B&O Railroad Station Museum

The oldest surviving train station in America, built in 1830 as the terminus of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Now a museum, it preserves the history of American railroading.

The B&O Railroad Station Museum in Ellicott City is one of the most actively haunted locations in a town that bills itself as "perhaps the most haunted in America." Built in 1831 as the terminus of the first 13 miles of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad—America's first common carrier railroad—this National Historic Landmark (designated 1968) witnessed the birth of American railroading, including Peter Cooper's famous Tom Thumb locomotive demonstration in 1830.

The station's most persistent spirit is Charlie, a ghostly station agent who apparently never stopped working. For decades, employees working on the lower level have reported hearing boxes being slid and dragged across the floor upstairs—when no one is there. According to Ed Lilley of Maryland History Tours, "For many years, people that have worked there have talked about being on the lower level, the main street level, and hearing boxes being slid around upstairs and there's nobody up there, but that sounds like boxes being dragged across the floor." Staff began calling the presence "Charlie," and later discovered a remarkable coincidence: a man named Charles Harvey had worked for the B&O and, at the time of his death, held the distinction of being the railroad's oldest employee.

The 1885 freight house, designed by noted B&O architect E. Francis Baldwin, is Charlie's preferred haunt. Now housing an HO-gauge model train diorama depicting Ellicott Mills in its early days, the building becomes particularly active during ghost hunts. Investigators using EMF detectors and dowsing rods have reported "conversations" with Charlie, with the equipment indicating he had worked on the railroad or at the station. One investigator noted that "the dowsing rods were on fire. Combined with the EMF lighting up, we had a conversation with Charlie."

The station also harbors Civil War ghosts. During the war, trains on the B&O would stop in Ellicott City to house Confederate prisoners before transporting them to prison camps. The apparition of a Union soldier has been seen during Civil War reenactments, and people report still hearing a Confederate prisoner who escaped, running down the steps between nearby buildings where the Railroad Hotel once stood.

A Lady in White wanders the halls of the historic station, one of Ellicott City's most famous spectral figures. The spirits of long-departed mill workers also linger near the Patapsco River, which flows directly beneath many buildings on the south side of town.

Paranormal experts attribute the intense activity to Ellicott City's unique geology. The town is built on a bed of granite and granite composite, with many original buildings constructed from rock blasted from the very bedrock they sit upon. Mediums agree this granite foundation attracts and channels spiritual energy. Combined with overhead electrical transformers, the Tiber River flowing beneath buildings, and centuries of history including floods, fires, accidents, and tragedy, the conditions create what investigators call a perfect paranormal environment.

The station witnessed America's first railroad race in 1830 when the Tom Thumb competed against a horse (losing due to mechanical failure, though the demonstration proved steam locomotion's viability). It served passengers until 1949 and freight until 1972, when Hurricane Agnes devastated the town. After restoration by Historic Ellicott City, Inc., it reopened as a museum managed by Howard County Parks and Recreation, which now offers periodic public ghost hunts alongside educational programs. Charlie, it seems, has no intention of retiring.