THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Museum staff describe the historic Donnell House as one of the most haunted places on the Maine Maritime Museum campus. Staff ghost stories have become part of the museum's Dead Reckoning haunted shipyard tours, and during a 2024 tour a participant reportedly captured an upstairs door opening by itself. The Victorian home also hosted funerals, and Clara Donnell was laid out inside the house following her death.
The William T. Donnell House is a historic shipbuilder's residence on the grounds of the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. Built around 1868 and later remodeled during the Victorian era, the house overlooked the Donnell family's shipyard along the Kennebec River. Museum staff have described the Donnell House as one of the most haunted locations on the museum campus. Ghost stories collected from staff are incorporated into the museum's Dead Reckoning haunted shipyard tours, which explore the house and surviving shipyard structures. During one 2024 tour, a participant reportedly captured an upstairs door opening on its own while the building was dark. The house also has a documented association with death and Victorian mourning traditions: funerals were held there, and Clara Donnell's body was displayed in the home following her death.