Ghosts in Fort Monroe | Roulez Magazine

Maybe Poe Did It

Building 50 is a stately residence with former servants’ quarters attached at the rear of the building. It dates back to sometime between two pieces of evidence. The first is a map from 1834 when the building was not shown. The second was a photo of 1861, in which the residence appears.

In the original kitchen of this officers’ quarters, a great deal of activity is said to occur. When one married couple realized they had a mouse living in the kitchen, they locked their cat in the room to “handle it” overnight. But in the morning, their cat was locked outside of the house. They repeated this for several nights and the cat always ended up locked beyond the back door. Finally, the couple decided to up the ante and lock both their poodle and their cat in the kitchen overnight. In the morning, both of the animals were locked outside.

Other occurrences included the standard ghosts slamming kitchen cupboards at night while the family tried to sleep. They also heard heavy footsteps on their creaky staircase.

One couple awoke to all of their clocks having been taken apart and the pieces laid neatly in front of each one. On subsequent nights, their collectibles and furniture were moved around. One colonel who had lived in the home before this couple claimed all of his furniture was piled in the center of the room when he came down the stairs early one morning.

On a side note, the Casemate Museum book “The Ghosts of Fort Monroe” claims that a Ouija board session pulled out the ghosts’ identities as a man and woman, with the man being named “Perry.” There is much circular speculation in the book about who this Perry could be, with that speculation seeming a bit “wild.”

But what I have learned from multiple sources, including this article and this one, is that Edgar Allan Poe actually served in the military on Fort Monroe under the name Edgar A. Perry. Now, if one considers the poem Poe supposedly wrote from his time or experience at Fort Monroe, Anabel Lee, perhaps Poe and his lady love are the man and woman with the penchant for playful trickery in Building 50.