Monument City Blog

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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.