Historic House & Grounds Tour
Tour the 1738 Belmont Manor house and grounds during scheduled open houses and events run by Howard County Recreation & Parks.
- Duration:
- 1 hr
A 1738 Colonial Georgian plantation house near Elkridge, Maryland, now a Howard County historic park and event venue, where staff and ghost investigators report a spectral child, a dish-throwing 'White Haired Woman,' and other resident spirits.
6555 Belmont Woods Road, Elkridge, MD 21075
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
A Howard County historic park and event venue. Grounds are open to the public; the manor house is accessed via events, tours, and rentals.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Manicured 68-acre park grounds, formal gardens, and a historic house
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1738 · One of Maryland's finest Colonial Georgian manor houses (1738) · Built for Caleb and Priscilla Dorsey of Elkridge · Former Smithsonian Institution conference center · Now a publicly owned Howard County historic park
The Belmont estate dates to the 1730s, when the land was patented under the colonial name 'Moore's Morning Choice.' The manor house, completed in 1738 for Caleb and Priscilla Dorsey, is regarded as one of the finest examples of Colonial Georgian architecture in Maryland.
For nearly two centuries Belmont remained a private residence, passing through the Dorsey, Hanson, and Bruce families. In 1964 the property was donated to the Smithsonian Institution for use as a conference center. The Smithsonian sold Belmont in 1982 to the American Chemical Society, which operated it as a meeting facility, and it later passed to Howard Community College, which closed it around 2010 amid financial difficulties.
Today Belmont is the 68-acre Belmont Manor and Historic Park, owned by Howard County and operated by its Department of Recreation and Parks. The site preserves the historic manor house, a carriage house, cottage, large barn, formal gardens, a pond, and a family cemetery, and it serves as a public park and event and wedding venue with regular open houses and tours.
Sources
Belmont's haunted reputation is documented by Baltimore-area outlets and paranormal groups, including DC Ghosts, the Southern Spirit Guide, and MidAtlantic Daytrips, as well as investigations by local ghost-tracking organizations. The best-known figure is the apparition of a young girl, often reported running about the house and grounds; staff have described her, and an investigating group reported capturing an image of a child-like figure peering around a corner. In some retellings she is identified as a small girl named Amanda said to have died of illness in the home generations ago, a detail that comes from ghost-tour tradition rather than documented record.
Another recurring entity is the 'White Haired Woman,' associated with the kitchen and banquet areas, who is said in staff lore to throw olives and move dishes and silverware. According to Margaret Ehrlich of the local group Inspired Ghost Tracking, the spirits encountered at Belmont are generally 'friendly,' though one is described as a grumpy man.
These accounts are drawn from staff anecdotes, ghost-tour operators, and paranormal investigators rather than independent historical documentation, and the personal names attached to some spirits should be regarded as folklore. They are presented here as the venue's established haunted tradition. The documented owners of record, by contrast, are the Dorsey, Hanson, and Bruce families who held the estate across its history.
Notable Entities
Tour the 1738 Belmont Manor house and grounds during scheduled open houses and events run by Howard County Recreation & Parks.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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