An 1811 Federal-period townhouse on Baltimore's east side, the final home of Charles Carroll of Carrollton — the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence — and now a Poe Baltimore-managed museum.
800 East Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Free or low-cost admission for self-guided visits; check carrollmuseums.org for current rates and programming.
Access
Limited Access
Historic Federal-period rowhouse with original staircases
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1811 · Final home of Charles Carroll of Carrollton · National Register of Historic Places · Federal-period architecture
The Carroll Mansion at 800 East Lombard Street was built between 1811 and 1812 as a Federal-period brick townhouse in Old Town Baltimore. It became the winter home of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832), the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, the only Catholic signer, and one of the wealthiest men in the early United States. Carroll died in the house on November 14, 1832 at age 95.
After Carroll's death the house passed through several uses that reflect Baltimore's 19th- and early-20th-century social changes. It served at various times as a saloon, tenement apartments, a sweatshop, a vocational school, and a recreational center before being preserved as a historic site.
Carroll was a deeply influential figure in early American institution-building. He was the first Catholic U.S. senator, instrumental in founding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the First and Second National Banks, and was a major benefactor of the Baltimore Basilica and Georgetown University. The site interprets that legacy.
The mansion is now operated as a museum by Poe Baltimore — the nonprofit that also operates the Edgar Allan Poe House on Amity Street. The current programming includes a rotating Poe Death Exhibit, which explores Poe's mysterious October 1849 death in Baltimore. The Carroll Mansion appears on the National Register of Historic Places and is contributing to local historic-district designations.
Sources
Carroll Mansion's paranormal lore is more recent and more thinly sourced than the building's documented historical record. The dominant figure in the ghost narratives is Charles Carroll of Carrollton himself, reported by paranormal-tourism sources as a man in 18th-century attire seen lingering by the study or quietly standing at a window overlooking Lombard Street.
Other reported phenomena, as collected by Paranormal Traveler and ghost-tour operators, include unexplained cold spots, the sound of footsteps echoing through the ballroom when it is empty, and the sensation of invisible hands brushing against arms while descending the original staircase. The phenomena are described as benign rather than threatening.
The Carroll Mansion is featured on regional 'Maryland's haunted hotspots' lists but does not officially market itself as a haunted attraction. Because the paranormal coverage is largely limited to paranormal-tourism websites and lacks corroborating contemporary press coverage, this lore should be treated as folkloric rather than well-documented.
Notable Entities
Self-guided tour of the 1811 Federal-period townhouse interpreting the life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, who died in the house in 1832. The site currently hosts the Poe Death Exhibit, exploring Edgar Allan Poe's mysterious 1849 death.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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