Lamar Medical Museum: History and Paranormal

 The stately yellow brick building that stands the tests of time in historic Middletown, Maryland was built somewhere in the early 1800s and used for various purposes including a tavern and stable. Over the years the structure saw many expansions however in 1905, Dr. Austin Algernon Lamar purchased the property to house his family and his sanitarium. Dr. Lamar expanded the location in 1906 to include a surgery, recovery, waiting room, visitation room, exam room, and reception. Newspapers reported that Lamar's Sanitarium was one of the best and most modernly equipped institutions in the state of Maryland. The surgery which is still intact today, has white marble tile with a sloped floor to a central drain. On the west side of the building there is a door that was used for patients that entered into a waiting/ reception area. Off this reception area there is an exam room which is much the same except for a bathroom that was added. The downstairs also included a family visitation area. Anyone taking a tour of this gorgeous building will see that it has been well preserved and the current owners pay tribute to Dr. Austin Lamar.

Dr. Lamar practiced medicine at this location from 1905 to 1932 when he died from a long illness due to Bright's disease (an old term for nephritis which is the inflammation of the kidneys due to toxins, infection, or an autoimmune condition). His family, wife Lena and four children (Austin, Louise, Lewis, and David) all lived in the family quarters of the house. It does seem that Lamar and his family suffered many tragedies. Lewis died in 1930 at the young age of 19 from a intercranial hemorrhage. David committed suicide in his barracks at the Army Flying School in California. There is also a few news articles about strange mentions of their daughter's death which was found to not be true. The property passed to Dr. Lamar's wife Lena in 1932 and then on to Louise in 1959 upon Lena's death. The property saw a few changes in hands but now is owned by a private company for their environmental business.

When Antietam Paranormal Society was called in to do a paranormal investigation of what is known as the Lamar Building or Lamar Medical Museum, I was over the moon excited. I grew up in Middletown, Maryland and saw this building many times through the years during tours and heritage events. I don't remember ever entering the building but I had listened to the history a time or two. The team decided we didn't want to know any information about the activity present, we would rather cover the entire building to see what data we could find. The first investigation was relatively quiet but we did have a few experiences of shadow figures and disembodied voices. We captured quite a few EVP through out the location, but most of the activity seemed centered in areas where we weren't present. Almost like they were talking about us. The spirit voices of children and women were most prevalent in the basement, front hall, and the attic. The second investigation yielded some personal experiences of being touched mostly in the basement and back attic area. We captured quite a few EVP during this investigation in the basement and the attic again. We just investigated this past weekend on March 18, 2023. We are currently reviewing audio. 

After our first investigation we were given information by many people that a figure is seen in the front attic window on the left facing the building. This was the area we dubbed the Front Attic, which was where each of us felt pulled to the first time we walked through Lamar's halls. It is noted that the Lamar's lived in the attic area, as well as leaving space for the nurses that resided there. A small staircase led down from the back attic area to Lamar's Bedroom on the 2nd Floor. I personally felt a young girl around 13 and a young boy around 7 in the basement, which was validated almost immediately by two EVP of children. The Lamar Medical Museum and Building is full of mystery. We all feel that there is more to be discovered but the spirits are holding back. As we have approval to return whenever, we hope to continue to research this amazing location.

Rebecca Boyer

Co-Founder/ Case Manager

Antietam Paranormal Society