Branches of Baltimore History

39° 19′ 58.78″ N 76° 36′ 47.57″ W

Grace Turnbull’s House is located at 223 Chancery Road (Map) just north of Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus. Turnbull was an artist of extraordinary perseverance, one of Baltimore’s treasures she lived until 95, producing a series of sculptures, paintings and writings throughout her life. The house was designed by her architect brother and contains four large beams sculpted by Grace herself. Built in 1929, the house was once situated in rural Waverly. As the city expanded a community grew around the historic house, the estate forming the center of the north Baltimore neighborhood of Guilford.

Part of the realist generation of American artists, Turnbull (1880-1976) exemplified a fiery spirit, carving marble with a hammer and chisel until she was 90. Her Reese Monument sits on a grassy knoll in front of the old Eastern High School building on 33rd street. The massive marble sculpture is directly across from the former site of Memorial Stadium.

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In November 1894, (Daniel Coit) Gilman asked William Keyser, former president of the Baltimore Copper Company, for his assistance in securing another site (for Johns Hopkins University). In 1898 Keyser’s cousin, William Wyman, approached him with an offer to donate to the University sixty acres, situated west of Charles Street and south of the intersection with University Parkway (then known as Merryman’s Lane). The two men, together with a group of four friends, worked in secrecy over the next three years to secure options on adjacent tracts, and in early 1901 offered 179 acres to the University, on the condition that it add one million dollars to its endowment. There was a delay as the University proved unable to raise the money, but after renewing their options, the donors offered the land again. This time the only condition was that not less than thirty acres of the property be given to the city for use as a public park. The trustees accepted the offer on February 22, 1902, and the University had a new campus, Homewood.

39° 19′ 35.28″ N 76° 37′ 4.74″ W

The Wyman Park Gatehouse (Map) is located at the corner of N. Charles Street and Art Museum Drive. The Gatehouse once marked the entrance to the Wyman Estate, a vast rural tract of land north of the city.  Samuel Wyman purchased the Homewood property from Charles Carroll of Carrollton’s grandson in 1839. The Wyman family owned the land until 1902 when they presented it to Johns Hopkins University.  Part of the land was preserved as a city park named in their honor. In 1965 the Johns Hopkins News-Letter moved their headquarters into the gatehouse.

39° 19′ 46.46″ N 76° 37′ 7.71″ W

The Homewood House Museum (Map) is located at 3400 N. Charles Street, just inside the east entrance to Johns Hopkins University. The building’s construction began in 1801 and and continued during the decade that followed . The estate was a gift from Charles Carroll of Carrollton to his son (Charles Carroll, Jr.) and his new bride. A signer of the Declaration of Independence and one of the wealthiest men in America at the time, Charles Carroll of Carrollton gave his son an unlimited budget to design and erect the stately manor.  The five-part Georgian style house was elaborate and ornate for its time.  After passing through the Carroll line the property was sold to Samuel Wyman, a successful Baltimore businessman.  Wyman’s family eventually gave the land and its constructs to Johns Hopkins University.  Restoration began on the mansion house in 1929 and was later completed in the 1980’s.  Once the headquarters of the College, today the historic building is a period museum open to the public

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A National Historic Landmark built in 1801 by Charles Carroll Jr. and one of the nation’s best-surviving examples of Federal-period architecture, Homewood Museum is renowned for its elegant proportions, fine workmanship, and extravagant details, including intricately carved woodwork, stylish faux finishes, and ornate plaster ceiling ornaments. Its collection of American decorative arts includes objects contemporary to or associated with the Carroll family, including superb examples of Baltimore furniture.

39° 17′ 25.25″ N 76° 36′ 19.76″ W

9 North Front Street (Map) was the former residence of Thorowgood Smith, a successful merchant-shipper and Baltimore’s second mayor. Built around 1790, the Federal style residence served as Smith’s home between 1802 and 1804. During the 19th and 20th centuries the building was used as a hotel, an auto-parts shop and a restaurant. Purchased in 1971 by Baltimore City as part of the Shot Tower Park complex, the Women’s Civic League stepped in to sponsor the property’s restoration. The house apparently serves as the organization’s headquarters.

Smith also owned a mansion in the Union Square neighborhood named Willow Brook.  When Willow Brook was torn down in the 1960’s, the city rescued its stunning Oval Room and its contents.  The room was recreated at the Baltimore Museum of Art several times.

The City Life Museums was a series of historically significant buildings and exhibits once maintained by the Baltimore municipality.  In 1997, Mayor Kurt Schmoke shut them down due to poor attendance and funding issues. The Maryland Historical Society was able to acquire the significant contents of the museums after they were closed.

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The MDHS is the big winner in the liquidation of the Baltimore City Life Museums, which was forced to padlock its doors June 21, 1997.  It will add to the society’s collection 58 paintings by members of the Rembrandt Peale family, thus becoming the biggest repository of Peale art anywhere.  The historical society will also acquire and display in its Mount Vernon buildings the rest of the City Life memorabilia.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that the future of various City Life buildings is uncertain.

Independent companies have stepped in to keep some of the historic sites open.  Carroll Museums, Inc. is running the Carroll Mansion complex and the Phoenix Shot Tower, offering tours on weekend afternoons for as low as five dollars.  However, the Peale Museum and H. L. Mencken House are still closed, two important buildings that deserve being rescued.  The Friends of the H. L. Mencken House is working to save the Union Square home that Mencken lived his entire life in.  On December 13, 2009 the rowhouse was open as part of the neighborhood’s annual Christmas Cookie Tour.

The Peale Museum’s future is still uncertain.  I’ve heard rumors that Baltimore may use the facility as a conference center for City Hall employees, but for now the building is vacant.  Opened just months before the Bombardment of Fort McHenry, the Peale Museum is one of the city’s most significant historical artifacts.

The list below comprises the former City Life Museums:

• Baltimore’s Peale Museum
• Phoenix Shot Tower
• Carroll Mansion
• H. L. Mencken House
• Fava Building (1840s Plaza) or Morton K. Blaustein City Life Exhibition Center
• Brewer’s Park (across from Carroll mansion)
• Center for Urban Archaeology
• John Hutchinson House (1840s House)

39° 17′ 27.12″ N 76° 36′ 36.02″ W

City Hall (Map) was dedicated in 1875. It replaced the Peale Museum, the forty-six year temporary home for city employees, and was an important step in Baltimore’s development as a prominent American city. Located at 100 N. Holliday Street, the baroque revival styled structure was designed by the twenty-two year old George A. Frederick. Frederick also designed the Edgar Allan Poe Monument, Hollins Market and the Cylburn House during his long and successful career.  Wendel Bollman created the rotunda’s iron dome.

At the behest of then Mayor William Donald Schaefer, the building’s interior was remodeled, in 1976, after signs of dangerous deterioration were noticed. Baltimore’s City Hall is the only building of its kind in America that was renovated to continue as a city hall. In 2009 the city government voted to restore the exterior marble that was cracking. A half a million dollars was allocated and the restoration is underway.

On the second floor several statues are on display. Two Hans Schuler pieces, the Centennial Eagle and William Pinkney Whyte statue, along with Edward Berge’s likeness of Thomas Gordon Hayes, dominate the bronze exhibits.

Thorowgood Smith (1744-1810) was a merchant-shipper that established himself in Baltimore during the 18th century. He owned 26 acres of land in what is now known as the Union Square neighborhood. In 1799 Smith’s stately manor, Willow Brook, was completed making it one of the finest abodes in the city. Financial hardships occurred when Smith’s shipping investments went south and he was forced to sell the mansion. Around 1802 Smith moved into a small home on the edge of town that still stands today. Situated in Shot Tower park, the House at 9 North Front Street is maintained by the Women’s Civic League.  Smith was the city’s second mayor, holding the post from 1804 to 1808.  When he died in 1810, his estate was left to his wife and then nephew, John Donnell. Donnell began dividing the property into lots for sale as the harbor and adjoining communities began to thrive.

Smith wore personally designed eyeglasses attached by a ribbon that wrapped around the top of his head. This distinctive look was used by Smith to avoid pinching the bridge of his nose. The portrait is located in room 215 of City Hall. It once hung in the Peale Museum.

The Center Market (Map) was established in 1787 as one of three public bazaars (including Fell’s Point and Lexington) aiming to provide food and goods to Baltimore’s growing population.  With little or no public transportation available, these markets were essential to city life at the time.

Above one of the market’s original structures was the Maryland Institute College of Art.  The two story school was built on top of the building which covered an entire city block.  It was destroyed during the Great Fire of 1904, was rebuilt and existed until 1959, when it was torn down to make way for the Jones Falls Expressway.  Charm City’s first public bathroom was built on the property in 1907.

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Centre Market, built after the fire of February, 1904, on the site of Marsh Market, which was destroyed, is a splendid modern structure. It cost $500,650 and extends from Baltimore to Pratt street, three blocks. There are two great halls over the northern (Baltimore street) end, which are used by the night classes of the Maryland Institute. Twelve hundred pupils may be comfortably accommodated here. There is also another large hall above the produce section, which will seat 2500 persons. The wholesale and retail fish market, connected with the Centre, has been pronounced the most complete in the world.

This marker is placed on the west outside wall of the old Fish Market building, and is near the Great Fire tablet and Booth fountain.  Port Discovery, an interactive museum for kids, occupies the building today.

39° 17′ 20.72″ N 76° 36′ 24.54″ W

At 10:48 am on February 7, 1904, Baltimore’s great fire started with an explosion at the Hurst company building on the western side of the city.  Just over twenty-four hours later the flames were under control, but most of downtown was destroyed with few structures surviving the intense heat.  The conditions were so extreme that entire city blocks were gutted, while others were spared as the fires swept over them.  Remarkably, City Hall, the Courthouse and the Old Post Office were left untouched.  Nobody was killed in the massive blaze and Charm City rebuilt rapidly, using the opportunity to improve the town’s design.

The Great Fire of 1904 marker (Map) is located on the west side of the Port Discovery building.  The Center Market Commission marker and Booth fountain are nearby.

39° 17′ 20.54″ N 76° 36′ 24.54″ W

[MDHS Great Fire Photo List]