Haunted places guide · Baltimore, Maryland

Haunted Fort McHenry: The Sentry, the Cells and the Star-Spangled Banner

The flag still flew at dawn, and Francis Scott Key wrote the words that became the national anthem. Two centuries later, park rangers have their own story about a soldier who never left his post.

By The Haunted Rooms Team · Updated November 2026 · How we rate places

3.8/5Haunted Rooms Score
1798Construction began
4Defenders killed in 1814

Our nearest ghost hunt: Linville ManorMeet the ghosts

Fort McHenry is one of the most visited places in Baltimore and one of the most symbolic in the country: the five-pointed brick fort whose defense in September 1814 inspired The Star-Spangled Banner. It is also one of the city’s best-known haunted places, and unusually, one of its ghost stories comes from a park ranger who worked here.

This guide covers the fort’s real history, from the bombardment to its years as a Civil War prison and a World War I hospital, the ghost stories told about it, and which parts of those stories have a record behind them. Then it explains how to visit, since the fort is a national monument that closes in the late afternoon and does not allow ghost hunting.

Fort McHenry at a glance

3.8/5
Haunted Rooms Score
Haunted reputation4
History5
Ghost hunter access2
Visit on a tour
  • Address 2400 East Fort Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21230
  • Built 1798 to 1800, a five-sided star fort with a dry moat
  • Famous for Holding off the British bombardment of September 13 and 14, 1814, which inspired The Star-Spangled Banner
  • Most haunted spots The outer battery, the bastions, the guardhouse cells and the barracks stairs
  • Best-known ghosts A sentry with a rifle on the outer battery; a soldier said to have died in a cell; Lt. Levi Clagett; a woman on the stairs
  • Good to know Open daily except three holidays; last entry 4:45 PM; Star Fort passes can be booked online

Our nearest ghost hunt: Linville Manor Visit / tours

History of Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry was built between 1798 and 1800 on a point guarding the narrow entrance to Baltimore’s harbor. It is a bastioned pentagon: five brick-faced earthen walls with an arrowhead bastion at each corner, surrounded by a dry moat, with barracks, officers’ quarters and a powder magazine inside.

Its moment came in the War of 1812. On September 13 and 14, 1814, British warships bombarded the fort for about 25 hours but could not get past it into Baltimore Harbor, and the British withdrew. The fort’s commander, Maj. George Armistead, reported four defenders killed and 24 wounded. Among the dead were Lt. Levi Clagett, Sgt. John Clemm, Pvt. Charles Messenger and Thomas Beaston. Francis Scott Key, watching from the water, saw the American flag still flying over the fort at dawn and wrote the poem that became the national anthem.

The fort stayed a working army post. During the Civil War it held Confederate prisoners of war, and also Maryland political prisoners: Baltimore’s mayor, members of the city council and newspaper editors who had criticized President Lincoln. In World War I the army built about a hundred buildings around it for a general hospital that treated soldiers returning from France; those buildings are all gone.

The fort became a national park in 1925 and was redesignated a National Monument and Historic Shrine in 1939. Today the National Park Service runs it, with a visitor center and the restored Star Fort.

The ghosts of Fort McHenry

The sentry on the outer battery

The fort’s best ghost story comes from Bruce W. Bytnar, a retired National Park Service ranger who began his career at Fort McHenry from 1975 to 1977. On his blog he wrote that a fellow ranger and several members of an employee’s family saw a figure in old military dress, carrying a rifle, apparently standing guard on the outer battery.

Staff argued over who it could be. Some said Lt. Levi Clagett, killed in the 1814 bombardment; others suggested William Williams, a man who had escaped slavery, enlisted, and was also killed in 1814. Bytnar doubted both and proposed a soldier from the 1850s who was found asleep on duty on the outer battery and later took his own life in a guardhouse cell, an event he says was recorded in a monthly medical report. He adds that he no longer has a copy of that report, so we cannot confirm it.

The soldier in the cell

Popular ghost books and tours tell a version of the same story with a name: Private John Drew, jailed for falling asleep on watch, who got hold of a gun and shot himself in his cell. He is said to pace both the spot where he was caught sleeping and the cell where he died. Ed Okonowicz, who has written several books of Maryland ghost stories, tells it this way. Visitors who leave comments on Bytnar’s blog describe feeling something in the last cell that stopped them going in.

Lt. Levi Clagett

Clagett, a 34-year-old lieutenant, was killed when a British mortar shell struck his bastion during the bombardment; one account says a damaged gun fell on him. Tours say a figure in a period uniform walks the top of that bastion, and that visitors have taken it for a reenactor on days when no reenactors were at the fort. Clagett’s death is real and recorded; the sightings are not.

The woman on the stairs and the Gallows Ghost

Ghost tour writers describe a woman in white on the barracks stairs, said by some to be the wife of a soldier whose children died in an epidemic, who is blamed for pushing people. Okonowicz also tells of the Gallows Ghost, said to be Joseph Kuhne, hanged at the fort during the Civil War, seen swinging near the Orpheus statue. We have found no record behind either story, and they are best treated as tour legends.

Footsteps, voices and cold spots

Beyond the named ghosts, visitors describe a feeling of being watched, shadowy figures in the halls, voices, footsteps, marching drums and the smell of gunpowder, especially near the cells. As with most battlefields and forts, these reports are personal impressions, not evidence.

Where to look

  • The outer battery: the low gun line facing the river, where rangers saw the sentry.
  • The guardhouse cells: inside the sally port, where the soldier who fell asleep on duty is said to have died.
  • The bastions: especially the one where Lt. Clagett was killed in 1814.
  • The barracks stairs: the setting for the woman in white.
  • The Orpheus statue: outside the Star Fort, linked to the Gallows Ghost.

Visiting Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry is open every day except Thanksgiving, December 25 and January 1. Last entry to the park is 4:45 PM, and the Star Fort, visitor center and shop close shortly before the park does. Entry to the Star Fort historic zone needs a pass, which you can buy in advance on recreation.gov to skip the visitor center line, or an America the Beautiful pass.

The fort does not offer ghost tours and does not allow investigations, and you cannot stay after closing. Come early and walk the walls, the bastions and the cells while it is quiet, before the tour groups arrive.

For a night investigating a historic building with our team, the nearest Haunted Rooms ghost hunt is at Linville Manor in Upper Marlboro, about 30 miles south.

  • Visiting National monument; Star Fort entry with a timed pass or America the Beautiful pass
  • Hours and season Daily except Thanksgiving, Dec 25 and Jan 1; last entry 4:45 PM
  • Tickets Star Fort entry fee (book on recreation.gov)
  • Ghost hunting No investigations; the park closes in the late afternoon

Tips for your visit

  • Buy your Star Fort pass online before you go.
  • Arrive at opening for the quietest walk through the cells.
  • Pair the fort with the USS Constellation and Cutter 37 in the Inner Harbor.

Go ghost hunting nearby

Visiting a haunted place by day is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through a historic building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and vigils, and gives you time to explore on your own. These are the nearest ones we run.

See all Maryland ghost hunts

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We collect first-hand accounts from visitors and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your visit. We read every story before it’s published.

Frequently asked questions

Is Fort McHenry haunted?

It has a long ghost reputation, and one story comes from a former park ranger, who wrote that staff in the 1970s saw a figure with a rifle standing guard on the outer battery. Other stories, about a soldier who died in a cell and a woman on the stairs, are told by ghost books and tours.

How many people died at Fort McHenry in 1814?

The fort’s commander, Maj. George Armistead, reported four defenders killed and 24 wounded during the British bombardment of September 13 and 14, 1814.

Can you go ghost hunting at Fort McHenry?

No. It is a national monument that closes in the late afternoon and does not allow investigations or after-hours visits. For a ghost hunt nearby, see our events at Linville Manor in Upper Marlboro.

Who was Levi Clagett?

A lieutenant who was killed when a British mortar shell hit his bastion during the 1814 bombardment. He is one of the soldiers ghost stories name as the fort’s sentry.

Do you need tickets for Fort McHenry?

You need a Star Fort historic zone pass, or an America the Beautiful pass, to enter the fort itself. Passes can be bought in advance on recreation.gov or at the visitor center.

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.

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About the authors

The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every place in our guides using official sites, historic registers, local archives and news coverage, and we report ghost stories as the stories they are. We review each guide regularly so you are not sent to a place that has closed, changed hands or banned visitors. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.