Starting out from Mount Misery
Photographs shot on an afternoon walk through Ellicott City, Maryland
Look in most tour guide sites online and they’ll tell you that Ellicott City, Maryland is one of the most haunted places in the United States.
Now, ignoring the fact that such a thing is exactly what you would say if you were trying to draw eyeballs to your tour guide site, the old mill town just above the Patapsco River is in fact ripe for weird tales and edge-of-your-seat ghost stories. And, generally speaking, locals love to tell them.
There’s the ghost of the Firehouse Museum. And the ghost of a Civil War soldier who meanders around the area of the old train station. There are the ghosts who haunt the ruins of the old city jail. And then there are all of the recent tragedies — ranging from a train derailment to two massively catastrophic flash floods.
The town feels like it was built for ghosts. Which is why it is one of my favorite places to take photographs.
Rigby and I started up on Mount Misery, which is a hill that climbs up past the old jail to the courthouse. Then we made our way down into the town’s Main Street. Often when I’m taking photos like this, I’m trying to capture buildings or features in the environment in such a way that they tell their own story without the inclusion of many (if any) people in the photos or any explanations in the captions.
So here’s the best of what we captured on our walk.
For ghost stories and lore, check out the book Haunted Ellicott City by Shelley Davies Wygant. It’s thorough, a great introduction to the town, and is full of great old photos. At some point, I’d love to photograph each of the sites mentioned in the book. Note that I don’t do affiliate links, so I’m actually recommending the book because I’ve found it helpful in my own work.