Category Archives: blog posts

Haunted Minute – The Pocomoke River

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Pocomoke River – Black Water

In this video, Ghost Walk guide, Mindie Burgoyne tells about Maryland’s most haunted River – The Pocomoke.

The Pocomoke River is the deepest water for its width in the United States and the second deepest in the world – 2nd only to the Nile River. Its name means “black water” and just four to six feet below the surface there is no ambient light. The water is black.

There are many stories of hauntings along the river – phantom ships, spirits who walk on the water, baby cries coming from nowhere.. and more. In this video, Mindie Burgoyne tells the story of Job Emmons and spirits seen walking on the water just east of the Pocomoke River drawbridge.

Join the Pocomoke Ghost Walk to hear the full story.

VIEW ALL THE UPCOMING POCOMOKE GHOST WALKS

Corbin Library in Crisfield is also a Mausoleum

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Llilyan Corbin
Lilyan Stratten Corbin

The Corbin Library in Crisfield is the only library in America that also serves as a mausoleum. It is named for Lilly Ann Corbin, born in Crisfield in 1882 who was farmed out to relatives as a teenager because her parents couldn’t support her. And at age fifteen Lilly had saved enough money from cleaning houses to buy a one-way train ticket to New York City. She dreamed of being an actress. Today, her remains are in an urn that is housed in this small community library in rural Somerset County, MD.

When you check out a book at the Lilyan Stratton Corbin Library, look up to the right and you’ll see the large urn set into a niche carved that has been carved into the wall. Below that niche is a plaque honoring Lilyan Stratton Corbin. And across the room a portrait of a woman with brown hair and soft brown eyes hangs on the wall. The woman in the portrait is believed to be Lilyan Corbin. Continue reading Corbin Library in Crisfield is also a Mausoleum →

My Time in the Denton Jail

blog posts, Caroline County, Denton, ghosts, ,

denton-jail

The Denton Jail in Caroline County, MD is one of the five most haunted sites on the Eastern Shore – in my opinion. I gauge this by considering the number of haunted stories from unrelated sources spread over many years, and that the site is still active today.

The jail was built in 1906 . The old part of the building looks  a little like a house with a front door and porch. It was a house of sorts because the Sheriff lived there with his family when the jail was built. They lived on the first floor and inmates were housed in other parts of the building. The Sheriff’s wife attended to the inmates’ needs for food, laundry, etc. The jail is an active county correctional facility and has gone  major renovations in the last 109 years. It’s gone from one Sheriff with no deputies and a handful of inmates to a correctional facility with room for 150 inmates.

My Tour of the Denton Jail

Continue reading My Time in the Denton Jail →

The Spirit of Zippy Lewis Still Seen Combing the Beaches

Berlin, blog posts, ghosts, Ocean City, , ,
Zippy Lewis
Zipporah “Zippy” Lewis by artist, David O. Bunting

The Eternal Beachcomber

This painting of Zipporah – “Zippy” Lewis was painted  by  artist, David O. Bunting and it hangs in the Dunes Manor Hotel in Ocean City. It’s created from his imagination as there were never any pictures of the famous beachcomber. She was born around 1812 in Delaware – probably near Fenwick Island. She married Jonathan Lewis when she was sixteen and they lived in a shack on the beach. Jonathan was a sailor.

In1847 Jonathan and Zippy had five children. Jonathan went out to sea, but never returned. Zippy walked the beach for years looking out for his ship on the horizon … hoping he would find his way home. As a widow left with 5 children, she struggled financially.  Continue reading The Spirit of Zippy Lewis Still Seen Combing the Beaches →

Is Miss Thelma Still in Charge at the Dunes Manor?

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Dunes Manor Hotel in Ocean City MD
Dunes Manor Hotel in Ocean City MD

Miss Thelma Conner a Legend and a Spirit

Some people think that Miss Thelma Conner is still in charge at the Dunes Manor Hotel on 28th Street  in Ocean City, Maryland. This is particularly strange because Miss Thelma passed away in 1999. But she’s been seen by staff and guests and even mentioned on TripAdvisor in the last fifteen years.  Of course, people who never knew Miss Thelma in life would be able to recognize her  because of the larger-than-life portrait (aside a matching portrait of her husband Milton) of her that dominates the hotel’s grand entrance.

Considering what Miss Thelma had to endure in order to fulfill her life-long dream of building a grand hotel on the ocean, it’s no wonder she’s still hanging around. She and her husband, Milton rans the Dunes Motel for years and they always dreamed of building a big Victorian hotel on the ocean, and they had the land to do it, but time got away from them and before they could achieve their dream, Milton passed away. But Miss Thelma persevered and finally got it done. Continue reading Is Miss Thelma Still in Charge at the Dunes Manor? →

What is Haunting Crapo?

blog posts, Dorchester County, , ,

crapo-house

Two People Vanish Without a Trace in tiny Eastern Shore Village

On August 7, 1953 a sixty-six year old woman named Florence Wingate who lived in the  village of Crapo (pronounce cray-po), made breakfast for her brother Miles who was a waterman. That was the last time anyone saw Florence alive … except maybe by her killer.

Understand that Crapo is tiny tiny tiny.  It’s barely a crossroads in the rural marshy Lake District of Lower Dorchester County – 24 miles from Cambridge. Probably no more than 50-100 people lived in and around Crapo back then. So everybody knew everybody.

Crapo and the story of the missing are stops on the Tubman Trail Ghost and Graveyard Bus Tour. Get tickets now.  Continue reading What is Haunting Crapo? →

The Hanged Man in Princess Anne

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The Hanged man
Photo taken by guest – Bridget Perry, on the first Princess Anne Ghost Walk.

The Ghost Walk in Princess Anne, Maryland is the only walk where children are not permitted to attend. This is due not only to the harsh content shared on the walk, but also to the strange things that occur on the ghost walk. The picture above was one of the first “strange” occurrences that happened on the Princess Anne Ghost Walk.

Getting the image of what appears to be a man hanging from a tree is rare indeed, but it is particularly rare when you get it in a town famous for two lynchings that took place there. The image was taken in St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church graveyard with an Android cellphone by Bridge Perry who was a guest on the tour. Just as the tour was ending, Bridget asked me to look at something (I was the tour guide). When I first so the phone screen it looked black, then when she expanded the image, it was startling. The blurry figure looking remarkably like a man hanging from a tree was so disturbing that I ended the tour early. Since then, we’ve had guests get more images in photos taken in or near that same location. It’s a thin place. Continue reading The Hanged Man in Princess Anne →

Spirit of Little Annie Conner Haunts Cry Baby Bridge

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Cry Baby Bridge - Marion Station.
Cry Baby Bridge – Marion Station.

The spirit of little Annie Conner is said to haunt Cry Baby Bridge near Tulls Corner in Marion Station, MD. People have heard the faint sound of what sounds like a child crying when all is quiet by the bridge. Annie Conner drowned near this spot in 1875 when a cart she was riding in was cast into East Creek by a horse that was spooked by lightning.

Annie Florence Conner was born on December 10, 1871. One July morning she and her mother were riding to in a wagon on what is now called LQ Powell Road. They were coming from the direction of St. Paul’s Church toward their home in Tulls Corner. It started to rain and just as the horse was pulling the cart over the bridge that crossed East Creek – formerly called “Mill Dam Bridge” a large clap of thunder spooked the horse and it reared up.  The wagon was overturned and fell into the rushing waters. The waters quickly carried little Annie downstream and he mother couldn’t reach her.  Annie was  just 3 years old.

According to the newspaper, they didn’t find any that day. It was over 24 hours before her little body washed up way down the creek. Continue reading Spirit of Little Annie Conner Haunts Cry Baby Bridge →

My Scary Night at the Robert Morris Inn in Oxford

blog posts, ghosts, Talbot County, ,

The Robert Morris Inn in Oxford, MD

I knew the Robert Morris Inn was haunted, but I never expected to have my own ghostly experience there. Out of the 140 + ghost stories I’ve collected on the Eastern Shore, I’ve only had a handful of personal experiences at these sites.  The Robert Morris Inn is one of those places.

The Robert Morris Inn in Oxford, Maryland has been an anchor for the town since 1710 when it was built – and Oxford was one of the largest ports in Maryland. The building was always an inn or tavern, and  was there long before Robert Morris ever set foot in the place. It only  took on his name once the wealthy developer moved into it.

In my post Robert Morris Inn – Guest Flees in the Night, I tell the story of a guest who fled Room 1 in the middle of the night because of the ghostly happenings that went on in the room.  She left a note that described some of what happened.  What a great story that was!  I figured the guest was some kind of psychic medium who was in touch with spirits.  Those kinds of things rarely happen to me. Continue reading My Scary Night at the Robert Morris Inn in Oxford →

Adkins Hardware Berlin MD

The Haunted Triangle at Adkins Hardware

Berlin, blog posts, ghosts, Worcester County, ,

Adkins Hardware – Home of the Elemental

When I got my first ghost story about Adkins Hardware in Berlin, I headed right to see this place for myself and start collecting facts. I took several photos but was underwhelmed. The empty lot across from the hardware story was allegedly home to an “elemental” or non-human spirit that had presented itself to an informant … and lots of teenagers who wanted to scare themselves.

I was scoping out sites for the Berlin Ghost Walk and I wasn’t sure this vacant lot was going to make the cut. It wasn’t much – not in the daylight anyway.

Continue reading The Haunted Triangle at Adkins Hardware →