Monument City Blog

Edmund George Lind was one of America’s earliest successful architects. Born in England in 1829, Lind eventually studied at the London School of Design. After apprenticing in several offices in his home country, he moved to America to work for N. G. Starkwether. The partnership gained commissions in Baltimore with Lind working on Starkwether’s design of Mount Vernon’s First and Franklin Presbyterian Church. The young architect soon switched firms, joining William T. Murdoch. Edmund’s most famous work, the Peabody Institute & Library, comes from this period.

Lind’s artistic endeavors were not limited to building design. He was interested in the correlation between math, music and color. Inspired by the acoustic properties of his physical creations, Edmund began using the number seven to create the perfect environment for sound. He noticed the relationship between the seven colors of the spectrum and the seven tones of the diatonic scale. Applying these principals to popular music of the time, Lind created visual representations of song. One piece he transposed to color was Francis Scott Key’s Star-Spangled Banner. His essays and drawings on the subject are kept at the Peabody Library.

Buildings in Baltimore designed by Edmund George Lind:

• Memorial Episcopal Church
• Charles Street Masonic Lodge
• Sharp Street United Methodist Church
• Peabody Institute (with William T. Murdoch)
• Peabody Library
• Baltimore Hebrew Cemetery Gatehouse
• Enoch Pratt House (4th floor addition)

Baltimore’s Green Mount Cemetery is the final resting place of sideshow performer Johnny Eck. Section R, grave 19 contains the remains of Johnny and his fraternal twin brother Robert. The Ecks (or Eckhardts) were born in East Baltimore in the same house they eventually died in. Traveling often, the brothers always returned to their family home, maintaining the quaint rowhouse even as the neighborhood around it slowly declined. The house was purchased by an Eck enthusiast and is being converted to a museum.

Johnny was a true American icon, born with nothing below his torso, he transformed his inadequacy into a prosperous business. He walked tightropes, performed magic, created models, acted in movies and drove his own modified car. Johnny Eck died in 1991, followed four years later by his brother and lifelong companion, Robert. This modest monument marks their permanent address.

In 1863, George A. Frederick became the city’s architect for the Baltimore Park Commission, holding the position until 1895. Frederick created Druid Hill’s observatory and greenhouse, along with several buildings in Patterson Park and Federal Hill Park. Between 1867 and 1868 this monumental gateway was constructed at Druid Hill Park’s Madison Avenue entrance. There is some speculation that John H. B. Latrobe, son of architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe, designed the sandstone entranceway, but it’s more likely that Frederick was behind the construct. Either way, the gateway serves as a fitting monument to one of America’s oldest parks. The Repeal Statue is a few paces away.

On September 12, 1914, during the citywide centennial celebration of the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner, Baltimore dedicated Fort McHenry as a public park. 6500 school children were arranged on a grandstand in the form of a massive human flag. The children, accompanied by a 250 piece marching band, sang Francis Scott Key’s historic anthem, a song inspired and written during the Battle of Baltimore. The Star-Spangled Banner would finally become the nation’s official anthem in 1931. Edward Berge’s George Armistead Monument was unveiled during the day’s festivities.

Light Street & E Conway Street, Inner Harbor (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 3.69″ N 76° 36′ 43.70″ W

History

Mayor of Baltimore from 1971 to 1987, William Donald Schaefer was central to the redevelopment of our city. The Inner Harbor, Oriole Park at Camden Yards and countless historical preservation projects dominate his political legacy. After nearly two decades as mayor, Schaefer became Governor of Maryland, serving the maximum two terms. In 1998 he became Comptroller of Maryland, a post he held until January of 2007. The often controversial Schaefer was never far from criticism, and his numerous remarks on immigration and women constantly sparked sharp responses from press and political rivals. However, his intense passion for Baltimore (and Maryland) have cast a positive light on the man, his work outliving his words.

Notes

The William Donald Schaefer statue stands in Bicentennial Plaza, next to the Visitor’s Center, serenely surveying the Inner Harbor. The left hand is raised and waving while the right hand holds a “Mayor’s Action Memorandum.” Dedicated on Schaefer’s 88th birthday, the bronze likeness actually depicts the politician in 1980, midway through his term as Baltimore’s chief administrator. With Schaefer’s declining health making posing difficult, sculptor Rodney Carroll used old photographs, video and borrowed family items to create the ideal monument. The result is a powerful representation of one of Charm City’s most important (and unique) public servants. The statue was unveiled on November 2, 2009, with Willy Don attending the ceremony.

Nearby

• Thurgood Marshall Statue
• Babe Ruth Statue
• Memorial Urn
• Johnny Unitas Statue

Links

• On Flickr & Panoramio [2]
• Baltimore Sun article

Stanford White (1853-1906) was one of the most successful and gifted architects of the Gilded Age. A partner in the prominent New York design firm, McKim, Mead and White, Stanford was known for his detailed artistic renderings. Specializing in elaborate private residences, he created a variety of houses throughout the eastern United States, along with public buildings and churches. The second Madison Square Garden was designed by White, its rooftop the eventual site of his highly publicized murder.

In 1906, White was shot in the head by the millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw during the premiere performance of Mam’zelle Champagne. Thaw, an avid drug user and possible sadist, was the husband of 21 year-old Evelyn Nesbit, a model, actress and former lover of White. The murder was mistaken as exhibition by the excited Madison Square Roof Garden crowd, cheers gleefully trailing three point blank pistol shots. Two massively popular trials ensued and Thaw, after pleading temporary insanity, was sentenced to an asylum. He walked in 1915 and continued his abusive, bizarre life.

White designed north Baltimore’s Lovely Lane United Methodist Church in 1884. Also known as the First Methodist Episcopal Church, the building at 2200 Saint Paul Street was completed in 1887. The Romanesque Revival style construct was modeled after the basilicas of Italy, the tower closely resembling Pomposa Abbey.

Buildings in Baltimore designed by Stanford White:

• Lovely Lane Church
• Catherine Hooper Hall
• Bennett Hall
• Goucher House
• Winans House
• Garrett House
• Munsey Building (McKim, Mead & White)