Haunted History: The Georgetown Train Station

The Georgetown Train Station was originally built in 1892 as a replacement for an earlier structure that was inadequate for the influx of passengers that the rail line had brought to the area. In 1868, the rail line connected to Georgetown as part of the effort initiated in 1857 to connect Harrington to the harbor in Lewes.

The original structure did not include a second story and had a steeply pitched roof. The second story, with gables and dormers, was added in about 1912 and was likely used as residential quarters for the station master and other railroad employees. According to a Georgetown resident, the second story was damaged during a wind storm just before World War II. Supply shortages related to the war effort resulted in the installation of a lower roofline and the loss of the second story.

As the area converted to more automobile travel, ridership declined and passenger service ended in 1949. The building was used as meeting space for several organizations and for a variety of other purposes. In 1996, the structure was purchased by the Historic Georgetown Association and completely renovated, as the building had been vacant for a number of years. In 2003, the train station opened to the public. A devastating fire occurred in 2011, severely damaging the second floor. The Historic Georgetown Association sprang into action, completing the station's second restoration project and opening to the public once again in 2014.

Transportation centers are well known as paranormal locations due to the multitude of travelers that pass through them and the strong emotion many experience on their journeys. However, during my investigation in April 2022, I connected with two Spirits that were not associated with the earlier days of the train station. One, an African American male, was in his 30s and said that he enjoyed spending time at the train station in the 1970s. During our Spirit Box session, when asked to tell us his age, he replied, "I can't" and a female Spirit said, "He said he can't!" The female Spirit was present between 2000-2005, responded that she was a secretary, was married, and had three children, one boy and two girls. Both the male and female Spirits lived in Georgetown.

This past year, I investigated the second floor of the Train Station. I found a very active spirit there, a former Steward, that managed to light up and interact with all of my equipment. This "Mr. M." was initially hesitant to interact with me, especially given the time period he represented (1920-1945) and being an African American steward (my sense was that he was not always treated with respect). He responded to his first name beginning with an M but I wasn't able to pin down his first or last name definitively. He responded positively to having been a supervisor of other stewards and of having visited the train station when there was a fire in 1944 even though he was retired at the time. Most interesting was his ability to activate the 2 K-II meters and the Mel Meter - each time he moved close and stood next to me the equipment would respond - it was an interesting investigation and an intriguing glimpse into the life of a railroad employee.

Recordings of EVPs from my investigations can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Intuitive-investigations/videos