If the Halloween season turns your thoughts to mysteries of the macabre and supernatural, we invite you to enjoy the lore of ghostly secrets that linger within the very walls of the UMD campus. Founded in 1856, the University of Maryland boasts a history steeped in eerie tales involving campus buildings. FM’s GIS department has created a map of haunted sites on the main campus. Take the tour if you dare!
Rossborough Inn
As the oldest building on campus, the Rossborough Inn has had plenty of time to acquire legends and lore. Perhaps the best-known spirit is Miss Bettie, a woman dressed in yellow who managed the inn during the Civil War and who has been spotted on a number of occasions over the years. A failed duelist was killed outside the inn and a Confederate soldier is also said to wander the grounds. Footsteps, doors closing, and disembodied voices – some allegedly recorded in a 2012 investigation – are all part of the legends surrounding the old inn.
Marie Mount Hall
As far back as the 1970s, there have been reports that Marie Mount Hall manifested a supernatural presence: doors opening and closing and toilets flushing with no person in the building but the witness. Some attribute these activities to the hall’s namesake, Marie Mount, dean of the College of Home Economics. Some also attest to hearing her play the piano during nighttime storms. Unexplained music is also heard elsewhere on campus at the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority house.
Morrill Hall
If you spend any time in Morrill Hall, you might be treated to the sound of ghostly marching feet – perhaps revenants of cadets who trained just outside the hall. Strange odors also periodically fill the hall. In 2002, the Maryland Ghosts and Spirits Association investigated and claimed to find evidence of many spiritual presences.
Tawes Fine Arts Building
Before there was The Clarice, art performances were all presented in the Tawes Fine Arts Building. Shortly after its opening in 1965, there were numerous reports of footsteps heard when no one else was present. Performing Arts students, being friendly and creative, named their personal ghost Mortimer.
Washington Hall
On a more somber note, Washington Hall was the site of Terps basketball star Len Bias’ death from a cocaine overdose in 1986. Later residents in his old dorm room reported hearing the sound of a basketball being dribbled.
Easton Hall and Delta Tau Delta
A student who committed suicide in 1965 is said to be haunting Easton Hall, while an auto accident brought about unexplained events for fraternity brothers at Delta Tau Delta, One of their brothers died in an automobile accident in 1955. Moving furniture, a reflected face in a blank TV screen, and a consistently warm temperature in a cabinet belonging to the deceased student are among the manifestations.
Kappa Delta
In 1954. A tragic murder at the Kappa Delta sorority house resulted in reports of supernatural events. Alma Preinkert, founder of the local Kappa Delta chapter, was murdered by an intruder in the night. Her murder remains unsolved. Yet she is not alone in the house as a mysterious young girl’s apparition is also sometimes seen in summer months.