When I used to be in the Navy I was stationed in the mid 1980s at Naval
Air Station (NAS) Pax River MD. My family and I lived in on-base in Quarters
Q on the "Gold Coast" -- 40 or so houses that were built in the 1900-1920's
on the shore of the Patuxent River which had originally served as the summer
residences for the wealthy in the Washington. DC area.
The Navy after they acquired land for their new air base, restored and
has since well maintained all of these marvelous old houses over the years.
Today they still serve as Senior Officer Quarters -- one of the best
residential areas the Navy has to offer. Ours was a quaint 1,500 sqft two
story house with over 500 feet or shoreline on 5 acres of land. The kitchen
we were told was the newest part of the house. In the 1930's the original
kitchen caught fire and quickly spread to the adjacent bedroom that connected
to the kitchen. A woman and her infant who slept there that night were
trapped in the blaze and were burned to death. Neighbors who lived as far as
a quarter of a mile away heard her screams turn to moans which lasted by some
accounts many, many minutes. The blaze was extinguished some two hours
later. Miraculously the rest of the house was only slightly damaged. Later
that year the residence was restored.
After it was time for me to leave NAS Pax River for another assignment,
we moved out of the Quarters Q but remained in the area a few weeks getting
our affairs in order. During that time our former neighbors while attending
our farewell gatherings or at chance encounters, all asked it we had seen the
ghosts! Surely we must have! Because the residents before us and several
before them had "seen" the vision of woman holding her infant in the kitchen
late at night.
These residents had all been awakened from their sleep by a moaning sound
described like a mix of wind and creature. When the apparition appeared as a
woman and her baby, she motioned to the shaken family present to "Come and
see my baby". When the family approached she would grasp the baby firmly,
turn away and wail "FIRE!! SOME ONE HELP MY BABY", then fade into the ether,
her moaning resonating for what seemed like an hour.
We had lived in the house for almost 2 years. My wife and I slept in the
master suite on the second floor. We heard nothing unusual those years except
sounds that we associated with an old house and the animals that lived on our
property. My Daughter's bedroom was where the tragedy occurred. My Son (who
believed in ghosts at the time and still does) slept in a bedroom off the
kitchen. His bedroom window which used to open to the outdoors, was altered
when the kitchen was rebuilt after the fire and expanded so that it now opens
directly into the kitchen. He used this passageway to surreptitiously feed
some of he teenage cravings (OK, OK he raided the fridge). Both of them both
would report of and on of almost seeing something unusual in their rooms or
the kitchen when it was the dark. Either just out of their vision -- too far
away or out in the furthest extend of their peripheral vision -- but nothing
of substance. None of us had any knowledge at while living there of the
ghosts in residence.
I wish there were a more scary ending. The best I can do is to compete
the story. After we heard about the tales of the ghosts in our house, we
went to our local library in St. Marys' City to research ghosts in the area.
St. Mary's City is one of the oldest cities in MD, dating back to the 1600s.
So as you might expect many ghosts have been reported over time, especially
in the early years of the city. Our search led us from one stack of books to
another and another.
We finally found two old books (sorry I do not have the cites readily
available) that listed all the known haunted houses in the area over time
including a short chronology of events. YEP! Our house was listed! YEP!
Even though written in the 1940s, the residents reported the same events
leading up to and including the same description of the apparition of mother
and baby, with the same wailing words "FIRE!! SOMEONE HELP MY BABY" which was
followed by minutes of wailing and moaning that seemed to last for hours.
In 1989, the kitchen in Quarters Q caught fire. The fire spread rapidly
and completely consumed that fine old house. Luckily it was temporarily
vacant at the time so no living creature was harmed.
.....Gary
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