Monument City Blog

This waiting station was part of Bedford Square Streetcar Line No. 11. Operated by the United Railways and Electric Company, the streetcar line was developed to supply Guilford residents with reliable and affordable access to the city. Built between 1913 and 1950, Guilford is a north Baltimore neighborhood designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr. The 210 acre suburban tract is characterized by rolling hills, regal homes and classic landscaping. The historic community was serviced by trolley until 1947 when the progression towards automobiles finally overtook the interurban railway. The Bedford Square Station was converted to a bus stop and later a monument. A bust of Simon Bolivar is across the street.

Druid Hill Park is as tranquil as the city of Baltimore gets. The 150 year old park stretches out over 700 acres, much of which is covered in forest cut with simple utility roads and bike trails. The Jones Falls Trailhead is accessible from the Woodberry / Clipper Mill area just around the corner from Woodberry Kitchen. Once you’re on the trail you can either exit to the northwest side of the park along Philosopher’s Walk or take the work roads through the woods along the path of the Jones Falls.  The little used roads wind through the dense foliage along the northern boundary of the zoo.  The other day I rounded an unfamiliar bend and found the fenced off ruins of a building.  After a little research I found that the structure was once Druid Hill’s blacksmith shop.  The historic building is without a roof but its foundation and outside walls remain.  The old repair shop is situated next to a peaceful waterfall.

“Burn the theatre,” was the first thing Edman Spangler heard following John Wilkes Booth’s infamous fatal shot on April 14, 1865. Edman Spangler, sometimes known as Ned or Edmund, was a carpenter at Ford’s Theatre and was an acquaintance of Booth’s, occasionally caring for the actor’s horse which was stabled behind the Washington D.C. playhouse. He claimed to have no knowledge of Booth’s escape route, but his story is contradicted by another stagehand working that night. Jake Rittersback claims Spangler told him to keep quiet when the two spoke after the assassination.

This and other damning testimony about his Confederate leanings and distaste for the president lead to his eventual arrest and sentencing of six years in jail. He traveled on the USS Florida to Fort Jefferson with Samuel Mudd, Samuel Arnold and Michael O’Laughlen, three other Booth co-conspirators.

On December 25, 1868 President Andrew Johnson pardoned the four convicts. Edman Spangler returned to Baltimore with Samuel Arnold and went to work as a carpenter at the Holliday Street Theatre for John T. Ford, his former boss and the previous owner of Ford’s Theatre. In 1873 the Holliday burned down and Spangler moved to Dr. Samuel Mudd’s farm in what is now Waldorf, MD where he lived out his final years. He is buried two miles from the Mudd residence in the St. Peter’s Church burial ground.

The Cathedral of the Incarnation, designed by architect Philip H. Frohman, stands at the top of historic Clover Hill. Frohman is best known for his work on the Washington National Cathedral, a project he supervised from 1921 until his death in 1972. The Peace Cross Memorial is on the church grounds and the Confederate Women of Maryland Monument is across Charles Street.

Local Filmmaker Steve Blair wrote and directed the comedy “I Do & I Don’t” starring Jane Lynch. Shot entirely in Baltimore, Blair and his crew filmed several scenes featuring the Cathedral of the Incarnation at 4 East University Parkway.

Mother Seton Statue	Saint Mary’s Chapel	Saint Mary’s Chapel	Orchard Street Church

In the Seton Hill Historic District, just a few blocks west of the Washington Monument, is the Mother Seton House and Saint Mary’s Chapel. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born U.S. citizen to be canonized by the Catholic Church, moved into the house with her five children on June 16, 1808. On the same day, French born architect Maximilian Godefroy’s Saint Mary’s Chapel was dedicated by America’s first bishop, John Carroll, in the adjoining yard. A year later Mrs. Seton would move her family to Emmitsburg, MD where she eventually started the country’s first free school for girls and a thriving Catholic community. This statue sits just inside the fence to the right of the Mother Seton House at 600 North Paca Street and was designed by the St. Jude Liturgical Arts Studio.

Saint Mary’s Chapel has been operating as a religious institution for over 200 years and is incredibly well-maintained. Designed by Maximilian Godefroy, who also created the city’s Battle Monument and First Unitarian Church, the humble structure is deceptively elegant. Surrounding the property is a large peaceful park where the seminary once stood, adding a countryside context to the historic site.

Two blocks west at 512 Orchard Street is the Orchard Street Church. Founded in 1825 by Truman Pratt, the church was used extensively as an Underground Railroad stop. A near mile long tunnel can apparently be toured by appointment.

The Baltimore Trust Building (or Bank of America Building) is located downtown across W. Baltimore Street from the William Donald Schaefer Tower. Built between 1924-1929 by the architects Taylor, Fisher, Smith and May, the ‘setback’ style skyscraper is a monument to the financial history of Charm City. As the Great Depression materialized the building’s occupant, the Baltimore Trust Company, went into bankruptcy, eventually vacating the tower by 1935. The virtually brand new Mayan Revival structure stood empty just six years after its completion. Maryland’s Public Works Administration moved in shortly after under the direction of FDR and his New Deal. By 1961, with the country’s economy stabilized, the Maryland National Bank purchased the structure. In 1993 the Bank of America acquired Maryland National, turning the 37-floor building into its downtown office.

The skyscraper is decorated inside and out with various sculptures and paintings. Mayan statues stare down to the street from above while significant relief work surrounds the entrance ways to the bank’s main lobby. One relief shows the old Baltimore Trust Bank being protected by a God during the Great Fire of 1904. The bank’s much smaller former building was spared when most of downtown went up in devastating flames. The building’s large open-space lobby contains murals depicting significant Baltimore events by local artists Robert McGill Mackall and Griffith Baily Coale.

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.

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)

In 1930, the Peale Museum was saved from possible demolition. Over a hundred years of varied use had left the Robert Cary Long, Sr. deigned building in disrepair, and the city government was seriously considering its sale. Baltimore residents and journalists rallied to protect one of the first museum buildings erected in the western hemisphere. Eventually the Mayor was convinced and Rembrandt Peale’s Baltimore Museum was targeted for a complete rehabilitation.

Assigned to head the restoration project was local architect John H. Scarff, a partner in the Wyatt and Nolting firm. Scarff studied original drawings and historic photographs of the salon, and restored its original design and floor plan. The portico was rebuilt and a bas-relief sculpture, conceived by R. McGill Mackall and executed by Benjamin Turner Kurtz, was installed above it. In the building’s rear, a courtyard was constructed with pediment from the demolished Union Bank building embedded in its northern wall. The city reopened the museum in 1931.

The Mount Royal Station & Train Shed 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.