Do you know the history of the Neeld Mansion?  How old? How many owners?  Many use to think it was haunted. We drive past it every day but most of us never give it any thought to the history.  

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Letchworth's Chance - Neeld Mansion

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The house on Letchworth's Chance is considered to be one of the "original manor houses of Calvert County."  When the Neeld Family purchased Letchworth's Chance for $6000 in 1893 the farm consisted of 263 acres.

 

The property was subdivided in the 1930s to create "Neeld Estates".  Neeld Estates has a very active community association (NECA) that provides recreational and educational activities relating to living on the Chesapeake Bay. Although lots are privately owned, the Neeld Estate Beach is privately owned by the Neeld family (Plum Point Corporation).

 

Much of Letchworth's Chance early history is unknown. Locals have passed on lore and legends of the "manor house." It has been said that the area known as "Devil Steps" lives a black dog with eyes of fire.  There are also   the popular legends of a child crying (or a baby wailing) at midnight after falling to their death off the second story landing or the woodchopper chopping wood in the middle of the night or the whistling west parlor ghost. Neeld family members claim to have never heard the baby cry and since the extensive mid-twentieth century renovation the woodchopper (or a loose shingle and shutter) no longer chops. After the northern chimney was fixed the ghost no longer whistled.

 

more information, maps and lots of photos:

https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/Calvert/CT-25.pdf

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Letchworth's Chance - Neeld Mansion

Maryland Historical Trust

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 other information:  Plum Point History