Kemp House Inn

An 1807 inn once owned by a Civil War soldier, haunted by arguing gentlemen, a blue ball of light, and the apparition of Robert E. Lee.

The Kemp House Inn stands as St. Michaels' most haunted dwelling, a Georgian brick mansion built around 1805-1807 by Colonel Joseph Kemp on a prominent lot along Talbot Street. Colonel Kemp was a legendary figure in Talbot County—a shipbuilder whose brother Thomas Kemp constructed some of the fastest Baltimore clipper privateers of the War of 1812, including the famous Chasseur. Joseph Kemp commanded the Saint Michaels Patriotic Blues, a company of infantry that defended the town during the Battle of St. Michaels in August 1813, when resourceful citizens allegedly hung lanterns in treetops to fool British warships into overshooting the town. The Flemish and common bond brick house stayed in the Kemp family until the colonel's death around 1828.

Years later, the house passed to Oliver Sparks, a Confederate sympathizer who occupied it with his wife during the Civil War. Tradition holds that Sparks entertained General Robert E. Lee himself, with Lee spending two nights at Kemp House during a break from military campaigning. It is Lee's ghost that now most famously haunts the property.

Staff and guests have witnessed a uniformed figure matching Lee's description standing at a second-floor window, gazing down at Talbot Street in full military dress. The apparition appears so solid that witnesses initially mistake him for a living person—until he vanishes. Housekeepers report that multiple male spirits make themselves known throughout the house, talking loudly and appearing in the foyer and on the main staircase. The most persistent phenomenon involves two gentlemen heard in heated argument behind closed doors downstairs; their intense discussion ceases the moment anyone enters the room to investigate, revealing an empty space.

Perhaps most unsettling is the blue ball of light—a luminous orb that shoots through the house, racing up the staircase before slamming doors in its wake. Staff have witnessed this blue streak multiple times, always followed by doors banging shut when the inn is completely unoccupied. Items are found moved or rearranged without explanation.

The Kemp House now operates as part of the Old Brick Inn complex, which includes the adjacent Wrightson Jones House and a Carriage House. The Wrightson Jones House carries its own ghost: a former female owner who roams the third floor and reportedly torments male guests who stay in those upper rooms. If you seek an intimate encounter with spirits, the staff—who have grown accustomed to their spectral residents—are happy to share the stories and point you toward the most active rooms.