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Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Since some of you will be gathering in Baltimore later this month, I thought I'd share with everyone a brief glimpse of the broad range of popular ghost stories this city has. I'll try to expand on a few of my favorites as I have time, but for now here is a quick snapshot. Hopefully these will provide you with a greater appreciation of Baltimore's dark and spooky history.
Lord Baltimore Hotel (suicides during the depression, and a girl with a red ball) Ft. McHenry (War of 1812 and the Civil War) Ouija Board (Fuld Brother's invention of Ouija board in Baltimore) Edgar Allen Poe's Home and Grave Grave Diggers/Body Snatchers/Resurrection Men (corpses for Baltimore Medical Schools) Black Agnes (a grave monument that captured the imagination of every school kid) Rum Runners (Prohibition fun and danger) Spooky Bars (Fells Point is home to the oldest bars in the city and most have their own ghost stories to tell) Mob Town (deadly street gag battles of the 18th & 19th century, including rival fire departments) Pratt Street Riots (First casualties of the Civil War) Baltimore Fire of 1904 (destroyed the city, but only one known fatality) Pirates and Fell Point History (Capt Kidds hidden gold) Sailors (Shanghai stories and more) Privateers and Men of Marque (War of 1862 and the Baltimore clipper ships) Westminster Catacombs Ghost of the 1855 USS Constellation sloop-of-war
Bob
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Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Quote:
On Aug 6, 2022, Intrepid wrote: That should be "War of 1812". Apologies for the typo.
Bob
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Gerry Walkowski Inner circle 1450 Posts |
Intrepid,
You missed an important one! The front structure of Disney's Haunted Mansion was inspired by The Johns Hopkins Evergreen House. That comes right from the book on the history of the Haunted Mansion. In fact, if you look at the Evergreen building you can clearly see that the 4 columns are an identical match to the 4 columns at Disney's dark ride. Also, I think it's a stretch to associate Captain Kidd's gold with the area known as Fell's Point. Just saying. Gerry |
Dr Spektor Eternal Order Carcanis 10781 Posts |
Thanks for sharing Intrepid!!!!
"They are lean and athirst!!!!"
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Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Gerry, thanks for the Disney Haunted Mansion info! That fact is new to me and I have always loved the Haunted Mansion, I'll have to make a special trip to the Evergreen house now.
As for Captain Kidd, yes, I'm 100% sure you're right. Some ghost stories are rooted in facts, and other are wishful fantasies. Any story about Baltimore and Captain Kidd's gold is definitely in the wishful fantasy category of ghost story. I believe Druid Park is where local folklore places Captain Kidd's gold. In addition to Baltimore ghost stories, I invite anyone to use this space to share their own local ghost stories too. And on a related note Bruce, I've been doing some research into the Legend of the Blue Dog Ghost. It's not a Baltimore ghost story, but it is a local Maryland ghost story. And one that I found has an interesting connection to Cerberus. I'll be sending that to you in a week or two.
Bob
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Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Quote:
On Aug 7, 2022, Intrepid wrote: But please keep the stories clean.
Bob
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questort New user 69 Posts |
Quote:
On Aug 7, 2022, Gerry Walkowski wrote: I never knew this! Learn something new every day... |
Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Quote:
On Aug 7, 2022, questort wrote: Hat's off to Gerry for cluing us in. I found the below link to the EverGreen museum home page. They are open Tuesday through Sunday from 11am to 4pm. The address is 4545 N. Charles Street. Definitely looks like a worthwhile tour. https://museums.jhu.edu/evergreen-museum......or-info/
Bob
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Gerry Walkowski Inner circle 1450 Posts |
I love the Haunted Mansion and my daughter bought me a book all about Disney's Haunted Mansion. They were selling it at the Disney Haunted Mansion gift shop in California. Yep, it's all right there in their book about the Hopkins Evergreen House connection, and I believe they also have a picture. There was also another Baltimore mansion, now torn down, that was the inspiration for the other parts of the front structure.
Gerry |
Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Thanks to Google, found a little more detail on the Evergreen/Haunted mansion connection.
"While there were many influences on the Mansions' final architectural designs and the decorative details, Anderson was most influenced by a catalog of Victorian decorative art and architecture that was part of the WED library. This collection, compiled in 1950 by Frances Lichten, contains some of the most compelling examples of imagery that influenced the Mansions' designs - most notably, a Baltimore mansion that is clearly the inspiration for the Disneyland show facade, and an engraving that seems to have heavily influenced the layout of the Walt Disney World Mansion facade." "The John Hopkins University owns the historic Evergreen House, built in Baltimore in 1858 and left to the University by the Garrett family. As with the Harry Packer Mansion, Disney artisans visited the Evergreen House in search of details to help lend authenticity to the Disneyland Mansion facade. The Evergreen House is also available for tours of its amazing collections and rare book library." http://www.hauntedmansion.com/history3.php In addition to the Evergreen house, the Harry Packer Mansion in Pennsylvania is looking like another good weekend excursion too.
Bob
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Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Anyone remember the Black Aggie stories when you were a kid?
The stories were a popular when I was small, but my younger brother said he had never head of it.
Bob
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Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Quote:
On Aug 9, 2022, Intrepid wrote: The story of Black Aggie that circulated wildly when I was in elementary school was that she would crush to death anyone who was foolishly bold enough to sit in her lap at midnight. Included were specific claims of a teen boy from the other side of town who dismissed the tale as nonsense and took up his friends dare of sleeping in her arms overnight, when his friends returned the next day, they found his dead crushed body laying in the arms of Black Aggie. Other claims of Black Aggie say that "her eyes glowed red at night, and if you looked into them, you'd go blind. They said that if a pregnant woman walked through her shadow, that woman would miscarry. They said that she attracted ghosts from all corners of Druid Ridge like a paranormal beacon." https://www.oddthingsiveseen.com/2017/05......gie.html
Bob
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Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Not sure how interesting these old stories of Baltimore's ghostly past are to everyone, but since Spooky has been a bit of a ghost town itself I figure it's better to post something than to post nothing. Hopefully at least a few people enjoy these stories of local lore.
Next up will be the Baltimore Borgia. (A topic David Parr might find of interest).
Bob
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Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Wild speculation and intrigue captivated the city of Baltimore for months in 1872 following the suspicious death by poison of General Ketchum in the home of Mrs. Elisabeth Wharton, who Mrs. Wharton was indebted to in the amount of $4,000 and the near death of Mr. Van Ness, her financial advisor. Adding to the intrigue was the fact that years earlier Mrs. Wharton's husband and only son had died at her home, and in both cases Mrs. Wharton was the beneficiary of large life insurance policies. Followed shortly after by the death of her brother-in-law at her home, who she owed $2,500 to. A lengthy court case in 1872 regarding Ketchum's death by poison ended in a hung jury, and Mrs. Wharton was never convicted of murder although public opinion clearly sided against her.
more info here http://strangeco.blogspot.com/2018/10/th......gia.html
Bob
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Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Baltimore was Ground Zero for the Grave-Robbing Trade in the U.S.
"There were multiple reasons for this, not the least of which is the fact that the city was home to six medical schools, all of which needed fresh cadavers for their students to study. Further, the city's climate was more agreeable to grave robbing than other major East Coast cities, due to the fact that the ground infrequently froze solid and, thus, was easier to dig up; one famed grave robber bragged that every winter he would take orders from medical schools with less agreeable climates, in much the same way that a distributor of meat might take orders for beef or pork. What's more, the city's famed Baltimore & Ohio Railroad provided a means of shipping freshly-dug corpses across the country." Full story https://www.grunge.com/376384/the-true-s......robbers/
Bob
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Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Lord Baltimore Hotel
Baltimore is host to two of the most haunted hotels in America, the Admiral Fell Inn, which dates back to the 1770, and the Lord Baltimore Hotel, built in 1928. At the time when the Lord Baltimore hotel first opened for business it was the tallest building in Baltimore and the most elegant. The Lord Baltimore Hotel is rife with ghost sitings. Most notably a young girl in a cream colored dress and black shoes with a red ball on the 19th floor. Numerous guest and employees have reported the elevator making unexpected stops on the 19th floor for no apparent reason. Other guests have reported cold chills or being touched on the arm or shoulder when no one else is present.
Bob
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Intrepid Inner circle Silver Spring, MD 1183 Posts |
Francis Tumblety - Jack the Ripper?
This could be stretch, but for anyone interested in a local connection for a From Hell or any Ripper routine, the American Francis Tumblety was a named suspect by former Detective Chief Inspector John Littlechild in 1913. Tumblety lived most of his life in New York, but lived in a Whitechapel boarding house briefly during the ripper spree. Later in life he lived in Baltimore before moving to St. Louis where he died in 1903. He is buried in the Rochester, NY family plot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Tumblety
Bob
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