Branches of Baltimore History

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.

The Holliday Street Theatre used to be located directly across from Baltimore’s City Hall, at the present site of War Memorial Plaza.  Junius Brutus Booth, the father of John Wilkes Booth, made his first American appearance in the historic playhouse, as did the Star-Spangled Banner.  Aside from Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre, the Holliday was the oldest in the country, having been built in 1785.  A plaque is located at the base of War Memorial Plaza’s southern flagstaff marking the original spot of the building.

[Source]

“Built by Thomas Wignell and Alexander Reinagle in 1794, it was a wooden structure and stood on Holliday Street near Peale’s Museum and directly across from the site of Baltimore’s future city hall. Although it was officially the New Theatre, it soon became known as the Holliday. Later managers included William Warren and William B. Wood. After playing there John Howard Payne noted, “The attraction was the acting, not the scenery, of which the less said the better, nor the comfort experienced by the audience, since the seats were long, uncushioned benches without backs.” In 1813 it was replaced by a brick structure called the Baltimore Theatre, but again called the Holliday by Baltimoreans. “The Star Spangled Banner” received its first public performance there in 1819. The playhouse burned in 1873 and was rebuilt with a similar facade by John T. Ford, finally officially called the Holliday Street Theatre. Management was later assumed by John W. Albaugh. Long known as Baltimore’s “Old Drury,” it remained an important playhouse until shortly before its demolition in 1917.”

On the second floor of City Hall numerous memorial sculptures and tablets are on public display.  Two statues, one of Thomas Gordon Hayes and one of William Pinkney Whyte, dominate the group.  The former Baltimore City mayors were sculpted by Edward Berge (Hayes) and Hans Schuler (Whyte), adding to the large number of local public statues created by the pair.  Another Schuler sculpture honoring the 100th anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner is also nearby.

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:

Hans Schuler’s Centennial Eagle, created for the Centennial Celebration of the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner, is displayed on City Hall’s second floor.  The sculpture, dedicated in 1914, was originally positioned on the outside front of the building, but has since been restored and moved inside.  A dedication plaque is affixed to the statue’s plinth.  Its inscription reads:

TO COMMEMORATE THE CENTENARY OF THE WRITING OF THE AMERICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM “THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER” AND AS AN EXPRESSION OF THE PATRIOTIC SPIRIT WHICH IT INSPIRES.  ERECTED BY NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE U. S. DAUGHTERS OF 1812