Branches of Baltimore History

At the corner of N. Holliday Street and E. Baltimore Street stands a monument to the first gas street lamp (Map) in the United States.  Erected in 1997, the lamp is a replica of the early 19th century original.  On the evening of June 11, 1816, local businessmen and socialites were invited to Rembrandt Peale’s Museum for a demonstration under the glow of artificial light.  During a candlelit period in American history the forward-thinking Peale aimed to form a business around his gas light innovations, the exhibition targeting potential investors.

The gamble worked, and several financiers aligned with Peale, promptly forming The Gas Light Company of Baltimore (the precursor to Baltimore Gas & Electric).  Less than a year later, on February 7, 1817, the first public gas street lamp was lit in a ceremony one block south of City Hall.  The photograph below (from The Story of America’s Oldest Museum Building by Wilbur Harvey Hunter) shows a replica of Peale’s early gas light mechanism.

Edward Johnson (1769-1829) was elected in 1808 as the third mayor of Baltimore, replacing Thorowgood Smith.  Johnson was subsequently re-elected in 1810, 1812, 1814, 1819 (when George Stiles resigned) and 1822.  In the summer of 1812, with war against the British imminent, an angry mob of Baltimoreans trapped and tortured a group of tories at city jail.  Mayor Johnson arrived in order to quell the situation, advising the prisoners and negotiating with the mob.  His stance against the instigators was an important political decision as Baltimore, and the United States, moved away from vigilantism.  He is also noted for owning the brewery in which Mary Pickersgill sewed the Star-Spangled Banner, America’s most significant flag.

A doctor by trade, Johnson began his medical practice the same year he entered politics.  During a serious yellow fever outbreak in 1819, Johnson donated $150.00 of his own money for the publication of a medical report on the epidemic.  His efforts proved central in ending the citywide health crisis.  This historical tablet (placed across the street from Carroll Mansion) marks the location of his former home.  Brewer’s Park (recently replaced with a hotel) was once next door.

39° 17′ 18.30″ N 76° 36′ 15.89″ W

Francis Scott Key, on a friendly mission to retrieve an imprisoned American doctor from a British warship, sailed out of Baltimore Harbor in early September, 1814.  On September 7, just a week before the Bombardment of Fort McHenry, Key and John Stuart Skinner boarded an enemy boat, eventually lobbying General Robert Ross for Dr. William Beanes’ release.  However, Key, Beanes and Skinner were not allowed to leave British captivity until after the Battle.  They returned to their ship but were tied to an enemy craft in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay.  On September 14th, after a day long barrage of mortar shells and Congreve rockets, Fort McHenry lowered its tattered flag and raised a much larger one in its place, inspiring Francis Scott to scribble a few stanzas on some letterhead.  Penned during battle with the British and eventually adapted to a British drinking song, the Star-Spangled Banner officially became America’s national anthem in 1931.

At 11 am on Tuesday, September 8th, 1914, the Francis Scott Key Buoy was lowered into the Patapsco River, marking the spot where the Baltimore lawyer, and sometimes poet, wrote the Star-Spangled Banner.  The ceremony was part of the week-long National Star-Spangled Centennial celebration.  Each year the buoy is removed before winter and replaced in the spring, allowing for maintenance and preservation.

39° 17′ 25.25″ N 76° 36′ 19.76″ W

9 North Front Street (Map) was the former residence of Thorowgood Smith, a successful merchant-shipper and Baltimore’s second mayor. Built around 1790, the Federal style residence served as Smith’s home between 1802 and 1804. During the 19th and 20th centuries the building was used as a hotel, an auto-parts shop and a restaurant. Purchased in 1971 by Baltimore City as part of the Shot Tower Park complex, the Women’s Civic League stepped in to sponsor the property’s restoration. The house apparently serves as the organization’s headquarters.

Smith also owned a mansion in the Union Square neighborhood named Willow Brook.  When Willow Brook was torn down in the 1960’s, the city rescued its stunning Oval Room and its contents.  The room was recreated at the Baltimore Museum of Art several times.

The Center Market (Map) was established in 1787 as one of three public bazaars (including Fell’s Point and Lexington) aiming to provide food and goods to Baltimore’s growing population.  With little or no public transportation available, these markets were essential to city life at the time.

Above one of the market’s original structures was the Maryland Institute College of Art.  The two story school was built on top of the building which covered an entire city block.  It was destroyed during the Great Fire of 1904, was rebuilt and existed until 1959, when it was torn down to make way for the Jones Falls Expressway.  Charm City’s first public bathroom was built on the property in 1907.

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Centre Market, built after the fire of February, 1904, on the site of Marsh Market, which was destroyed, is a splendid modern structure. It cost $500,650 and extends from Baltimore to Pratt street, three blocks. There are two great halls over the northern (Baltimore street) end, which are used by the night classes of the Maryland Institute. Twelve hundred pupils may be comfortably accommodated here. There is also another large hall above the produce section, which will seat 2500 persons. The wholesale and retail fish market, connected with the Centre, has been pronounced the most complete in the world.

This marker is placed on the west outside wall of the old Fish Market building, and is near the Great Fire tablet and Booth fountain.  Port Discovery, an interactive museum for kids, occupies the building today.

39° 17′ 20.72″ N 76° 36′ 24.54″ W

At 10:48 am on February 7, 1904, Baltimore’s great fire started with an explosion at the Hurst company building on the western side of the city.  Just over twenty-four hours later the flames were under control, but most of downtown was destroyed with few structures surviving the intense heat.  The conditions were so extreme that entire city blocks were gutted, while others were spared as the fires swept over them.  Remarkably, City Hall, the Courthouse and the Old Post Office were left untouched.  Nobody was killed in the massive blaze and Charm City rebuilt rapidly, using the opportunity to improve the town’s design.

The Great Fire of 1904 marker (Map) is located on the west side of the Port Discovery building.  The Center Market Commission marker and Booth fountain are nearby.

39° 17′ 20.54″ N 76° 36′ 24.54″ W

[MDHS Great Fire Photo List]

John Wilkes Booth was born in Harford County, MD and made his stage debut at Baltimore’s Charles Street Theatre.  The Booth family grave site is located in Baltimore’s Green Mount Cemetery (map) where John Wilkes rests under an unmarked stone. Small and unassuming, the marker sits at the corner of the family plot, dwarfed by the memorial obelisk at it’s center.

39° 18′ 25.66″ N 76° 36′ 21.70″ W

Buried here on January 26, 1869, four years after his death, John’s body went through a series of circumstances before ending up in Green Mount.  Originally inhumed at the Old Penitentiary on the Washington Arsenal grounds, the body was placed in an Army blanket and lowered into a hole that was subsequently covered with a stone slab.  Two years later it was exhumed and placed in a wooden box in a locked storeroom at the prison.  The government was finally persuaded to release the remains to the Booth family in 1869 where it was viewed in Washington and then Baltimore, before finally being placed in Dogwood Plot #9.

Tim and I traveled to the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum (Map) to see a replica of the author’s body lying in state.  For twelve hours on a cool Wednesday in October, Poe was available for viewing as part of a week long celebration marking the 200th anniversary of his birth, culminating in a Sunday service at Westminster Burying Grounds presided over by John Astin.  As we biked our way to the West Baltimore neighborhood the number of vacant rowhouses gradually increased as we neared the historic site.  We asked a few strategically placed police officers where the house was and they responded that it was right in front of us.  They even told us they’d watch our bikes while we were inside.  Ah Charm City.  Five dollars later we were touring the house Poe lived in during his lean years in our old town.  The place was fairly packed and we promptly made our way to the body.  Once inside the tiny room we encountered some giggling girls, took a quick look and rolled out.  It’s quite strange taking a pilgrimage to see a mannequin.  The rest of the minuscule abode contains rare memorabilia and merchandise.  The greatest benefit is the building’s severity of size, providing a glimpse into Poe’s life and American culture of the 1830’s.

39° 17′ 29.40″ N 76° 37′ 58.81″ W

This fountain is located at Port Discovery (Map) in downtown Charm City.  The fountain was donated by General Alfred E. Booth, one of Baltimore’s prominent businessmen during the 19th century.  It resembles this drinking fountain that once stood in next to the Battle Monument.

There are two markers placed nearby that are identical in style but commemorate different events.  One  memorializes the commission of Center Market and the other summarizes the Great Fire of 1904.

39° 17′ 19.41″ N 76° 36′ 25.12″ W

The Fell Family Cemetery (Map) is found in Fell’s Point on the slight Shakespeare Street.  Set between two narrow rowhouses, the memorial honors the founder of Fell’s Point, William Fell and his family.  In 1730, impressed by the port’s proximity to lush forests, Fell settled the waterfront property.  By the 1760’s William’s son Edward began plotting roads and selling lots as the area’s ship-building industry flourished.  The growing business district incorporated with Jones Town and Baltimore Town in 1797, creating Baltimore City.

The granite sarcophagus marks where four members of the Fell family, (brothers William and Edward and their two sons) are buried.  The graveyard is a frequent stop for local ghost tours as a well-dressed apparition is said to haunt the unique Fell’s Point location.  Once known as Bond Cemetery, the historic landmark is now referred to as the Fell Family Cemetery.