Branches of Baltimore History

Location: N Calvert Street & E Lexington Street – (Street View)

The Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse building was completed in 1900, less than ten years after its design was accepted. The Greek Revival style structure (designed by the architectural firm of Wyatt and Nolting) is six stories tall and occupies an entire city block. In 1985, the building was named after civil rights activist Clarence Mitchell. The regal Calvert Statue guards the Saint Paul Street entrance, while the Battle Monument stands near the opposite corridor in what is known as Monument Square.

GPS: 39° 17′ 26.61″ N 76° 36′ 44.94″ W

During the Apollo 11 mission to the moon the astronauts placed a memorial plaque on the lunar module’s descent ladder.  The tablet reads: HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON JULY 1969 A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND.

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They also left behind a memorial bag containing a gold replica of an olive branch as a traditional symbol of peace and a silicon message disk. The disk carries the goodwill statements by Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon and messages from leaders of 73 countries around the world.

Location: Mount Vernon Place & Washington Place – (Street View)

This bust of George Washington is located in the museum at the base of the Washington Monument.  Created by Giuseppe Ceracchi, the sculpture was completed in either 1791 or 1792.  Washington sat several times for Ceracchi during this time period, as did other founding fathers.  The Italian artist later traveled to Paris to work for Napoleon Bonaparte.  Ceracchi was executed, in 1801, for his supposed involvement in a plot to kill the legendary French military leader.

GPS: 39° 17′ 50.80″ N 76° 36′ 56.40″ W

Location: Cathedral Street & W Mount Vernon Place – (Street View)

This building was constructed in 1895, and purchased by it’s present owners in 1976.  The structure was renovated in 2007, and contains high end apartments over-looking Mount Vernon Place, the center of Baltimore’s historic culture.

GPS: 39° 17′ 52.20″ N 76° 37′ 1.35″ W

At the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay’s Baltimore channel stands an historic lighthouse.  Operating by 1908, the light tower went through numerous set-backs during it’s construction.  The sea floor in the area contains over 50 feet of liquid mud, making the engineer’s job rather difficult.  In the end the caisson designed structure was 82 feet below sea level, a record for it’s time.  By 1923, the building on the bay was automated and the inhabitant (or keeper) was moved to another location.

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In May 1964 the light was converted to run off power supplied by a small atomic reactor, making it the first nuclear-powered lighthouse in the world. This experiment only lasted a year and the concept was not pursued further.

The lighthouse appears to be in operation today, in some capacity, as the picture below shows someone ascending it’s impressive stairs.  The Sandy Point Shoal Lighthouse stands nearby.

Location: Belair Road & Shannon Drive – (Street View)

A Servicemen’s Memorial is inconspicuously placed within a large bush on the edge of Herring Run Park.  At the corner of Belair Road and Shannon Drive, the monument displays an eagle atop a scroll containing the names of Belair community members that died during WWI.  Edward Berge, one of Baltimore’s most important realist sculptors, was commissioned to create the memorial.  Dedicated in 1921, the sculpture’s condition is decent, yet could stand some attention.  The 200 year old Columbus Obelisk towers nearby.

GPS: 39° 19′ 32.53″ N 76° 34′ 5.50″ W

Location: N Gay Street & N Fayette Street – (Street View – approximate)

The Cardinal James Gibbons plaque resides at the east side of War Memorial Plaza in downtown Baltimore.  Gibbons was born in Charm City, in 1834, at this location, the tablet commemorating the occasion.  Archdiocese of the Baltimore Catholic Church from 1877 until his death, the Cardinal was famous for fighting for worker’s rights, defending the vast numbers of Catholic laborers during the industrial period of America at the centuries turn.  His book, The Faith of Our Fathers is an enduring success, and continues to be his hallmark statement.   A statue of Gibbons sits outside of America’s first Cathedral, the Basilica of the Assumption.

GPS: 39° 17′ 27.04″ N 76° 36′ 33.54″ W

Nearby Monuments:

Location: N Gay Street & E Lexington Street – (Street View)

On the Fire Department Headquarters building at War Memorial Plaza is a plaque that was erected, in 1929, commemorating the 200 year anniversary of Baltimore Town.  In 1729, a group of citizens petitioned the British for the rights to establish a town near the Jones Falls.  The commission was authorized to buy 60 acres of land north of the Patapsco River, a tract of earth known then as Cole’s Harbour.  The town was to be divided into 60 lots, available first to the inhabitants of Baltimore County.  In 1732, Jonas Town (later Jones Town) was erected east of Baltimore Town and, in 1745, the two were combined to form the heart of Baltimore.  The tablet was designed by R. Foxhall Nolley.

GPS: 39° 17′ 28.98″ N 76° 36′ 33.72″ W

Nearby Monuments:

Location: E Fayette Street & N Front Street – (Street View)

When completed in 1828, the Phoenix Shot Tower was the tallest free-standing structure in the United States.  Designed to make ammunition for pistols, rifles and cannons, molten lead was dropped from the top of the tower into cold water at the bottom, forming a round “shot” in the process.  Rendered obsolete in 1892, the building was almost razed for a gas station until local residents pitched in to save it.  In 1972, the Phoenix Shot Tower was designated a National Historic Landmark.  Carroll Museums, Inc. maintains the tower today, offering guided weekend tours by appointment.

GPS: 39° 17′ 26.85″ N 76° 36′ 20.53″ W

Location: S Linwood Avenue & Eastern Avenue

This memorial plaque was affixed to a flagpole at Patterson Park in 1923.  The World War I marker is just a few steps away from Hans Schuler’s General Pulaski Monument, a majestic sculpture honoring one of America’s, and Poland’s, greatest war heroes.

GPS: 39° 17′ 13.17″ N 76° 34′ 36.77″ W