Branches of Baltimore History

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.  Then 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.  Along with the Munsey Building and the Garrett Mansion’s interior, Lovely Lane is one of three extant Baltimore buildings designed by Stanford White.

39° 18′ 17.10″ N 76° 37′ 11.73″ W

The Mount Royal Station & Train Shed (Map) is situated where N. Howard Street and W. Mount Royal Avenue meet. The building, constructed in 1896 and designed by E. Francis Baldwin & Josias Pennington, is steeped in the Italian Renaissance-style. With the train shed providing comfort and shelter in case of bad weather and the clock tower providing Baltimore’s landscape with another icon, the station was renowned for its blend of art and purpose. The clock was built by the E. Howard Watch and Clock Company of Boston.

In 1966 the Maryland Institute College of Art purchased the structure for their expanding campus. Before moving in, the school reconfigured the interior’s foyer, turning the two story open space into multiple floors with extra classrooms and studios. The granite and limestone exterior is unchanged. The property is used annually during the city’s Artscape celebration.

39° 17′ 14.79″ N 76° 37′ 14.85″ W

The Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower (Map) is two blocks north of Oriole Park at the intersection of S. Eutaw Street and W. Lombard Street.  Conceived by Captain Isaac Emerson and designed by Joseph Evans Sperry, the iconic structure was modeled after the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Captain Emerson invented Bromo-Seltzer, a hangover remedy containing sodium bromide, a toxic ingredient taken off the U.S. market in 1975. Bromo-Seltzer was sold nationwide and was very popular for its sedative qualities. Originally a giant bottle of the elixir stood on top of the clock tower. The factory at the base of the structure has since been replaced with a fire station. Today the tower is an enclave for some of Charm City’s artists, the historic building providing studios for painters, writers and photographers.

Druid Hill Park (Map) has an array of historic structures within its boundaries.  Built just before the Civil War, the enormous public estate features monuments, installations and buildings from a time before ours…

George A. Frederick’s Moorish Tower stands at the southeast edge of Druid Hill Lake.  After designing City Hall, Frederick worked as an architect for the Baltimore Park Commission from 1863-1895.  The Turkish style observatory and Chinese Station (now removed) were two of his creations in the park.

Another George Frederick design is the Palm House (or Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens) located at McCulloh and Gwynn Falls Parkway, near the zoo entrance.  Built in 1889, the Victorian style building is the last of Baltimore’s greenhouses still standing.  Carroll Park, Patterson Park and Clifton Park all had similar buildings at one time, each eventually falling victim to decay and demolition.  The Druid Hill Conservatory was restored in 2004, the process linking the five structures that make up the complex.  The facility is open to the public with two dollar donations appreciated.  The John Cook Memorial Sundial rests in a garden on the main building’s east side.

The headquarters for Baltimore’s Department of Recreation and Parks is housed in the restored Druid Hill bathhouse.  The building was segregated until 1956, and later abandoned when the city’s public bath system was closed a few years later.  After a $2.6 million renovation in 1994, the white marble structure was opened as the Dr. Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, Jr. Building.

The Mansion House sits on a hill over-looking a vast open set of fields.  Built in the early 19th century the building was the former residence of Nicholas Rogers.  Son of the Scotsman Lloyd Nicholas Rogers, Nicholas sold the mansion and estate to the city of Baltimore around 1860.  The English style residence and corresponding country landscape was preserved when the city began designing and constructing the park.  John H. B. Latrobe made alterations to the mansion during the park’s early development.  The building now contains the main office of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

Completed in 1871, Druid Hill Lake is one of the largest man-made lakes in the country.  It was a result of the first American earth dam construction, a milestone in our civil engineering history.  The lake is surrounded by a well-paved track and is lined with various statues and interesting architecture.

The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation (Map) stands at the corner of Maryland Avenue and West Preston Street in Charm City. Designed by the prolific Charles E. Cassell, the amphitheatrical building is a unique mixture of architectural practices. Cassell also designed the First Church of Christ, Scientists and the Stafford Hotel. Built in 1889, the structure was originally occupied by the Associate Congregational Church. In 1937 the Greek Orthodox community purchased the building for its growing congregation.

The Charlcote House (Map), located in the north Baltimore neighborhood of Guilford, was designed by John Russell Pope, the acclaimed American architect.  Pope also designed the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C., as well as Baltimore’s Museum of Art.  in 1914 construction began on the Charlcote House, the stately mansion created for James Swan Frick, the son of William Frederick Frick, an important lawyer for the B & O Railroad, the Consolidated Coal Company and the Consolidated Gas Company.  The nearly 100 year-old classical revival style building is situated just west of the Guilford Reservoir and is surrounded by an iron fence.

39° 17′ 5.96″ N 76° 37′ 14.82″ W

The B & O Warehouse at Camden Yards (Map) is located along the right field boundary of Oriole Park.  A former structure of the B & O Railroad, the narrow building was part of Baltimore’s Camden Station.  Early in the 19th century when trade with the western interior United States threatened Charm City’s historic port economy, a plan was hatched to build a railway connecting Baltimore to the Ohio River.  In 1856, Camden Station was completed, the complex becoming one of the first commercial railway lines in the world.  In 1905, construction on the warehouse was finished by James Stewart and Company, it’s unique design necessary so it could squeeze between Eutaw Street and the station’s pre-existing railroad tracks.  Today the structure contains offices for the Orioles‘ staff, businesses and restaurants.  At 1,116 feet, the Warehouse at Camden Yards is the longest building in America east of the Mississippi.

Baltimore’s Equitable Building (Map) was designed by architects Charles L. Carson and Joseph Evans Sperry.  The structure, located at 10 N. Calvert Street, was completed in 1891, and is the oldest building in Monument Square.  Built on the former site of Barnum’s Hotel, the Equitable was considered the city’s first skyscraper and contained Turkish baths in the basement.  The ten-story building is adjacent to Charm City’s two courthouses and the Battle Monument.  It’s exterior survived the Great Fire of 1904.

39° 17′ 25.24″ N 76° 36′ 44.90″ W

The Seventh Baptist Church (Map) is located at 1916 Saint Paul Street.  Started in 1845, the Seventh Baptist congregation once met in a meeting house on Calvert Street in Downtown.  Richard Fuller, a man known for his controversial 1840’s stance on slavery in the scriptures, was once head of the group.  The organization changed locations and affiliations several times, and in 1897 the North Avenue district was chosen for the church’s expansion.

39° 18′ 40.65″ N 76° 36′ 54.48″ W

The Alexander Brown Building (Map) stands at 135 E. Baltimore Street.  Built in 1901 by Alex. Brown & Sons, the first investment firm in America, the structure is one of few that survived Baltimore’s Great Fire of 1904. The company’s former headquarters (now Chevy Chase Bank) is an important monument to Charm City’s financial significance during the 19th century.  The building is also the first in U. S. history to be entirely heated by electricity.  In 1997, renovation was completed on the interior, restoring the century old bank to its original layout.

39° 17′ 22.71″ N 76° 36′ 44.84″ W