Photo by ZagatBuzz
Bertha’s is one of the more famous establishments in Historic Fells Point. It is well known for its eclectic ambiance, excellent menu, and ubiquitous “Eat Bertha’s Mussels” bumper stickers.
Bertha’s was established in 1972, when the new owners bought and renovated a run down building that dated back to the 18th century. At that time, Fells Point was developing as a ship building and port area. Not surprisingly a large number of businesses that catered to hardened shipbuilders and mariners clustered in the area. It was a tough neighborhood with many saloons, brothels, warehouses, shops and boardinghouses. The building now housing Bertha’s may have served in all of those capacities over the centuries.
Stories
Photo by mojorider2
Employees, residents, customers, and investigators have reported strange occurrences on all floors of Bertha’s. There are repeated stories of a little girl on the second floor. Apparitions of ladies and men including a pipe smoking fellow in 19th century garb in the dining room have been reported. Manifestations also occur in the form of sounds and voices. Evidence of the paranormal has also been detected by animals, cameras, and the security system.
An HBG reader named Jessica recently sent in this email:
My son and I went on May 4th 2012 for lunch. As soon as I entered I sensed a very thick dense atmosphere. Then my face started itching constantly. The whole time I was there, I felt like I had cobwebs on my face. In addition, my sons straw fell out of his glass on its own. The straw was clearly deep in the glass, and out of the blue, the straw was on the table. We have no explanation for this. Our table was not bumped, nor was his straw floating on top. There was no fan near by. I was
very happy to leave. We dont eat seafood, so we went just for the paranormal experience.
Share stories about paranormal encounters or the history of Bertha’s in the comments section below or use our contact form.
Information
Location: 734 South Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231
Phone: 410-327-5795
Website: http://www.berthas.com
Tours
At the time of this writing, Bertha’s was included on Fells Point Ghost Tours and Pub Walks. Check with them for the latest information about tours.
I went to eat at Bertha’s today (December 1st, 2021) and everything was quite normal, amazing food, even better drinks, normal evening. My mother and I were sitting at a very small table immediately within the entrance of the dining room chatting, fairly loudly I might add as we had more than our fair share of libations and were the last people in said dining room, when I saw smoke rising up from behind my mother sitting opposite of me. I looked over and saw the candle on the opposing table in the rooms corner had managed to snuff itself out, no big deal, it must have been out of fuel. A little while later I look back and the candle is once again lit, and it is the only candle in the dining room (aside from our table’s) to be lit. Although I cannot mark this up as being undoubtedly supernatural I, without any shadow of a doubt, saw the candle snuff itself out, but never once saw anyone relight it, nor can I fathom a reason as to why a staff member would light that single candle at an unused table and not pay attention to any other table in the dining room. After doing some research, and seeing that the location in haunted, I found out that the specific table that this candle incident occurred at was in fact where the “pipe smoking apparition” has been sighted on more than one occasion.