starting September 13, 1814, and Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that became “The Star-Spangled Banner” after seeing the flag still flying on the morning of September 14. It served as a prison for Confederate soldiers and sympathizers during the Civil War. Ghost stories center on Lieutenant Levi Clagett, said to have been manning a gun in 1814, and a private named John Drew, said to have died by suicide in 1880 after an arrest for sleeping on guard duty. A 1996 Baltimore Sun feature reported these as claims by staff and visitors, not as documented events.

Can you visit: Yes. It is a National Park Service site, so check current hours and fees.

5. Antietam National Battlefield (Sharpsburg)

On September 17, 1862, about 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing in roughly twelve hours of fighting. The farm lane known as the Bloody Lane saw about 5,500 casualties, and Burnside's corps took hours to cross the stone bridge now named for him. The Pry House and the Piper House are reputed to be haunted, and St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Sharpsburg, used as a Confederate hospital, is said to echo with screams. Those reports are tour and local lore. The documented fact is the scale of the casualties, and the battlefield is better visited as a memorial.

Can you visit: Yes. The park is open during the day. Check which buildings, such as the Pry House, are open before you go.

6. Point Lookout (Scotland, St. Mary's County)

Point Lookout served as a prisoner-of-war camp, Camp Hoffman, holding more than 50,000 Confederate soldiers from 1863 to 1865. Crowded conditions and exposure led to nearly 4,000 prisoner deaths by the figure we found, and a mass grave on the grounds holds more than 3,000. The lighthouse, built in 1830, has been called one of the state's most haunted places, with a Civil War soldier said to appear in photographs and a woman said to search for her grave. These are reports from visitors and staff, not verified sightings.

Can you visit: Yes, as a Maryland state park with a Civil War museum and lighthouse. Check the park's current schedule.

7. Maryland State House (Annapolis)

Construction began in 1772 and was not completed until 1797. It is the oldest U.S. state capitol in continuous legislative use. George Washington resigned his commission as commander in chief there on December 23, 1783, and Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris in the building on January 14, 1784. Legend names a plasterer, Thomas Dance, who fell to his death in 1793 before he was paid and is said to circle the rotunda in phantom footsteps. We found no historical record of Dance beyond ghost-tour and local retellings, and the encyclopedia article on the building does not mention him.

Can you visit: Yes. It is a working capitol with public access and tours. Check security rules and current hours.

8. Hammond-Harwood House (Annapolis)

William Buckland designed the Georgian mansion for Matthias Hammond, and it was built from about 1774. It is a National Historic Landmark. Hammond left Annapolis for his family's country estate in 1776 and likely never lived in the house. Ghost tours say his fiancée, scorned over the house, finally moved in and never left. The record shows only that Hammond rented the house out and died in 1786, and there is no documented engagement or death tied to the ghost story.

Can you visit: Yes, as a public house museum run by the Hammond-Harwood House Association.

9. Barbara Fritchie House (Frederick)

Barbara Fritchie lived from 1766 to 1862. John Greenleaf Whittier's 1863 poem has her waving a Union flag at Confederate troops, but historians say there is no evidence of the Stonewall Jackson encounter, and she most likely waved at Union troops under Burnside on September 12, 1862. The house at 154 West Patrick Street is a 1927 reconstruction, not the original, so any haunting would be of a rebuilt house. Former volunteers reported a rocking chair that moved on its own, which is anecdotal.

Can you visit: Not as a museum. The house is a private rental, so see it from the street.

10. Schifferstadt (Frederick)

The German colonial house was built in 1758 and is one of the finest surviving examples of German-Georgian architecture in the United States. It was listed on the National Register in 1974 and became a National Historic Landmark in 2016. Ghost reports of German voices and footsteps, attributed to the Brunner family, come from paranormal and tour sources, with no independent record.

Can you visit: Yes, as a museum run by the Frederick County Landmarks Foundation, open on weekends from April through December.

What's Actually Verifiable

Across these haunted places in Maryland, the dates, battles, camps, and landmarks are documented. The ghosts mostly are not. Poe's death really is unresolved, which is the haunting that no one has to invent. The Barbara Fritchie and Thomas Dance stories are shakier than they look, and the Poe House, for all its fame, has no ghost record. Most of what is told on a Maryland ghost tour is entertainment, and the history behind it deserves the attention.

Visiting Haunted Places in Maryland Responsibly

Haunted places in Maryland include public museums, national and state parks, a working capitol, hotels, and private homes. Stay on public property, book official tours, and do not enter closed buildings or private yards. Trespassing is illegal, and the cemeteries and battlefields are memorials to real people. For regional folklore of the state, see our guides to the Snallygaster and the Goatman of Maryland. For the wider American picture, see our guide to haunted places in the United States and our list of real haunted places you can actually visit on Halloween.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most haunted place in Maryland?

There is no objective ranking of haunted places in Maryland. Poe's grave at Westminster Hall, Fort McHenry, and Point Lookout are among the most promoted, and Antietam is the best documented as a site of mass casualties. Treat any “most haunted” label as marketing, since the ghosts are unproven and the history is what can be checked.

How did Edgar Allan Poe die?

Nobody knows. Poe was found delirious in Baltimore on October 3, 1849, and died on October 7 at age 40. No death certificate or medical record survives, and the treating physician's account changed over time. Theories include alcohol, cooping, rabies, and disease, but none is proven.

Who was the Poe Toaster?

The Poe Toaster was an unidentified person who visited Poe's grave in the early hours of January 19, Poe's birthday, and left roses and a bottle of cognac. The tradition was reported from at least 1949 until 2009. The person's identity was never confirmed, and a staged version later began in 2016.

Can you visit the haunted places in Maryland on your own?

Many of them, yes. Westminster Hall, the Poe House, Fort McHenry, Antietam, Point Lookout, the State House, the Hammond-Harwood House, and Schifferstadt are open to the public in some form. The Barbara Fritchie House is a private rental. Always confirm hours first, since several operate limited schedules.

Is Barbara Fritchie's story true?

Only partly. Barbara Fritchie was a real Frederick woman who lived from 1766 to 1862, and she waved a Union flag at Union troops in 1862. Whittier's poem has her defying Stonewall Jackson, and historians find no evidence that happened. The ghost story attached to her house is a separate claim, and the house itself is a 1927 reconstruction.

Is it legal to explore abandoned haunted places in Maryland?

Not without permission. Entering a closed building or private land without the owner's consent is trespassing, and cemeteries and battlefields have posted hours. The legal ways to see these sites are the official tours and public visiting hours listed above, which also give you better history than a flashlight and a dare.