PHOTO COURTESY MINDIE BURGOYNE/CHESAPEAKE GHOST TOURS
The Atlantic Hotel on Main Street in downtown Berlin is a stop on the Berlin Ghost Walk tour. The walking tours take place throughout spring, summer and through Christmas.

By Rachel Ravina, Staff Writer

(May 30, 2019) Participants in the Berlin Ghost Walk can expect to learn a little something about the supernatural occurrences in town.

“It is … a walking tour with stories about hauntings, paranormal activities and unexplained events, [as well as] mystical events,” Mindie Burgoyne, owner and founder of Chesapeake Ghost Tours, said.

Attendees can visit several stops on the tour, including St. Paul’s Graveyard, the Pitts House and the former Odd Fellows Hall, according to the tour company’s website.

Burgoyne said there aren’t any smoke and mirrors involved in the Berlin Ghost Walk.

“So what’s the history, what’s the mystery and what do people say today? That’s pretty much our formula,” Burgoyne said.

Burgoyne’s team started giving the tour in Berlin in 2013. The Chesapeake Ghost Tours has 11 ghost walking tours on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

be famous Berliner Ned France, a woman in a white dress standing by the Calvin B. Taylor Bank on Main and Commerce streets and a soldier in uniform walking near Pitts Street, according to the tour company’s website.

“It’s not that it’s not spooky, Berlin’s a scary little town,” she said. “The Atlantic Hotel has enough paranormal activity going on in it to write a small book.”

The hotel on Main Street is also included in the walking tour.

“It’s got so much mystery and so many different unrelated people talking about experiences there,” Burgoyne said. “And they’re all pleasant.”

Additionally, Burgoyne highlighted several locations shown on the tour.

Burgoyne said there’ have been sightings and stories of what she calls an “elemental,” or a “non-human spirit” at the Adkins Company on Harrison Avenue.

A “healing tree” stands on the property of the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum, and “this tree radiates a kind of a vibration and it’s a very healing energy.”

The tours cost $20 for adults, $15 for children age 8 to 12 years old and it’s free for children under 8 years old. Burgoyne said the roughly 1.5-mile walking tour lasts about two hours. Attendees should meet 15 minutes before the tour starts in front of the hotel.

Anywhere from 20 to 40 people participate in a single tour during the summer. She also clarified the tour does not go inside any of the places.

Tour organizers encourage participants to bring a flashlight and a camera and wear comfortable shoes. An umbrella is recommended, depending on the forecast.

When asked why people should check out the tour, Burgoyne said simply because it’s exciting.

“They [the participants] can be totally immersed in Berlin’s history in an entertaining way that’s great for the whole family…and allows them to listen to a storyteller entertain them for the evening,” Burgoyne said. “That’s what it is.”

For more a schedule of tours and more information about the Berlin Ghost Walk, visit Chesapeake Ghost Tours’ website at chesapeakeghosts.com/berlin/.