Ghost Expedition Baltimore County, Dundalk Historic District/Dundalk and Patapsco Neck Historical Society and Museum
Dundalk Maryland is celebrating its centennial year. Named for Dundalk Ireland, the town was the first planned community in Baltimore County. It's history as a company town dates to 1917, as the area was developed to provide housing for steel and shipyard workers of Bethlehem Steel at nearby Sparrow's Point.
The Dundalk Company, a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel, was chartered to oversee the town's development. Today the former Dundalk Company office is home to the Dundalk and Patapsco Neck Historical Society (DPNHS) and Museum.
The history of the Patapsco Neck area goes back to 1664 when the British ship captain Thomas Todd purchased a tract and build the first house in the area called Todd's Inheritance.
Patapsco Neck was also the site of the Battle of North Point on Sep 2 1814, which arrayed the Baltimore City Brigade of the Maryland Militia against Royal Colonial Marines. The British prevailed in that battle but took heavy losses to include Major General Robert Ross. The Battle of North Point was pivotal in delaying the British advance on Fort McHenry. The more celebrated Battle of Baltimore at Fort McHenry forced the British retreat, ending the War of 1812.
The area remained largely rural in character until 1856 when Irish immigrant Henry McShane established a successful foundry north of Baltimore for making church bells. When asked to identify the area for a rail station, McShane's son provided the name “Dundalk”, which was his fathers birthplace in Ireland. In nearby Sparrows Point, the Maryland Steel Company had established a plant in 1889 bringing the steel industry into the area.
Present day Dundalk took shape with the arrival of Bethlehem Steel and the need to support emergent industrial demands of World War I. The government temporarily assumed control of steel production in the area. The Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) provided subsidies to the Dundalk and Liberty Housing companies to accelerate the construction of units in the Old Dundalk and St Helena communities.
The first units comprising present day Dundalk appeared in 1917 with "62 houses, two stores, a post office, and a telephone exchange." Streets were planned around a garden city concept developed by urban planner Edward H. Bouton, who was famed for designing the Roland Park area in Baltimore. The town formerly hosted military facilities at Camp Holabird and Logan airfield.
One of Dundalk's immortal residents in the literal sense was the late Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cancer cells were the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized cell line in medical research. She was an unwitting source of these cells. Neither she nor her family were compensated for their use.
The Dundalk Company Office was closed by 1953 and the facility was rededicated as the Dundalk Library in 1954. The Dundalk and Patapsco Neck Historical Society was formed in 1970 and had established offices in the building. The facility sits firmly in the center of the Dundalk Historic District which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
There are no haunting legends in connection with the facility. However, its centrality in Dandalk's history and formation may carry some potential for transcommunication experiences. The ghost expedition there will focus on obtaining indications of “drop-in” communications and not on evidence for a haunting.
The ghost expedition will participate in National Ghost Hunting Day (NGHD), an event sponsored by Haunted Journeys magazine. Connectivity and livestreaming will be provided by ONSTREAM. The event will attempt to build a global "consciousness bridge" an experiment that will last two hours.
Data from random event generators (REGs) belonging to the Global Consciousness Project that are in proximity to participant locations will be monitored over the event. Results from NGHD 2016 noted a marked shift in random walk trending generated by REGs at the outset of last year's event. Similar patterns were observed in back-to-back MPR investigations in 2016.
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UPDATE: The investigation appeared to obtain evidence of drop-in communications through electronic voice phenomena and direct radio voice. Random event generator trends were found to be statistically significant after the kickoff of NGHD event lending support for a consciousness bridge. There were also unexplained depth sensor anomalies in connection with an antique chair.
REFERENCES:
A Little Bit About the Society. (n.d.). Dundalk and Patapsco Neck Historical Society.
A Timeline of the History of Dundalk, Courtesy of the Dundalk Eagle. (n.d.). Dundalk and Patapsco Neck Historical Society.
Comparison of Random Event Generator (REG) Outcomes In Sequential Paranormal Investigations of Haunted Locations. (2016, Jun 4). Maryland Paranormal Research ®
Dance, S. (2014, Sep 7). Dundalk commemorates forgotten battle of a forgotten war. The Baltimore Sun.
Dundalk Maryland. Wikipedia.
Fort Holabird. Wikipedia.
Henrietta Lacks. Wikipedia.
National Ghost Hunting Day: The World's Largest Ghost Hunt. (2017). Haunted Journeys.
Null, D.J. (1983, Jul). Dundalk Historic Distric. MHT - B3737. Maryland Historical Trust.
Null, D.J. (1983, Jul). National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: Dundalk Historic District. Maryland Historical Trust.
Potier, B. (2001, Jul 19). Filmmaker immortalizes ‘immortal’ cells. Harvard Gazette.
The Battle of North Point. Wikipedia.
Williams, B.J. (2017). Exploring Collective Consciousness: Could There Be Some Implications for Paranity? National Ghost Hunting Day Collective Consciousness Article. Psychical Research Foundation.
IMAGES:
Dundalk Library on Shipping Place. (1954, May 11). Digital Collection, Electronic Resources. Baltimore County Public Library.
Vachon, J., photographer. (1940) Bethlehem steel mill. PLANT. Sparrows Point, Maryland. Baltimore County Maryland Sparrows Point, 1940. Sept. [Photograph] Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection, Library of Congress.
Old Dundalk: The Dundalk Shopping Center (c 1940s). Pinterest. Source unknown.
Hawkeye58. (2007, Oct 21). The Dundalk Shopping Center, in May 2006. Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL, 28mm on May 13, 2006. Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia.
Harris & Ewing. (1955). Camp Holabird, Baltimore, Maryland, c 1913 and 1923. Harris and Ewing Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Headley, R. (1952). 2nd Army Band performing in front of Strand Theatre. Dundalk (1952). Digital Collection, Electronic Resources. Baltimore County Public Library.
Duluc, A. (1814). First view of the battle of Patapsco Neck dedicated to those who lost their friends in defence of their country, Septr. 12, 1814. Engraving. Hambleton Print Collection, Special Collections Department. Maryland Historical Society. [The engraving is also available from the Library of Congress.]
Henrietta Lacks (1920-1951) c 1945-1950. (2001, Jul 19). Harvard Gazette.
National Ghost Hunting Day. (2017). The World’s Largest Ghost Hunt. Haunted Journeys.
Dundalk Library. (1954, May 11). Digital Collection, Electronic Resources. Baltimore County Public Library.