October 29, 2025 | By Whitney Bixby (A25)

Many individuals have passed through St. John’s College Annapolis, but several are said to have never left. And with a rich history spanning more than 300 years, it’s no surprise that the campus is purportedly haunted. One of the first schools of higher education in America, St. John’s was founded in 1696 as King William’s School. It also served as a backdrop to the Revolutionary War and later as a Union parole center and hospital during the Civil War. Throughout the years, students and faculty have reported hearing strange noises, sensing eerie presences, and catching sight of mysterious figures. Looking back at the school’s history, we’ll explain the origins of these supposed hauntings, which are said to spook Annapolis Johnnies to this day. 

King William’s School—soon to be rechartered as St. John’s College shortly after the War of Independence—was well into its eighth decade when thousands of American troops passed through Annapolis on their way to the Battle of Yorktown. Troops belonging to Comte de Rochambeau, a French lieutenant general and ally of George Washington, set up camp locally from September 18-21, 1781. It is estimated that around 30 unknown French soldiers and sailors died from illness and were buried on the banks of College Creek in shallow graves, marked with wooden crosses. Although the exact location of the bodies is unknown, it’s possible they were interred near the French Monument on campus, which honors the unknown French soldiers and sailors who died nearby. The monument itself is subject to paranormal legends; according to St. John’s Annapolis admissions counsellor Petra Schaaf-Grisham (A21), visitors have reported feeling anxiety, cold spots, and even having visions of how the area looked in the 1700s.

The Revolutionary War is not the only war to have left spirits on campus, since many lives were also lost on campus during the Civil War. St. John’s College, as previously mentioned, was taken over by the Union Army, which used it as a parole camp and later as a military hospital in 1863. Named the “College Green Barracks,” St. John’s was a landing ground for soldiers in need of fresh clothes and medical attention. Wooden barracks were built on the back of campus, each housing around 150 men. These temporary residents reportedly threw their old clothes and shoes into College Creek after receiving new supplies, according to Union Army captain Henry Martyn Lazelle.

Humphreys Hall famously served as a hospital and a morgue for the wounded and dead, but other campus buildings were utilized during the war, which, along with Humphreys, included Paca-Carroll House, McDowell Hall, Pinkney Hall, and Chase-Stone House. Supernatural legends relating to the Civil War surround several of these; for example, Pinkney is reported to be haunted by a ghost named the “Lady in Red.” Legends on this spirit vary, as she either appears in a nurse’s outfit covered in blood, suggesting a connection to the Civil War nurses who operated inside Pinkney Hall, or she dons a red dress. She is known to appear on the third and fourth floors, holding a candle and patrolling the halls. Lest the Lady in Red grow lonely, a second ghost sighting in Pinkney was reported by a student in the 1980s who is said to have seen a soldier march down a hall and disappear through a wall. Paca-Carroll House is also speculated to contain ghostly Civil War nurses, according to the book Annapolis Ghosts (2007) by Ed Okonowicz.

The building on campus that’s perhaps most infamous for its supposed hauntings is McDowell Hall. In I742, Maryland Governor Thomas Bladen began building McDowell Hall, then intended to be a grand mansion, but its construction ceased at the second floor, causing the building to become known as “Bladen’s Folley.” Nevertheless, McDowell Hall was finally completed in 1784 and given to St. John’s College, making it one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States; it remained the only building on campus until Humphreys Hall’s construction.

McDowell survived the Revolutionary War and served as headquarters for the Union Army Medical Corps from 1863 through the Civil War’s end. Perhaps because of its historical significance or its poor fortune (it nearly burned to the ground twice, in 1909 and 1951), McDowell sits at the center of many supernatural legends. One security guard in the 1980s was so spooked by a mysterious sound during his night shift in McDowell that it caused him to flee. The guard reported hearing strange footsteps, as if someone was dragging a leg behind them, but his colleagues never located the source of the noise. Was it the ghost of a wounded Civil War soldier?

Another McDowell ghost sighting occurred a decade later in the 1990s, when a student, looking to study inside the historic building, opened the door to a classroom on the second floor only to gaze inside a chamber decorated in nineteenth-century furniture. A man was reading by the fireplace; worried she had intruded, the student excused herself and closed the door. After realizing what she had seen, she reopened the door and discovered that the room had transformed back into an empty modern-day McDowell classroom. Meanwhile, various campus safety members working night shifts are said to have reported seeing classroom lights turning on, blinds going up, doors slamming, and footsteps (sometimes of running children) in what they thought to be an empty McDowell.

The most well-publicized ghost that haunts St. John’s campus is not tied to a specific location or historical event but is said to have appeared all around campus. Known as “the Whistler,” the spirit was first reported in the 1970s when campus security is said to have begun hearing a clear human whistle during summer nights. According to Becky Wilson, the former communications director of St. John’s College, the Whistler is known to tease security guards, emanating a whistle on one side of the library and then, shortly after, whistling on the other side, as if it’s trying to make them walk circles around the building. The Whistler also seems to move at amazing speeds, as it will reportedly sound on the quad and seconds later inside the gym. Who is this mysterious poltergeist, and why did it choose to occupy St. John’s?

There is certainly no shortage of supernatural tales or history enshrouding St. John’s campus. The next time you find yourself relaxing in your bed in Pinkney Hall or wandering the corridor of McDowell at night, be wary of the eyes of undead spirits, the souls of soldiers, or the passing of poltergeists, and remember that the knock on your door or footsteps in the halls may not belong to those of the living.