Fell's Point Ghost Tours

After years of casing the old streets of Fell's Point, pondering the ghost stories and lore that surely must accommodate these old taverns and homes, Amy Lynwander and Melissa Rowell could stand it no more. They started knocking on doors, talking to residents and bar owners, and combing through documents at libraries. Their findings were revealed during the Fell's Point GhostWalk in October 2001.

Residents themselves, Lynwander and Rowell see the ghost tour as a way of showing off their neighborhood and an excuse to get to know all of their neighbors.

"The ghosts in the neighborhood tend to be funloving types who couldn't bring themselves to leave the area. I think that some of the people were more frightened of us than the ghosts," said Lynwander.

In actuality, the GhostWalk is just another way of telling Fell's Point's rich history as a shipbuilding town and port of entry for immigrants for more than a century. The tour is intertwined with stories about black ship caulkers, typhoid outbreaks, Edgar Allan Poe, and the War of 1812.

Lynwander said she got the idea while she was a convention planner. She would travel the country and take history and ghost tours in places like Savannah and New Orleans. If those old cities were so rich with mystery, she figured a place like Fell's Point, the birth place of the Baltimore Clipper and privateer capital during the War of 1812, and a bohemian enclave during the 60s, had to be a treasure-trove.

But to Lynwander's surprise ferreting out the stories was harder than she thought. Time has dimmed the neighborhood's memory. Looking to the share the pain, she recruited her friend Melissa.

But the challenge just encouraged the two Fell's Point ghost stalkers, who started canvassing some of the bars, harassing the locals. Rowell said their searching has only revealed more places that need to be investigated.

Now they have more than enough material. They believe that the ghost tour will trigger even more stories, once the word gets out, and hope to get in touch with former residents.

In July, 2005, Amy and Melissa published their first book of Baltimore ghost stories, Baltimore's Harbor Haunts.

1. Where do you see Ghost tours like your own going in 10 years?

Ghost tours really seem to be gaining momentum because of all the television shows with story lines about mediums, ghost hunting, etc. We think ghost tours will continue to grow in popularity and will become more mainstream.

2. What would you personally consider to be the definitive proof that ghosts are real?

I think that you really have to actually see one to truly believe.

3. What is the most real evidence you personally have uncovered so far?

Seeing is believing! We've both seen ghosts.

Melissa (one of the tour owners) saw and conversed the ghost of a man who had been dead for 8 years at the time.

4. Are you skeptical of the claims other make of their findings?

We try to keep an open mind.

5. If you could investigate your "Dream Haunted Hot Spot" where would it be?

The LaLurie mansion in New Orleans. I went on a ghost tour in New Orleans and the LaLurie story in particular was horrifying.

6. What was your first Paranormal encounter? Describe it? Tell the whole Story in short?

Amy saw quick flash of a man in a hospital bed with his eyes closed and later found out that her uncle had died.

Melissa talked with a bartender in a pub in Fells Point who had been dead for 8 years. This was at shortly after 9am in the morning, the shift which he had worked for 30 years prior to his death.

7. What is the best highlight a must see on your tour?

There is a very haunted residence on our tour, and many people have had strange experiences there. There is also a grave site on our tour that very few people know about. It's extremely surprising to come upon this grave in the middle of a residential street.

8. If you could work side by side with one of the Paranormal Investigator greats, who would it be?

Mark Nesbitt is particularly knowledgeable.

9. Read any good Paranormal Books lately other then your own?

I think that Sylvia Brown has some good insights and explanations of the different types of hauntings and the reasons behind them.

10. What Question do people ask you most when you tell them your a paranormal tour owner?

What's great is that they usually tell us their own stories rather than asking us questions. It's amazing how many people have had an experience.

11. In your opinion, Where is the most Haunted city in America?

Probably New Orleans though we'd like to think Baltimore is up there.

12. Do you feel more people should get involved with Ghost hunting or Paranormal Investigation on ghost tours?

Not necessarily. It definitely adds a new dimension, but we wouldn't want to take the focus away from the great haunted history at our sites. It would make it harder to concentrate on the stories.

13. What does the future hold for your tour?

Continued research, new neighborhood tours, expanded offerings for group tours.

14. Paranormal or haunted Ghost tours do you see them growing?

We sure hope so!

15. What is your most favorite local ghost story?

We like the one about Doc who lived above a bar and always played the same polka on the juke box. A few months after he died, his polka mysteriously played on the juke box one last time. It was a true mystery since they had removed the record from the machine!

16. Tell us about your best moment on a ghost tour for you?

It was probably the first tour we took out. It's great to see all your hard work researching and writing a tour come together.

17. What is the hardest part about being a paranormal Tour guide?

We're in a neighborhood known for it's plethora of taverns so we get a lot of inebriated folks who like to put in their two cents. They usually will yell something entirely original such as "Boo".They think this is really funny, but when you have heard it a million times it loses its charm.

18. What is the hardest thing about your business to deal with?

Unscrupulous people who try to rip your tour off.

19. Have you ever taken a ghost Tour other then your own? And, What about it did you not like?

We have taken both the Haunted New Orleans and Savannah tours. The New Orleans tour was particularly good- the Haunted History company down there employs very good tour guides.

20. What in the field of ghost hunting and Paranormal Investigating or ghost tours needs the most attention.

I think that there is some disrespect of others' hard work out there. I don't like it when people take our stories, which are based upon hours of interviews and painstaking research and try to pass it off as their own, without interviewing a single person or spending the time required in the library researching the site.

In July, 2005, Amy and Melissa published their first book of Baltimore ghost stories, Baltimore's Harbor Haunts.

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