Westminster Hall and Burying Ground: Poe's Grave and Baltimore's Catacombs

On the corner of West Fayette and North Greene Streets, in the middle of the University of Maryland’s downtown campus, is a walled graveyard with more than 1,000 burials and a Gothic Revival church standing on top of part of it. This is Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, the resting place of Edgar Allan Poe, and the space under the church, where tombs sit in the dark between brick arches, is known as Baltimore’s catacombs.

It is one of the city’s best-known haunted places, and its stories come from the people who have guided tours here for decades. This guide covers the site’s history, the ghost stories its guides and visitors tell, and how to see both the burying ground, which is free to walk any day, and the catacombs, which you can enter only on a tour.

History of Westminster Hall and Burying Ground

Baltimore’s First Presbyterian Church opened this burying ground, then on the western edge of town, in January 1787. Over the next half century it filled with the city’s merchants, soldiers and civic leaders, including James McHenry, a signer of the Constitution and secretary of war, for whom Fort McHenry is named, and families whose names Baltimore still sees on its street signs.

In 1852 the Westminster Presbyterian Church was built right over part of the graveyard, raised on arches so the tombs underneath could stay where they were. The dark spaces left between the arches and the vaults below became the catacombs. The congregation was disbanded in 1977, and the University of Maryland School of Law took over the care of the church, now called Westminster Hall, and its burying ground. Today the hall is used for weddings and events.

Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore in October 1849, after being found delirious in the street, and was buried here in an unmarked grave. His death certificate gave the vague cause of brain fever. For more than 25 years there was no proper marker. Baltimore schoolchildren raised about $600 in pennies toward a memorial, and with a gift from Sara Sigourney Rice, Poe’s remains were moved to a more prominent spot by the gate, where the monument was dedicated on November 17, 1875.

For decades a mysterious figure called the Poe Toaster left roses and cognac at the grave in the early hours of January 19, Poe’s birthday. The visits stopped after 2009, but visitors still leave pennies, roses and notes on the monument.

The ghosts of Westminster Burying Ground

The man in uniform at John Swan's tomb

The Baltimore Sun reported in 2026 that more than a decade ago a schoolboy on a catacomb tour stopped at the tomb of Gen. John Swan, a Revolutionary War cavalry officer who later led the Maryland militia, pointed at an empty space and asked, “Who’s the man in the uniform?” No one else saw anything. Since then, the paper says, guides routinely ask Swan’s permission before entering his part of the catacombs.

Lu Ann Marshall, who has led tours here for more than 40 years and calls herself the Queen of the Graveyard, told Baltimore Magazine that generations of psychics have described a man in uniform telling them to leave, and that in one catacomb room her own hands went numb and the hair on her neck stood up.

Children playing peekaboo

Baltimore Magazine also reported that visitors have heard children playing peekaboo among the tombs. No names are attached to the story.

Samuel Smith and Frank the body snatcher

On her tours, Marshall talks about Gen. Samuel Smith, a Revolutionary War and War of 1812 officer who served as Baltimore’s mayor and a U.S. senator, who is rumored to haunt the site, and about Frank, the medical school’s resident grave robber, said to have sold bodies to medical students. She leaves the question open. As she put it to a University of Maryland writer: “So, are we haunted? Who knows?”

Poe

Of course, people come hoping to see Poe. Stories of his ghost wandering the grounds are common in ghost guides, but no one has ever put a name or date to a sighting. The site was filmed for an episode of the TV series Creepy Canada, in which paranormal investigators discussed whether it is haunted.

Where to look

• Poe's memorial: the white marble monument by the gate on Fayette Street, dedicated in 1875.
• Poe's original grave: farther back in the burying ground, where he lay unmarked from 1849 to 1875.
• Gen. John Swan's tomb: in the catacombs, where the man in uniform was seen.
• The catacombs: the brick-arched spaces and vaults under Westminster Hall, open on guided tours.
• James McHenry's grave: for the man Fort McHenry is named after.

Visiting Westminster Hall and Burying Ground

The burying ground is open every day from 9 AM to 5 PM, weather permitting, and closes for ice and snow. It is free to walk on your own, but the catacombs are not open for self-guided visits. If the main gates are locked during open hours, call University of Maryland, Baltimore campus security at 410-706-6882. There are no restrooms on site, and parking is limited to the street or the Baltimore Grand Garage at 5 North Paca Street.

Public guided tours of the burying ground and catacombs run on the first Saturday of each month at 11 AM and 1 PM. They last about an hour, cost $5 for adults (bring exact change) and are free for children 4 and under. Private and school tours, which can include Westminster Hall itself and a short film, can be booked at least two weeks ahead. Baltimore Heritage also runs catacomb tours. Several evening Baltimore ghost walks stop outside the gates.

There are no ghost hunts here. 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 Burying ground open daily; catacombs on guided tours only
• Tours Catacomb tours, plus evening Baltimore ghost walks
• Hours and season Burying ground daily 9 AM to 5 PM; public tours first Saturday of the month, 11 AM and 1 PM
• Tickets Grounds free; guided tour $5
• Ghost hunting No investigations

Tips for your visit

• Come on the first Saturday of the month for the catacomb tour, and bring exact change.
• Leave a penny on Poe’s monument, as Baltimore schoolchildren once did to pay for it.
• Look for Poe’s original grave site as well as the memorial by the gate.
• Visit the Poe House on North Amity Street, a short drive west, the same day.
• Come back on January 19, Poe’s birthday, when fans gather at the grave.

More haunted places nearby

• Haunted places in Baltimore: the Poe House, Fort McHenry and the city’s haunted bars
• Fort McHenry: the star fort named for James McHenry, buried here
• The Lord Baltimore Hotel: a haunted 1928 hotel a few blocks east
• Linville Manor ghost hunt: our overnight ghost hunts in Upper Marlboro
• Haunted places in Maryland
• Haunted places in Baltimore

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.

• Wikipedia: Westminster Hall and Burying Ground
• Westminster Hall: Tours
• FOX45 / The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore's catacombs hold ghost stories, body snatchers and buried history
• University of Maryland, Baltimore: On Westminster Hall tour, discover what lies beneath
• Baltimore Heritage: The catacombs under Westminster
• Baltimore Magazine: The scariest haunted sites in Baltimore
• Carroll Magazine: A spectral tour of Maryland (Ed Okonowicz)