The Horse You Came In On Saloon

The Horse You Came In On Saloon in Baltimore's Fells Point has been open since 1775 and claims to be the last place Edgar Allan Poe drank before his mysterious death in 1849. Staff leave a glass of cognac out for his ghost every night, and it's always empty by morning; skip the tradition and a glass flies off the bar.

Bartenders at The Horse You Came In On Saloon leave a glass of cognac on the bar at closing time. By morning, it's empty. Nobody on staff claims to have touched it. When they skip the ritual, a glass flies off the bar and shatters on the floor.

The bar at 1626 Thames Street in Baltimore's Fells Point has been pouring drinks since 1775, making it the oldest continuously operating saloon in America. The original establishment was called The Fountain Inn, and it served the sailors, shipbuilders, and assorted criminals who populated Fells Point's waterfront. Howard Gerber bought the building in 1972 after a win at Pimlico Race Course and renamed it, then had a friend dress as a cowboy and ride an actual horse through the front door on opening day.

The ghost story revolves around Edgar Allan Poe. The saloon claims to be the last place Poe was seen before his mysterious death in October 1849. That claim is debated. What's confirmed is that Poe was found on October 3, 1849, delirious and wearing clothes that didn't belong to him, outside Gunner's Hall, a tavern being used as a polling place about a mile away. The leading theory is that he was a victim of "cooping," a brutal election fraud scheme where gangs would kidnap people, force them to vote repeatedly at different polls, and ply them with liquor between rounds. Poe died four days later at Washington College Hospital. He was 40.

Whether Poe actually had his last drink at The Horse is something historians argue about. But the bar has committed to the story completely. There's a designated seat at the bar marked "Poe's Last Stop." His favorite drink was cognac, and staff have been leaving a glass out for him for years. The glass empties overnight, every time.

Poe's ghost has also been blamed for pulling barstools out from under patrons and for the cash register popping open on its own. Staff and visitors have reported feeling a hand on their shoulder or pressure against their back while passing through the bar, only to turn around and find nobody there. Floating orbs of light have been spotted near the bar area.

The Food Network named The Horse You Came In On Saloon the most haunted restaurant in Maryland. Eric Mathias and Spiros Korologos bought the place at auction in 2006 and kept the traditions going. The front bar, with its low ceiling and worn wood, is the authentic 18th-century saloon. The saddle-shaped seats are a later addition.

The saloon survived before, during, and after Prohibition, the only bar in Maryland that can make that claim. Poe's connection may be romanticized, but the ritual at closing time is real, and the staff will tell you the glass is always empty in the morning.