Lord Baltimore Hotel

A 22-story Baltimore hotel where over 22 people jumped from the 19th-floor rooftop during the Great Depression. The ghost of a little girl named Molly bounces a red ball in the hallways, and a jilted bride who died in Room 1910 still asks guests if they've seen Charles.

A handprint the size of a small child appeared on a wall in one of the Lord Baltimore Hotel's penthouses. Staff have scrubbed it, painted over it, tried everything. It keeps coming back.

The hotel opened on December 30, 1928, designed by William Lee Stoddart in French Renaissance style. At 22 stories, it was the tallest building in Maryland. Cost about $5 million to build (roughly $80 million today). The grand opening was broadcast live on WBAL radio with Governor Albert Richie and Mayor William F. Broening cutting the ribbon. Babe Ruth stayed here on his last Baltimore visit in 1948. Amelia Earhart passed through. Eleven U.S. Presidents have slept under this roof.

Nine months after opening, the stock market crashed. Because the Lord Baltimore was the tallest building in Baltimore, it became a destination for people who had lost everything and wanted to end it. Over 20 documented suicides occurred between 1929 and 1932, with victims jumping from the 19th-floor rooftop deck. Documented deaths include Gertrude Merriken in 1931 and Guy P. Clifton in 1933.

The hotel's most famous ghost is a little girl called Molly, typically seen on the 19th floor in a cream-colored dress and black shoes, bouncing a red ball. The story goes that her parents lost their fortune in the crash. They spent one last weekend of luxury at the hotel, then jumped from the rooftop. Whether Molly died with them or was left behind is debated, but she's been showing up ever since. Guests call the front desk complaining about a child bouncing a ball in the hallway late at night, asking where her parents are. The staff have no child to point to.

Hotel supervisor Frank Carter witnessed Molly alongside two adult figures (believed to be her parents) and saw them dancing in the ballroom. Long-time food and beverage employee Deborah Davis, who has worked at the hotel for 39 years, hears knocking on walls and just tells the air, "Molly, I'm not playing today." A painting of Molly now hangs on the 19th floor.

The elevator is a whole situation. It travels to the 19th floor without anyone pressing the button, doors open, and nobody is there. Guests riding the elevator have felt icy hands touching them.

Room 1910 has a second ghost with a more specific story. On May 19, 1934, a 23-year-old bride was abandoned by her fiance Charles Whitmore, who left a handwritten note at 2 PM and fled to New York. She checked into the honeymoon suite that night still wearing her wedding dress and was found the next morning dead from a barbiturate overdose, the empty pill bottle beside her. A housekeeper saw her standing at the hallway window two weeks after her death before watching her vanish. In 1935, a businessman reported a woman in white knocking on his door around 11 PM asking about someone named Charles, then disappearing down the corridor. A bride in 2010 saw her silhouette at the window of Room 1910 and screamed. The room now requires management approval before booking.

The Calvert Ballroom has its own ghosts. Night security has found dozens of translucent couples in 1940s clothing waltzing to music that isn't playing, around 2 AM, in locked and empty rooms. Staff say these dancers "do not like to be bothered" and get agitated when someone interrupts. On the mezzanine, a woman argues with two men in what witnesses have described as a love triangle of people who have been dead for decades.

Behind a hidden mirrored door in the Versailles Ballroom, there's a former Prohibition-era speakeasy. The woman who ran it as a brothel during Prohibition still occupies the space, according to investigators. Front desk clerk Mark W. watched three beer bottles fly across the bar on their own. Staff hear orchestral and jazz music from the Crystal Ballroom when no events are scheduled and the rooms are locked.

A well-dressed man in 1930s formal wear occasionally helps lost guests find their rooms, then vanishes when they turn to thank him. A guest in 2016 described getting directions from this figure and finding him gone seconds later.

The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and underwent a $30 million renovation in 2013-2014 by the Rubell family. Construction workers during the renovation reported tools disappearing and reappearing in odd locations. The hotel now runs ghost tours through Poe's Magic Theatre, led by entertainment producer Vince Wilson.