Category Archives: ghosts

My Time in the Denton Jail

03/25/2015blog posts, Caroline County, Denton, ghostsdenton jail, haunted jails, wish sheppardMindie Burgoyne

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

03/02/2015Berlin, blog posts, ghosts, Ocean CityBus tours, Fenwick, Ocean City, Zippy LewisMindie Burgoyne

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?

02/17/2015blog posts, ghosts, Ocean City, Worcester CountyDunes Manor Hotel, Haunted Hotels, Ocean City MD, Thelma Conner, worcester county mdMindie Burgoyne

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? →

The Hanged Man in Princess Anne

01/21/2015blog posts, ghosts, Princess Anne, Somerset Countyghost photos, hanged man, haunted somerset county md, Princess AnneMindie Burgoyne

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

01/15/2015blog posts, ghosts, Marion Station, Somerset CountyAnnie Connor, child spirits, Cry Baby Bridge, Crybaby Bridge, Marion Station, Somerset county mdMindie Burgoyne

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

01/08/2015blog posts, ghosts, Talbot CountyHotel Ghosts, Oxford MD, Robert Morris InnMindie Burgoyne

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 →

The Haunted Triangle at Adkins Hardware

12/02/2014Berlin, blog posts, ghosts, Worcester CountyAdkins Hardware, Berlin, ElementalMindie Burgoyne

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 →

The Child in the Mirror

11/25/2014blog posts, Cambridge, Dorchester County, ghostsCambridge, child ghosts, josiah baylyMindie Burgoyne

The Josiah Bayly House – Oldest House in Cambridge

Josiah Bayly House - Oldest House in Cambridge. Originally built in Annapolis, then dismantled and brought to Cambridge by barge adn rebuilt.

When new owners moved into the Josiah Bayly House in the 1990s they found shackles on the walls in the attic. They believe the shackles were to constrain enslaved people held by early residents. These same owners found the attic full of stuff left from owners over the past 100 years.

One of the items found was a cheval mirror (a full-length mirror on a stand that allows it to swing and lock into the desired angle for reflection). The woman who’d bought the house cleaned it up and put it in her bedroom. She reported that on occasion she would see the reflection of a little girl in the mirror – a reflection that would quickly vanish, but the child’s facial features were discernible… and it was always the same child. Continue reading The Child in the Mirror →

Who or What Touched Me in the Pocomoke Forest?

11/21/2014blog posts, ghosts, Pocomoke, Worcester Countyhaunted pocomoke, haunted worcester county, Pocomoke Forest, pocomoke riverMindie Burgoyne

by Mindie Burgoyne – owner, Chesapeake Ghost Walks

In fairy tales and ghost stories, the two most haunted settings are forests and swamps. The Pocomoke Forest is both. It’s a swampy forest, and it lives up to the eerie expectation. It’s undoubtedly the most haunted forest in Maryland with over a dozen tales of witches, devil worshippers, elementals and human spirits that roam the dark forest – especially at night.

The word Pocomoke is said to be an Algonquin Indian term meaning “black water.” And the Pocomoke River does appear to be black in color because of the sap secreted by the bald cypresses in that line both sides of the River from Pocomoke all the way into Delaware. Continue reading Who or What Touched Me in the Pocomoke Forest? →

Confederate Ghost at the Sullivane House

11/18/2014blog posts, Cambridge, Dorchester County, ghostsCambridge, Dorchester County, Sullivane HouseMindie Burgoyne

The Sullivane House in Cambridge is haunted by a Confederate soldier – or at least it was when the previous owner saw the soldier in the yard and later in her hallway. Built in 1763 from brick brought over from England, the Sullivane House has been standing in this spot on High Street for over 250 years. It has a strong history of owners who served in the American military and in Dorchester County politics. Continue reading Confederate Ghost at the Sullivane House →