1. What's the Deal with the 19th Floor?

Season Two brings the Low Budget Ghost Squad to the Lord Baltimore Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland.  It opened in 1928 and it has its share of ghosts!   You'll want to avoid the ones in the ballroom... but of course we didn't.  New episodes during this season every Thursday.

Check out videos and photos from our trips to haunted hotels and our Scary Stories!
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Transcript

A deadly love triangle still haunts the lord Baltimore hotel.  You had a rich man…a much younger wife  and a chance meeting that would change her life… and eventually end her husband’s.  Well, the low budget ghost squad is back with a new adventure… because some people take their secrets to the grave.

Alison: and we just can’t mind our own business.

Nat:  well, if we did, we wouldn’t have a podcast.  Hey everybody. Welcome to season two of the low budget ghost squad.  I’m Natalie

I’m alison

And I’m ethan

Nat: and we’re excited to share this latest haunted hotel adventure with you.   And you know, we’ve had several fans reach out asking – when is season two coming? So, for elinor and everybody else, here we are.  This season we’re taking you to the haunted lord Baltimore hotel…in well, you can probably guess – Baltimore Maryland. 

Alison: and this place is nearly a hundred years old.  And you know that means there are stories to be told for ages.

Ethan:  and new ones after, unfortunately, what happened to us again.

Nat:  you may have heard our first adventure at the Cresent hotel in eureka springs Arkansas in season one– 

Alison: if you haven’t, I highly recommend you go and listen to it.

Nat: a little shameless plugging there.

Alison: I am shameless.

Nat:  ok, anyway, so if this is your first time listening -  I’ll give you a little backstory about us.  - so this low budget ghost squad here is made up of a mom and her two kids.  This whole ghost hunting thing actually started when alison and ethan saw the Crescent hotel on a youtube channel.

Ethan: and we, after a slight not-argument, decided we have to go there.  

Alison: and after that whole thing that happened at the Crescent, we decided to keep doing this and that’s when we went to the lord Baltimore after reading about some of its crazy ghost stories.  And they were crazy.  

Nat:  We actually reached out to the hotel before we went and they were excited to have us come.  They showed us around and told us about all the lore from the hotel… and once we started looking around we realized – uhhh there’s something going on in here. 

Alison: so now we’re going to share what we learned…and more importantly what happened to us there, and how we solved an almost one hundred year old mystery that had been buried the whole time.

Ethan:  but because I was with my mom and sister…and actually my dad went on this trip…that means that they decided that we had to go see a lot of history. So we went to go see old signs and take pictures of old signs.  And we went to go see a bunch of old buildings and had to take pictures in front of those old buildings.

Nat:  so yes, you’re right. we did take lots of pictures and yes, my husband brian went with us on this adventure since he’s from Baltimore. 

Alison: and I had a lot of fun learning history.

Ethan: at least one of the children did.

Nat:  ok – let’s give you a little background about the Lord Baltimore hotel. alison?

Alison: we need to go back to 1904 – and I’ll channel my inner Sophia from the golden girls…picture it… Baltimore.  1904.  That February “the great fire of Baltimore” started at place called john e hurst and company.  (and not johnny but john and the letter E) and this place sold or stored dry goods– can’t really tell. 

Nat: according to our research, This fire started at 10:48 in the morning.  And it wasn’t very far from what would one day be the lord Baltimore hotel on the what’s called Baltimore street…that’s if I’m reading the map correctly which is questionable. 

Ethan: but that fire starting ripping through the city and by 11:55am the fire chief had to ask Washington D-C to help because they just couldn’t stop the fire. 

Nat:  that meant things had to be rebuilt.  And the caswell hotel went up on Baltimore street. And it did well. The man who had that built that was named harry busick.  The caswell hotel had about six or seven stories – based on the picture I saw.  But that wasn’t enough. And harry wanted something bigger and fancier.  So, he went to New York City and hired a famous architect who had already designed some major hotels in several big cities. 

Ethan: they knocked down the caswell hotel and started building the lord Baltimore hotel in may of 1928.

Alison:  that thing was done by December of the same year.  The grand opening was held December 30 and maryland’s governor was the first to sign the guest register.  And it was huge. It had like 700 rooms… and more than 20 floors… 

Nat: and it was the tallest building in the city…at one point the tallest in the state.

Ethan: and that will be quite important to some of the ghost stories there.

Nat:  yeah - now I have to say….this was 1928.  And if you’re familiar with history you probably know what was about to happen less than a year later.

Alison: the stock market crashed.  And many people went from living the rich life… to having nothing, in some cases overnight.

Nat:  and fair warning here -this may get a disturbing for some.  many affected by the stock market crash couldn’t face what had happened so unfortunately they took their own lives.  And that happened a lot in the lord Baltimore hotel.  remember, it’s really tall.  And the director of sales, lee johnson lowe who gave us a tour, told us there were 22 documented cases of people jumping.

Ethan: but the hotel stayed open and did relatively o-k during the depression. The guy who had this thing built…died not long after it opened. 

Nat: and according to a newspaper report – he drowned.  But his sons took over.

Alison: and they ran it for a long time until they sold it to a guy from new York in like 1960… 

Nat:  but in 2013 it was sold to its current owners the rubbell family.  They are big in the art world.. and related to the late steve rubbell the founder of the famous studio 54. 

Alison:  but one thing that every employee there told us – everybody asks about the ghosts. 

Ethan: and so did we.

Nat:  and the one who everybody seems to have a story about – is molly. 

ethan:  you can’t go anywhere in that hotel and without hearing about her.   she was said to be about seven years old when she died in the hotel.

nat: now, it’s believed her parents had lost everything when the stock market crashed.

Alison: what happened to molly isn’t exactly clear.  Her parents are said to have jumped, possibly from the 19th floor – and that, by the way, is considered the most haunted floor because that’s where a lot of strange things have happened.  Including, people seeing molly. 

Ethan:  she had this red ball.  And Some people are said to see this ball all around the halls, all around the hotel, but mainly on the 19-th floor.

Nat:  they also see a young girl in a long cream dress with black shoes.  This one employee said she was getting a meeting room ready up on the 19th floor and she saw this girl walk by in the hallway.  she asked the little girl– are you lost but she kept going. And the woman looked outside the room to see if she could help her…because there aren’t guest rooms up there.  but that little girl in the cream dress and black shoes with a red ball was gone.   And woman claimed – minutes later she saw two adults who were dressed up - like the woman had on a ball gown which was odd for this time of day.  But she asked them… are you looking for your granddaughter?  And she turned to point where she thought the girl may have gone (because you know she wasn’t thinking this was a ghost.)… but she said those two people just vanished.  Now she still had work to do up there…by herself on the 19th floor.  But she called a security guard to come sit with her until she finished.  I would have too.

Alison: and People at the front desk have been asked by guests – what’s the deal with a red ball that keeps showing up?  

Ethan: one woman says she woke up and saw a child crying in her room. and this woman said the girl was screaming and rocking back and forth.  But then she just faded away. Was it molly?  

Nat:  and people have called the front desk to complain about a little girl that looks like her running around the hallways…and they say – will you find this girl’s parents? 

Alison: yeah, that’s not going to happen.

Ethan:  there was an interview from a few years ago on tv with someone from the hotel and he said – some staff members have quit because they said they were being chased by molly.

Nat:  so we found this great painting on the bottom floor and it shows an elevator and it’s on the 19th floor…and there’s a big red ball in it.  A little on the creepy side I will say.  

Ethan: the man from the hotel who talked to us said they have paranormal investigators and mediums come in here every year and says, overall it’s very crowded.  And that is the word he used.  Crowded. With spirits.

Alison:  and they talk to the ghosts… with all their fancy tools.

Nat:  that we, the low budget ghost squad, do not have because we are cheap.  Hence the name.

Ethan:  but we do have a ghost app that we mentioned in season one.

Nat: it measures emf fluctuations, e-m-f or electromagnetic field… and ghost experts will tell you that the levels go up when a spirit in around.  but this app also somehow someway transcribes what a spirit is trying to tell you.  usually just one or two words at a time – and you hear a sound like this:

NATS OF APP

Nat: and of course a spirit will zap your battery power so you’ve got that issue too.

Ethan: so keep a charger with you at all times if you need to charge your phone when you’re ghost hunting. I learned that – because again, the spirits at the hotel, just like in season one, had something to tell us.

MUSIC

Nat: those paranormal investigators we told you about that come to the lord Baltimore to I guess well, investigate… one of them claimed to have had a conversation with molly… that young girl who’s been seen with the red ball.

Ethan: she answered – kind of yes and no questions by blinking the lights on and off.

Nat: and if we had known that in the beginning, we could have figured out what was going on with us.

Ethan: but we will get to that later, mom.. you guys with the spoilers.. .  but back to molly – she had to let everyone know that she and her parents were not hotel guests when they died.  

Alison:  she also said..i guess I can use the word said here… she blinked lights to say she’s not the only ghost child in the hotel.

Nat: I’m going to stop here for a second… we’ve seen a lot if you’ve been following this podcast, you know that… but I’m sorry ghost children scare more than anything.  I don’t know, I guess they just have a creepier vibe going on.

Alison: what…like dead people floating around and going through walls isn’t weird? 

Ethan: yes.

Nat:  I mean, y’all imagine like that ghost child chasing after you like those workers claimed Molly did.  I mean, think about that.

Alison: another ghost who likes to send messages – is in the speakeasy.

Nat:  I love that there’s a speakeasy at this hotel.  I need to give you a little history here.  So from 1920-1933 it was illegal to sell alcohol in the united states – it was called Prohibition.  And restaurants, hotels and really pretty much any other business would have secret rooms in the back where they would sell booze.  And those were speakeasies.  In Baltimore, you would know where to go because they would have a red crab sign in the window. – and if you don’t know, Baltimore is huge with serving crabs…crab cakes, crab legs. 

Ethan: and don’t let my dad get the all-you-can eat crab special -because you’ll be there for hours.  Trust me.

Alison:  We speak from experience.  That was a long night. now, anyway, they found this speakeasy when they were renovating the hotel in 2013.  this was a big find because this hidden room was original to the hotel that was built like 80 something years before.

Ethan:  one spirit in there likes to reach out to investigators… she used to run her business back in the speakeasy. 

Nat:  we’re going to use quotey fingers when we say “business” because – how shall I put this because we do have some younger fans… – this woman ran a business that had several young women working for her at a hotel. the customers were usually just gentlemen… ah, you can imagine what that was.

Alison:  I think people get it.  we’ll call her a madam.  When we got to the hotel the people we talked to didn’t know a lot about her or what happened to her.  But they told us many paranormal investigators have always said she’s there.   She’s just minding her business.  Unlike us.

Ethan:  since it was a speakeasy, the way in was hidden… you had to know the password or secret knock.  But to get in there now, you have to cut through the old formal dining room.

Nat: My husband Brian and I managed to get in there when no one else was around.  – 

Brian:  hi this is brian – you’re making it sound like we broke into the room.  The doors were open, nobody was around. So we did a little exploring. 

Nat:  it was really dark in there.  and it has this nice fireplace and piano.

NATS

Nat:  it’s interesting because when we were in there the ghost app went off.

Nats

Nat:  and I saw the word depression – and that was interesting given the history of the hotel.  but who was sending that? 

MUSIC…..

Nat: so after we left the speakeasy, We got in the elevator.  And we hit the 16th floor button.

Brian: and this is where things got a little kooky.  

Music:

Brian: so we got on the elevator and we noticed at of the four overhead lights.. three of them were on and one of them was acting a little wonky.  Happen to the be one where the buttons are at. So, we hit the button for the 16-th floor, doors close. And then nothing happens. And we’re still sitting there.  and we look at each other like should we be concerned.  And finally the elevator starts moving up.  and it’s going up. and we realized we missed the 16-th floor and it didn’t stop and just keeps going.  And it just stops on the 19-th floor.

Alison: Remember that’s the big haunted floor where strange things go on.  

Nat: We were told soon after we arrived here at the hotel that the elevators may do strange things like that, like randomly go to the 19th floor… or some people have claimed they’ve felt someone or something touching them when no one else was in the elevator.  I mean, imagine that happening.

MUSIC

NAT:  So the doors opened on the 19th floor and we’re looking around, but no one was there.  that we saw.  But I noticed it was cold up there.  like abnormally cold.   One of the hotel bars is located up there on an outdoor patio – but it was closed when we were there.  so really beyond that, it’s full of meeting rooms, a circular hallway and an elevator to the penthouses.   And we walked all around – I’ll be honest we didn’t see anything strange…but I’m going to say..  it sure felt like something was there.

MUSIC

Ethan: I think I need to share what happened to me soon after we checked in. 

ethan: to me, that’s when the creepy stuff really started.

Nat: we’re going to play for you part of a recording taken there in our hallway right after ethan saw… well, he said it looked like a guy maybe, or maybe a shadow figure.

Ethan:  I was this way, and now he’s gone and I don’t know… was he a person?  Like a shadow figure. Just ahhh…

Nat: how are you feeling right now.

Ethan: I don’t know.  Freaked out.  Like we haven’t even been here an hour and I’m already freaked out, I’ve already seen something and now I’m scared.  So…

Ethan: so he had seen this strange shadow figure and that was the first part of the mystery that we found at the lord Baltimore hotel.

MUSIC

Nat:  that night ethan and I ended up in the fancy ballroom – called the calvert ballroom.  We had been looking for a quiet place to do some work because the lobby was loud with the bar down there. 

Alison: dad and I had gone to sleep, like I said in season one – sleeping is my soulmate.  But you two crazy people went down there at night.

Nat:  as we’re sitting in the ballroom – some other ghost hunters came in and I took their picture for them.  And I remember that it was funny.  Because there was an odd circle that appeared in two of the photos  – I saw it on the phone and at the time I thought it was a reflection because they have these beautiful chandeliers in there from 1928 when the place opened.

Ethan:  once they left, some of those lights started blinking.  I started asking  whatever it was…questions. Like – do you want us to leave? 

Nat: and the blinking wouldn’t stop. 

Ethan: and the ghost app had big red bars.

Nat: That was that EMF reader and we got the word malicious, at one point on it while we were in there 

Alison: and you didn’t leave, did you?

Ethan: of course we didn’t. and we kept taking pictures… a lot of pictures.  Most of them in mirrors…but still – a lot of pictures. 

Nat:  that’s what you supposed to do in places like this – you know somewhere that’s haunted.  You take a bunch of pictures usually in mirrors or something reflective.  And quite possibly you’ll get an image of a ghost in there – or something. 

Ethan:  but those lights kept blinking and nothing was the same after that.

Alison:  what we haven’t told you is that everyone had said the Calvert ballroom where they were…has its own ghosts in there.  and I don’t think they like people very much.  I mean, I don’t either.  But they especially don’t.

Nat:  but you didn’t have a huge secret to hide.

Coming up on the next episode of the low budget ghost squad:

As ethan and I left the ballroom – something stopped up dead in our tracks.  

Ethan:  dead?  Really was that necessary?

Alison: yes.

Nat: It’s dramatic… I mean you know what happened!

Alison: pun intended.

Nat:  The Low Budget Ghost Squad is part of Spellbound Productions.  Created, written, directed, produced, edited and whatever else by yours truly.  Lucinda Peterson did the awesome art work.  And thanks to Brian, Alison and Ethan for playing along with this because it’s not as much fun to ghost hunt and solve mysteries by yourself.