The third in a five part series of some of Marylands most haunted
places.
The Perry Hall Mansion is one of the most historic buildings in
Baltimore County. Erected high on a hill above the Gunpowder River
Valley, the mansion dominated life in northeastern Baltimore County
in the late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Centuries. It played a
critical role in local history and the religious history of the
United States.
In the early 1770s, Corbin Lee (a member of the Virginia House
of Burgesses and ancestor of Robert E. Lee) decided to build a new
home on a 1,000-acre estate he owned in Baltimore County. Lee's
mansion was to be the centerpiece of his plantation, The Adventure.
He began building the mansion in 1773, but died in December of that
year. Lee's childless widow sold the estate to Harry Dorsey Gough,
a Baltimore merchant who had the good fortune to inherit 70,000
pounds from an English relative at an early age.
Gough named the estate Perry Hall, after a family castle near
Birmingham, England. Gough completed the mansion, which became one
of the leading homes in colonial society. From his 16-room home,
Gough surveyed a vast plantation where dozens of slaves tended
cattle, crops, and tobacco. The Perry Hall estate was so
influential that maps from the early 1800s identify modern-day
Belair Road as “Perry Hall Road” or “Gough's Road.”
The mansion is reportedly haunted by the spirits of days gone
by. It has been documented that one can hear voices while on the
property, cold spots are present, lights turn on and off, shadows
are spotted in the windows, and sometimes pictures and video that
were taken won't develop. I can tell you first hand that while
hiding this cache I walked through a very strong odor of musky
perfume while in the middle of the field on the north side of the
house.
I have been granted temporary approval for this hide, until the
county can decide what they're going to do with the mansion. There
is a chain link fence that surrounds the house, please don't climb
the fence, and/or try to enter the house. Not only could you be
arrested, but it has been reported that a young woman that had
entered the house with a few friends was thrown to her death from a
window on the second floor.
The other two caches in the MD's most haunted series are only
accessable at night, this cache however should only be attemted
during daylight hours. There is a neigborhood that surrounds the
mansion so please be curtious when searching the north west corner
of the house. Parking can be found on the northeast side of the
mansion; walk through the trees.
There are two structures on the west side of the house. One
looks older than the other and both are accessable but I wouldn't
advise going in. Remember, this place is haunted!
One last thing.. If anyone records anything out of the ordinary
please share it with us. As always, have fun!
