As I’ve said often enough, a walking tour is a good way to get a real feel for a place, as well as learn some cool things. In Baltimore, I was in the mood for something a bit different. Looking over the choices, I came across a “Haunted Pub Crawl Tour” of the Fell’s Point area – just what I needed!

Max’s Taphouse was the starting point – well, technically, we gathered across the street from it. No idea if the place is haunted or has any history behind it. I suppose one could look it up.

Siobhan (aka “Shiv”) was our host & guide. She’s way cool, with a fun and engaging style. We started with a brief on the history of Fell’s Point. Seems early on, the Fell Brothers realized the potential of the area for shipbuilding and trade, so they bought up the land and sold parcels to developers. Or something like that….. As the shipping trade grew, the place became filled with boardinghouses, bars, brothels, and “booty” (i.e. illicit smuggled goods and the dispersal of pirated loot). Siobhan made a point of having us guess the Four B’s…. With a population of transients packed tightly in the area, diseases like yellow fever spread. In a couple of outbreaks, the death rate was high enough to warrant mass graves. It’s said (by Siobhan, at least) that there’s one under the main square / plaza of Fell’s Point – which is arguably a little responsible for the ghostly activity. She also commented that the tours visit different locations each time, so don’t expect to visit all of these places if you take a tour yourself.

Not much to look at…..

After passing by the grave of the Fells and their sons – incongruously tucked away between two houses, and not in a cemetery – we went to Dudas Tavern. The place is haunted by (presumably) the ghost of a former tenant in the upstairs apartment. The guy is blamed for poltergeist activity in the building, which still seems to happen. We chatted with a bartender who was on duty to witness an occurrence – which was also caught on their security camera. It was way too much movement of bar utensils to be the result of mere equipment vibration…..

Our next stop was at “Rye of Baltimore”, a fairly new place. It’s across the street from a large painted sign reading “Vote Against Prohibition” (there’s a copy inside Rye). I’m really skeptical of Siobhan’s claim that the reason for the sign’s excellent condition is that the paint used somehow “merged” with the brick of the wall. There are a LOT of similar painted ads in New York City of a similar vintage, and I’ve not heard of any in the same good condition. Especially on a south-facing wall exposed to the elements…. I suspect people have been “touching it up” every now and then to keep it looking so good.

Speaking of Prohibition in Maryland, while the state did ratify the Eighteenth Amendment, the state legislature also refused to pass any laws that would enforce it. Go figure.

We ended up at the oldest bar in the city, The Horse You Came In On, whose claim to notoriety is being the place where Edgar Allan Poe got into whatever it is that left him intoxicated, beat up, and delirious in the street. The Current Best Theory, according to Siobhan, is that it had to with voter fraud. To cheat at the polls when there’s no means of positively identifying someone (even a signature), you could vote early and often by going around to different polling places, changing clothes, trimming your hair, and other simple disguises. Apparently, it was an election day, and Poe got shanghaied, plied with drink, and dragged around to the polls – more than one. He must have gotten into a fight with the goons dragging him around, causing them to give up and abandon him.

These days, Fell’s Point is the nighttime spot that the Inner Harbor isn’t. A lot of bars and small eateries, with a grand open space for a regular farmer’s market and holiday events. Worth checking out, even if you’re not looking for ghosts. Just watch your step on the Belgian Block pavement….

Yes, it’s a real place. And supposedly haunted.

The usual odds and ends to wrap things up next time.