Workers laid the cornerstone of the Hampden Presbyterian Church in 1875 and dedicated the building two years later. The sturdy structure is made of Texas Limestone, named for the unincorporated town in Baltimore County where the quarry is located. The church originally housed a Sunday school on the first floor and a sanctuary on the second floor.
In the 1970s, after experiencing a steady decline in parishioners and financial difficulties, the Hampden Presbyterian Church merged with nearby Waverly Presbyterian Church. The newly merged congregations used the Waverly church for services and the Hampden building served other purposes including as a community center, clinic, offices, and apartments.
In 2011, the congregation sold the building and Church & Company moved in. Owners Alex Fox and Joey Rubulata removed the old paint, paneling and ceiling tiles that accumulated from years of different uses and restored the sanctuary to its original layout. Church and Co. rent the sanctuary out for weddings, large gatherings, and music performances, and a vintage clothing store now occupies the old Sunday school portion of the building.
In 1885, Baltimore City set out to build the most beautiful Courthouse in the country. Fifteen years, and $2.2 million later ($56 million adjusted for inflation), that goal was realized. On January 6, 1900, the Baltimore Sun reported that the City of Baltimore had built a 鈥渢emple of justice, second to no other in the world.鈥 The building, which is a magnificent exemplification of Renaissance Revival architecture, continues to stand as a monument to the progress of the great city of Baltimore, and to the importance of the rule of law. Today, this main building in the Baltimore City Circuit Court complex is referred to as the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse in honor of the local lawyer and nationally respected civil rights leader. Most of the original splendor of this massive building can still be enjoyed, including the granite foundation, marble facades, huge brass doors, mosaic tiled floors, mahogany paneling, two of the world鈥檚 most beautiful courtrooms, domed art skylights, gigantic marble columns, and beautifully painted murals. In addition, the Courthouse is home to one of the oldest private law libraries in the country, and to the Museum of Baltimore Legal History. The exterior foundation of the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse was built from granite quarried in Howard County, while the exterior walls are crafted from white marble quarried in Baltimore County. The Calvert Street exterior fa莽ade is especially outstanding, as it displays eight of the largest monolithic columns in the world, each weighing over 35 tons and measuring over 35 feet in height. The interior of the building is even more impressive. Among the many historic spaces, the Supreme Bench Courtroom is one of the finest. The circular courtroom is like no other in the world. It is surmounted by a coffered dome resting upon sixteen columns of Sienna marble from the Vatican Quarry in Rome. Inscribed upon the frieze around the base of the dome are the names of Maryland鈥檚 early legal legends. Other fascinating rooms include the Old Orphans Courtroom (which houses the Museum of Baltimore Legal History); the Ceremonial Courtroom, and the Bar Library (described as one of the most elegant interior spaces in Baltimore, with its paneled English oak walls and barrel-vault ceiling punctuated by forty art glass skylights). Also noteworthy for its artistic beauty are the two domed stained-glass skylights above the stairs in Kaplan Court which depict the goddesses of Justice, Mercy, Religion, Truth, Courage, Literature, Logic and Peace. In addition, the courthouse has six original murals from world renowned artists depicting various civic and religious scenes. Those murals include: Calvert鈥檚 Treaty with the Indians; The Burning of the Peggy Stewart; Washington Surrenders His Commission; Religious Toleration; The Ancient Lawgivers; and The British Surrender at Yorktown.
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with research support from Friends of Maryland's Olmsted Parks and Landscapes
Clifton Park is Baltimore鈥檚 fourth oldest country landscape park after Druid Hill, Patterson, and Carroll Parks. Around 1800, Baltimore merchant Henry Thompson purchased the rural property and began transforming the farmhouse into a federal style mansion called Clifton. In 1841, Johns Hopkins purchased the estate and hired William Saunders, a Scottish immigrant and professional horticulturist, to improve the grounds. Hoping his eponymous university would one day relocate to Clifton, Hopkins left it to the school. During the Hopkins trustees鈥 tenure at Clifton, the landscape gardens were not well-maintained. Baltimore City condemned part of the estate to build a reservoir (now the site of a high school) and the impressive American gothic style valve house. In 1894 when the value of stock in the B&O Railroad plummeted, the trustees sold Clifton to Baltimore City for $1 million to raise operating expenses for the university. In 1895, the Baltimore Park Commission began making improvements for a public park and invested in the rehabilitation of various gardens and roadways. The Olmsted Brothers 1904 report recognized Clifton as one of the city鈥檚 major parks that would anchor the system. The firm recommended that a comprehensive plan be prepared for Clifton, but instead, the Park Commission retained them to design a series of projects over the course of nine years. The first project was an athletic ground in the southern part below the railroad, where an Olmsted era stone wall still remains. The Olmsted Brothers also designed a swimming pool, which at the time was the largest concrete swimming pool in the country. In addition, they planned a band shell, which was damaged by fire significantly in 1947. A renovated and stripped band shell stands in its place today. Later additions to the park that are also historically significant include Baltimore鈥檚 first public golf course (1916) and Mothers鈥 Garden (1928), originally dedicated to 鈥淭he Mothers of Baltimore.鈥 Following decades of abuse, Clifton鈥檚 Italianate villa is stabilized and the current tenant, Civic Works, is restoring the interior.
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The Clifton Park Valve House on St. Lo Drive in Clifton Park is a magnificent Gothic revival stone and tile-roofed structure built between 1887 and 1888. It was built to house the machinery used in the operation of Lake Clifton, which was once part of the city鈥檚 water supply and was connected to Lake Montebello to the north by a 108-inch underground pipe. Large wheels were set underneath the floor of the Valve House to regulate the flow of water from Lake Montebello. Lake Clifton began to be filled and developed with Lake Clifton High School in 1962. No longer needed, the Valve House was abandoned at that time. Designed in the style of a small medieval cathedral, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. By then it was already in a state of disrepair and 糖心影视 first recognized it as endangered. Baltimore City owns the building, and in 2003 a private developer began plans for the restoration and reuse of the building. This effort did not mature, and the City continues to own the building.
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Upholstering furniture for homes, hospitals, restaurants, and Hollywood for over a hundred years.
The unassuming space on Harford Road belies the work performed there by its craftspeople. Clifton Upholstering has reupholstered everything from that old couch in the den to 16th century French chairs to period pieces for several locally filmed movies and TV shows, not to mention furnishings for innumerable restaurants and hotels in the area.
Jeremiah Fox began this upholstery business in 1915 a few miles south of its current location, initially working primarily on home furniture. Needless to say, the company has expanded considerably since then. Not many years after starting his business, Mr. Fox began working with Robert M. Baxter,Sr., who had his own carpet and drapery business. Mr. Baxter eventually bought the business and now his son, Bob, is operating it.
As the company grew, they took on more and more intricate work restoring antique furniture, such as a sofa made by a coffin maker in the 1740s. It was signed by the maker as well as at least two of the craftspeople who reupholstered it over the next two centuries. The most recent reupholstering was done by Clifton in the 1990s for the Engineers Club on Mt. Vernon Place. And, yes, it was signed by the employee who worked on it, Harvey Teets.
Working in similar grand, historic homes in Baltimore can become a lesson in local history. For instance, Agora Publishing contracted Clifton to do some work at the Tiffany Mansion across from the Engineers Club. While working there, they learned one of the family members was a Rough Rider with Teddy Roosevelt. Also, as the work progressed, a tapestry was discovered in a 4鈥 x 15鈥 shadow box that had been covered over with drywall by a previous owner.
Furniture sometimes comes to them from around the world, such as the aforementioned 16th century French chairs, which were purchased by a consignor for a wealthy client. The ten chairs, which cost $230,000 a piece, now surround a dining room table in Singapore.
Less exotic, but no less interesting, is the work done on several films, most recently for Lady in the Lake. Other work includes the TV crime dramas, Homicide: Life on the Street, and The Wire, as well as several John Waters films, such as Dirty Shame. The latter included work on a special seat for a police car. The front seat had to accommodate a character who liked to wear diapers, which meant someone with a 54鈥 waist. It was upholstered in teddy bear felt with baby blue vinyl.
The 鈥渟teady鈥 work continues to come in from local families who want a chair or couch reupholstered. Also, larger jobs are provided through their partnership with the Maryland Restaurant Association. Their work can be found all over the city in places as diverse as Ruth's Chris Steak House and Johns Hopkins Hospital.
It is never dull work. Even the mundane jobs sometimes turn into something of note, like the time they found $3,000 in cash under some couch cushions.
Before the corner of N Charles and W Eager was a CVS, it was a Baltimore institution: Club Hippo. For more than 35 years, Club Hippo was a refuge for Baltimore鈥檚 queer community. The dance venue was always a place where, as the club's motto read, 鈥渆verybody is welcome.鈥 The space gave people the ability to express themselves freely without fear.聽 The Hippo鈥檚 owner during this time was Charles 鈥淐huck鈥 Bowers. Bowers purchased the club in 1978 from its original owners, Kenny Elbert and Don Endbinder. In 1972 Elbert and Endbinder had turned the space into a gay-friendly nightclub. But Bowers was the one responsible for turning the club into a cornerstone of Baltimore鈥檚 queer community and the Mount Vernon business district. For instance, Baltimore City鈥檚 annual Pride Block Party, with few exceptions, took place at the intersection of Charles and Eager street, anchored by the Hippo.聽 During the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, Bowers was an outspoken advocate for gay men who contracted the disease. The Hippo at this time also hosted performances by Broadway stars. The Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS organization sponsored the performances to spread awareness and raise money to fight the deadly disease.聽 Bowers also helped to raise money for local charities fighting the AIDS epidemic including Baltimore鈥檚 Movable Feast and Light Health and Wellness by putting on fundraisers at the Hippo. Baltimore鈥檚 Movable Feast is an organization that provides meals to people with chronic and life threatening illnesses, including AIDS. In 1997, cast members of the Broadway touring company of 鈥淐ats鈥 treated the guests of the Hippo to a special performance in order to raise money for Baltimore鈥檚 Movable Feast. Light Health and Wellness is a nonprofit that helps Baltimore youth and families who are affected by HIV/AIDS. The Hippo served an important role as a place for members of the community to come together to support each other in both good times and bad times.聽 Although the club permanently closed in October 2015, those that danced there cherish聽 fond memories of the Baltimore institution. Erik J. Akelaitis, who attended the final dance at Club Hippo said:聽 "Although I had a blast dancing and reminiscing with friends one last time, it was sad to see a long-standing Baltimore institution, landmark, and vital part of Baltimore鈥檚 LGBT history come to an end. The dance floor was packed one last time with a playlist of songs they had played over the years. It felt like old times, and the way things should be鈥 where everyone is welcome!"聽
The research and writing of this article was funded by two grants: one from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority and one from the Baltimore National Heritage Area.
The Columbus Monument is a forty-four foot tall brick and cement obelisk standing in a small park at Harford Road and Walther Boulevard. The monument to Christopher Columbus was erected by French consul, Charles Francis Adrian le Paulmier Chevalier d'Anmour, in 1792, to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Columbus鈥 arrival to the Americas.
After discovering that the newly created United States had no monuments dedicated to Columbus, the Chevalier decided to erect a monument to commemorate the Italian explorer and colonizer. The base of the monument was incised with the words 鈥淪acred to the memory of Chris. Columbus, Octob. XII, MDCCVIIIC.鈥 The work was unveiled on August 3, 1792, to honor the date the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria set sail from Palos, Spain then more formally dedicated two months later on October 12th. It remained the only monument dedicated to Columbus in America for another sixty years.
225 years later, in the middle of the night in late August 2017, a small group of unnamed protestors smashed a sledgehammer into the base of the obelisk breaking the incised stone panels. The event was recorded and shared on YouTube on August 21, 2017. Coming less than a week after protestors poured paint over the Key Monument on Eutaw Place, the video explained that 鈥渢earing down monuments鈥 is linked to 鈥渢earing down systems鈥 that maintain white supremacy.
Historians, activists, and indigenous people in North and South America have long rejected efforts to honor Columbus as a national hero. As early as 1977, participants in a UN-sponsored conference on discrimination against indigenous peoples in the Americas discussed replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. A statue of Christopher Columbus statue outside Union Station in Washington, DC splashed with red paint in an act of protest back in 1991.
In Baltimore, the controversy was perhaps more unexpected. Perhaps because the monument was located on private property鈥擵illa Belmont, located at the present-day intersection of Harford Road and North Avenue鈥攊t was half-forgotten more than once. In the 1880s, a local historian felt compelled to debunk a popular rumor that the obelisk memorialized a horse named 鈥淐olumbus鈥 instead of the man. When the monument was relocated to Harford Road in 1963 it was replaced by an expanded Sears Roebuck Company parking lot.
Soon after the monument moved to northeast Baltimore, the city鈥檚 Columbus Day Parade (an annual tradition since the erection of the 1892 Columbus Monument in Druid Hill Park) followed. But the parade moved again in 1977 first to East Baltimore and then to the Inner Harbor after a third monument to Christopher Columbus was erected on Eastern Avenue near Little Italy in 1984. Even if the parade has moved on, however, the complicated legacy of the monument and the commemoration of Christopher Columbus remains.
This sculpture is depicts Glory, an allegorical figure that looks in this sculpture like an angel, holding up a dying Confederate soldier in one arm while raising the laurel crown of Victory in the other. The dying soldier holds a battle flag. Underneath, the inscription states 鈥淕loria Victis,鈥 meaning 鈥淕lory to the Vanquished.鈥 The Maryland Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy funded the construction of this monument. It was sculpted by F. Wellington Ruckstuhl (also spelled Ruckstull), a French-born sculptor based in New York. It is located in a wide median on Mount Royal Avenue near Mosher Street in Bolton Hill. The inscriptions on the monument are the following:
Inscription on front of base: GLORIA VICTIS/ TO THE/ SOLDIERS AND SAILORS/ OF MARYLAND/ IN THE SERVICE OF THE/ CONFEDERATE STATES/ OF AMERICA/ 1861-1865.The Latin phrase on the base is "Deo Vindice, " meaning "Under God, Our Vindicator." The Italian phrase on the base, "Fatti Maschii, Parole Femine" is Maryland's state motto, "Strong deeds and gentle words," although the direct translation is "Manly deeds, womanly words." This monument bears a striking resemblance to two of Ruckstuhl's other sculptures - one Union, one Confederate. The Union Soldiers and Sailors Monument (1896) in Major Mark Park in Queens, New York, features the solitary Glory holding the laurel crown. The Confederate Monument (1903) in Salisbury, North Carolina is almost an exact replica of Baltimore's Confederate Soldier's and Sailors Monument, except that the dying soldier is holding a gun instead of a flag.On base, right side: DEO VINDICE
On base, left side: FATTI MASCHII/ PAROLE FEMINE
On base, back side: GLORY/ STANDS BESIDE/ OUR GRIEF/ ERECTED BY/ THE MARYLAND DAUGHTERS/ OF THE/ CONFEDERACY/ FEBRUARY 1903
Known originally as the Hotel Kernan, the Congress Hotel was built in 1903 by James L. Kernan. Kernan was a savvy businessman who sought to capitalize on the ways in which immigration had influenced the tastes of wealthy visitors and Baltimore natives alike. By the 1970s, the hotel also housed the Marble Bar - a nightclub that hosted many early punk and New Wave groups through the mid 1980s. When first built, the hotel included a luxurious Turkish bath and a massive rathskeller, a traditional German bar located in the basement of a building, and two theaters - the Auditorium and the Maryland - connected to the hotel by covered passageways. Thanks to entrepreneurial innovations from low ticket prices to an ever-changing roster of vaudeville performers, Kernan's "Million Dollar Triple Enterprise" soon proved to be a rousing success. Charlie Chaplin, Will Rogers, and Eddie Cantor - just to name a few - all appeared at the Hotel Kernan. The hotel remained an important part of Baltimore's entertainment history until it was sold in 1932. The Congress Hotel became a nightclub in the late 1970s. Roger and Leslee Anderson, a pair of local musicians, saw potential in the space and began to operate a nightclub located in the old rathskeller in the basement. Now called the Marble Bar, the music club played from 1978 to the mid-eighties. The Marble Bar was one of the first clubs in Baltimore to book emerging punk and new wave bands, and encouraged the growth of all kinds of music; the unofficial motto became "The Marble is the first place you play on the way up, and the last place you play on the way down." Although dark and dank, the Marble Bar still represented a place where musicians and members of the underground punk scene could gather and commiserate - the Marble Bar was not just a nightclub, but the center of a community. At its peak, bands like the Psychedelic Furs, REM, and Iggy Pop played the Marble Bar before becoming nationally recognized, and underground Baltimore stars like Edith Massey found her way to the Marble Bar as well. While the new sound of punk was not setting any trends 鈥 the style had already caught on in other cities across the nation 鈥 the Marble Bar remained one of the few to embrace that sound, creating a space for underground music in the city amid the more popular disco movement.
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1805 Madison Avenue was built around聽1886, when the property was first advertised聽in the聽Baltimore Sun聽as available to rent for聽$35 per month.聽In July 1888, Benjamin and Rosetta Rosenheim purchased the home and moved in with their two young children. 聽Benjamin was a lawyer with an office at 19 East Fayette Street. When Rosetta needed help at home聽in January 1889, the聽Rosenheim household placed an advertisement in the聽Sun seeking a 鈥淲hite Girl, from 15 to 17 years to nurse two children, aged 2 陆 and 4.鈥澛燬imilar advertisements appeared again in June 1889 and March 1890 seeking a caretaker for the two children.聽The family didn鈥檛 stay long, however, and聽on May 29, 1893, Benjamin and Rosetta Rosenheim sold the home to Julia Gusdorff. The home sold again in 1902聽and聽1914. In the late 1910s and early 1920s, many of the聽German Jewish immigrants聽who had occupied the Madison Avenue homes for the past couple decades began moving northwest into new neighborhoods like Park Circle northwest of Druid Hill Park. Replacing these residents were African Americans聽home-owners and tenants. In 1923,聽Keiffer Jackson, husband of the well known civil rights activist Lille Mae Carol Jackson, purchased 1805 Madison Avenue for $3200. Lillie Mae Carroll and her husband Kieffer聽Jackson never lived at 1805 Madison Avenue but rented the property to African American tenants from a wide range of backgrounds. In February 1928, Frank H. Berryman, the manager of William 鈥淜.O.鈥 Smith and K.O. Martin, publicly sought to 鈥渁rrange either local or out-of-town bouts for one or both of his fighters鈥 noting managers could reach him at 1805 Madison Avenue.聽Mrs. Lizzie Futz聽lived聽at the house in 1931聽when she was quoted in the聽Afro American聽criticizing a move by the聽Baltimore school superintendent to segregate white and black children on a recent field trip to Fort McHenry:
鈥淚 honestly think that the principal was unquestionably wrong in asking that the two groups be separated. There was no reason for the separation. School children of today get along better than their elders. It鈥檚 such segregation acts that breeds prejudice in the future.鈥Born in Baltimore on April 29, 1922, Parren James Mitchell moved around as a child. Early on, his family lived on Stockton Street near Presstman Street just south of Saint Peter Claver Church which had stood聽on North Fremont Avenue since聽September 9, 1888. He was seven years old when his family moved into聽a new home at 712 Carrollton Avenue.聽The new neighborhood had started life as an聽elite suburb built between the 1870s and 1880s within a short walk of聽Lafayette Square or聽Harlem Park. Prior to the 1910s and 1920s, the population of the neighborhood was largely segregated white (although many African American households lived in smaller alley dwellings on the interior of the district鈥檚 large blocks). Segregation in the聽聽was enforced through deed restrictions, local legislation and even physical attacks on black families that attempted to move into the neighborhood. Parren Mitchell鈥檚 move to the house on Madison Avenue came at an important moment in the nation鈥檚 relationship to struggling cities in the wake of the riots in Baltimore and cities around the country in 1968. The home was a source of pride and provided Mitchell with a perspective on city life that few other representatives in Congress聽could match.聽In June 1974, during a discussion of 鈥渦rban homesteading,鈥 Parren Mitchell shared the success of the聽city鈥檚 new homesteading program (established in 1973) seen from his own front stoop, remarking:
鈥淐ome to my house at聽1805 Madison Avenue聽in the heart of a ghetto in Baltimore聽City and look at the home across the street which was sold for $1 under the Homestead Act. If you do you will see a beautiful and decent residence for a family.鈥During hearings on the聽, Mitchell repeated the offer:
鈥淚 will take part of my 5-minute time to extend an invitation to visit my home in Baltimore, Md. I live at 1805 Madison Avenue, which is deep in the bowels of the city. It is the ghetto. Four years ago, I purchased a home in the 1800 block of Madison Avenue at 1805, using conventional financing. I have rehabilitated the home, and I think it鈥檚 attractive enough for you to come to visit me on a Saturday morning in the 1800 block of Madison Avenue.鈥The聽renovation to the house cost $32,000 and combined聽the first and second floor of the building with a new staircase returning the stories into a single unit. He rebuilt the third floor as a rental apartment, a configuration that remains in use at the building today.
The home may have been a source of pride and a sign of his strong commitment to Baltimore but it was also a site of conflict between Congressman Mitchell, the Baltimore City Police Department, and even the Ku Klux Klan. Between 1968 and 1974, before Mitchell鈥檚 move to 1805 Madison, the聽Baltimore Police Department Inspectional Services Division (ISD) kept his home under twenty-four-hour surveillance, illegally bugged his home and office telephones for eight months, and placed paid informers in his congressional campaigns. Beginning in 1971, Mitchell began calling聽for the resignation of Baltimore Police Commissioner聽. When the ISD surveillance program (and its close ties to the FBI) were revealed, Congressman Mitchell extended his criticism to the ISD.
In 1977, Parren Mitchell and his neighbors secured Madison Park聽designation by the Baltimore Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation聽as a local historic district 鈥 the first in an聽African American neighborhood.聽The lead champion of the historic district was聽Michael B. Lipscomb, an aide to Parren Mitchell and office manager at the Congressman鈥檚 Bloomingdale Road office. Lipscomb was a resident in Madison Park and the vice-president of the Madison Park Improvement Association. In his testimony before CHAP, Lipscomb observed that the district was the 鈥渃ity鈥檚 first all black historic district,鈥 continuing:鈥淚 came here because I love the house. I love the size of the house, the rooms, the old architecture, the high ceilings, the 10-foot high solid wood doors, the marble fireplaces, the stained glass windows. To get a house built like this would be astronomically expensive.鈥Other residents in Madison Park were also聽active in the city鈥檚 civic organizations, including John R. Burleigh, II, a resident of 1829 Madison Avenue and director of Baltimore鈥檚 Equal Opportunity program聽and Delegate Lena K. Lee who聽lived at 1818 Madison Avenue. Delegate Lee also supported the historic district designation, testifying:
鈥淲e have been working in this area since 1940 to clean it up and keep the intruders out, to keep it from being overrun by bars, sweatshops and storefront churches that stay a little while and then pack up and go. We want to make it purely residential by getting out all business.鈥Parren Mitchell sold the property to Sarah Holley in 1986 and moved just a few blocks away to聽1239 Druid Avenue. He remained at that location until 1993 when he returned to Harlem Park and lived at聽828 North Carrollton Avenue where he remained until 2001. This property has been featured on tours of Lafayette Square and is now used as offices for the Upton Planning Council. Sarah Holley lived at the 1805 Madison Avenue聽from 1986 through 1989聽and,聽since 1989, the property has been maintained as a rental property.
For over twenty years, the Copycat - named for the roof top billboard of the Copycat printing company - has offered studio space and living space for countless artists, musicians, and performers. The history of creativity in this local landmark has a long history extending back to the construction of the Copycat Building in the 1890s as a factory complex for Baltimore's Crown Cork & Seal Company.
Maryland native William Painter invented the "crown cork" bottle cap - a predecessor of the bottle cap still common today - at Murrill & Keizer's machine shop on Holliday Street in 1891. A prolific inventor with over 85 patents, Painter established the Crown Cork & Seal Company in 1892 and started producing both bottle caps and bottling machines. The business quickly outgrew their factory on East Monument Street and moved north to Guilford Avenue in September 1897 into a grand six-floor factory with handsome Victorian details.
As with all industrial enterprises in Baltimore, their growth was driven by the labor of thousands of men, women and children who worked at the factory and frequently organized to seek improved conditions and wages. In 1899, for example, 65 boys between the ages of 13 and 18 employed feeding the machines that placed the cork seals into the caps went on strike. Company officials remained unconcerned, remarking that the "places of any who may not come back will be easily filled by other boys." The firm continued to expand, adding a machine shop (now known as the Lebow Building) next door on Oliver Street in 1914, and building new factory buildings in Highlandtown where they moved in the 1930s.
The building on Guilford Avenue remained in use by a wide range of tenants from the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s through a whole host of over twenty industrial enterprises occupying the building in the 1960s. In 1983, Charles Lankford purchased the building and converted the industrial space to art studios. Soon artists began illegally converting their studio spaces into apartments and by the mid-1980s, the Copycat began to host a vital community of local artists and musicians. The building remains an anchor in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District - rezoned as "mixed-used" to accommodate the diverse tenants - and offers a unique perspective on the history of industry in central Baltimore.
Corpus Christi Memorial Church was built in 1891 in memory of Thomas and Louisa Jenkins by their children. Their goal was to build the most exquisite church in Baltimore. Patrick Keeley, the foremost architect of Catholic churches in his day, designed the building.
The interior, designed by John Hardman & Company of London, glitters and glows with colorful mosaics accented with gold tessera, stained glass windows, and a high vaulted ceiling with clerestory windows. Famous for its large Florentine style mosaics adorning the chancel, Corpus Christi also has smaller mosaic Stations of the Cross as well as a charming mosaic depicting the founding of Maryland. There are four chapels and a baptistery that boast gold mosaic ceilings, marble walls, statues of saints, and stained glass windows.
The Crimea Estate is the former summer home of Thomas DeKay Winans, a chief engineer of the Russian Railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg in the 19th Century. The estate features Winans' Italianate stone mansion, Orianda, as well as a gothic chapel, a "honeymoon" cottage, and a carriage house. The architectural design is said to have been inspired by Winans' French-Russian wife, Celeste Louise Revillon. An early, and now often overlooked, part of the estate is called Winans Meadow in Leakin Park. This current meadow was the site of an early milling operation along the Gwynns Falls River. An iron water wheel still remains that pumped water to the Orianda mansion. Along with the water wheel, a barn, silo, smokehouse, and root cellar also tell the story of early development in West Baltimore. There is even an intriguing battlement near the meadow that is thought to be modeled after the Battle of Balaklava where the Russian stand against the British was immortalized in Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade." Although Leakin Park has retained its original structures in a picturesque natural setting, it almost wasn't so. In the 1970s, federal and city officials planned to route Interstate 70 through the park in front of the mansion and directly through the carriage house. Saved by a group of dedicated Baltimoreans, the estate remains a central element in Leakin Park.
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When Baltimorean William Painter invented the bottle cap in 1891, it didn鈥檛 take long for beverage companies (beer brewers in particular) to realize its value, and for Painter to realize he needed to build significant manufacturing facilities to keep up with demand. Painter's enterprise, the Crown Cork and Seal Company, opened its first big production facility in 1897 on Guilford Avenue and not long after expanded by opening a larger complex on Eastern Avenue in Highlandtown in 1906. The Guilford Avenue complex continued as the base of operations for custom building the sealing machinery while the Highlandtown complex acted as the hub of Crown Cork and Seal鈥檚 manufacturing operations. In 1910, the Highlandtown complex expanded again to include two new buildings. Both used mill construction with brick exteriors and granite trimmings as well as new advances like fireproof elevator shafts, fire escapes and ventilators. The five story building had two massive water towers that held 15,000 gallons each to be released in case a fire broke out inside. Crown Cork and Seal鈥檚 Highlandtown complex became the base of machinery production in 1928 after the owners abandoned the Guildford Avenue plant. Despite its modern fire protections, however, the added activity at the complex and its constantly whirring electrical machines were at high risk of fire. In 1940, managers at the building made twenty-six calls to the fire department, almost all of which appeared unnecessary, until one signaled a very real five-alarm fire. Despite the loss of $500,000 in baled cork, the company minimized the damage and kept churning out bottle caps for the world鈥檚 beer brewers. In 1958, Crown Cork and Seal moved its headquarters from Baltimore to Philadelphia and the owners sold a group of thirty buildings, including the Guilford Avenue complex, to the city for $1.5 million. The Highlandtown plant continued to operate for nearly 30 more years, but finally closed in 1987 as use of aluminum and plastic containers rose and the demand for glass bottle caps waned. Today the building houses artist studios and light manufacturing and is occasionally used by movie studios.
With a Civil-War era mansion and a brand new visitor's center, Cylburn Arboretum is bustling with history and energy. Cylburn began as the private estate of Jesse Tyson, president of the Baltimore Chrome Works Company and a successful businessman. Tyson began building the mansion in 1863 as a summer home for himself and his mother. He completed it in 1888 at the age of 61 and after marrying the 19 year old debutante, Edyth Johns. Tyson is said to have remarked at this time, ""I have the fairest wife, the fastest horses, and the finest house in Maryland." With its Italianate design, stone from Tyson's own Bare Hills quarry in Baltimore County, and an interior of hardwood floors, grand fireplaces, and ornate plasterwork, Mr. Tyson was at least correct about the quality of his house. Not surprisingly, Jesse Tyson died before his "fair" wife. Ms. Johns continued to live in the house until her death in 1942 when Baltimore City purchased the estate for $42,300. In 1954, the property became the "Cylburn Wildflower Preserve and Garden Center," and a group of volunteers designed trails and gardens for the park. The named officially changed to "Cylburn Arboretum" in 1984, and the property now covers over 200 acres of grounds dotted with horticultural and historic sites.
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Dashiell Hammett found inspiration for his great detective novels like "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Thin Man" by working at the Pinkerton Detective Agency in what was then known as the Continental Trust Building. He experienced the seedy underbelly of Baltimore city and was stabbed at least once on the job. He was inspired by his intransigent co-workers who served as the foundation for many of his cherished characters. Continental Op, the main character of his first novel, "Red Harvest," was named after the eponymous building. It is also speculated that the falcons that don the Continental Trust Building served as the inspiration for "The Maltese Falcon." "Red Harvest" was a milestone in the detective novel genre. It introduced the world to the hard-nosed detective who lives by his own code. The gritty streets of Baltimore served as the setting for Hammett's personal favorite novel, "The Glass Key," as well as "The Assistant Murderer." Unfortunately, many of the locations described in Hammett's novels no longer exist. The lavish Rennert Hotel, which served as the home base for the corrupt political boss in "The Glass Key" was razed in 1941. Continental Op in "Red Harvest" dreams about a tumbling fountain in Harlem Square Park that was filled in long ago. Hammett was born in Saint Mary's County, Maryland and spent his childhood bouncing between Baltimore and Philadelphia. He started working at Pinkertons in 1915 before serving in World War I in the Motor Ambulance Corps. He soon contracted tuberculosis and was moved to a hospital in Tacoma, Washington. Throughout the 1920's, Hammett lived in San Francisco where he wrote most of his novels, including "The Maltese Falcon." He never forgot his Baltimore roots working for Pinkertons, and his precise memory of streets and locations added a layer of authenticity and realism to his work. Later in life, Hammett got involved with the American Communist Party and was eventually jailed as a result of McCarthyism in 1951 for six months. Jail time took its toll on Hammett, who was already in bad health due to the effect his heavy smoking and drinking had on his tuberculosis. He died in New York in 1961. Today, the Continental Trust Building that housed the Pinkerton Detective Agency is known as One Calvert Plaza. A prominent survivor of the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, One Calvert Plaza stands as a monument to skyscraper architecture at the turn of the twentieth century.
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Davidge Hall, on the University of Maryland Medical School Campus, is the oldest medical facility building in the nation. The red brick structure is named after the school's founder and first dean, John Beale Davidge. It was designed by architect Robert Carey Long, Sr. Constructed in 1812 on land purchased from Revolutionary War Hero John Eager Howard, the building was near the western edge of the growing city of Baltimore and offered medical students and teachers an excellent view of the harbor. In 1814, observers reportedly witnessed from the building's white-columned porch the "bombs bursting in air" during the British attack of Fort McHenry. Although large by early nineteenth century standards, this beautifully restored Classical Revival style building was by no means luxuriously outfitted. Heated by gas stoves close to the ceiling, Davidge Hall was cold, dark, and dank in the winter, frequently filled with noxious odors from the primitive embalming that took place in the anatomy lab and reeked of fumes from chemical experiments performed in the lower lecture hall. Though the practice of medicine has changed and improved over the years and the building has been updated, Davidge Hall has retained many original details and remains an iconic part of the medical school campus. Astoundingly, all of the nearly 20,000 students educated by the University of Maryland School of Medicine to date have passed through this exquisite building's doors. In 1974, Davidge Hall was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1997, the U.S. Department of the Interior named the building a National Historic Landmark. The building is currently used for special events and houses a collection of medical artifacts, including paintings, antique medical instruments, and a mummified human.
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While Baltimore is remembered for the city鈥檚 role in fabricating ships and railcars, the companies that made the large machines required to build those ships and railcars have largely been forgotten. The Detrick & Harvey Machine Company buildings is one of the last remnants of Baltimore鈥檚 place in the history of machinery manufacture.
The Detrick & Harvey Machine Company began downtown, a block from the Inner Harbor, in an area of Baltimore where both the buildings and, ultimately, the streets themselves were lost to the 1904 Fire. Before Jacob S. Detrick founded his machine company on Preston Street, he operated the Enterprise Machine Works (featured in the 1882 volume 鈥淚ndustries of Maryland鈥). Around 1883, Alexander Harvey, a recent graduate of Harvard University and Baltimore native, joined Detrick in his machine shop by and the two soon formed the partnership of Detrick & Harvey.
The company outgrew Detrick's original downtown location by 1885 and moved north to Preston Street just east of the Jones Falls. There they began the construction of an impressive factory complex. Around 1890, the company鈥檚 name changed to the Detrick & Harvey Machine Company. They were well known for their metal working machines, notably their planers and the band saw filing machine first offered by Enterprise Machine Works. Alexander Harvey passed away in 1914 at age 57.
The next year, on August 17, 1915, the Bethlehem Steel Company purchased the company and the complex became the Bethlehem Steel Detrick & Harvey Plant. Examples of large D & H machines are in two notable local collections: a large planer at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum's repair facility and another at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. The Yellow Cab Company purchased the facility in 1929 and continue to operate there until the early 1980s.
Dickey Memorial Presbyterian Church (DMPC) is a small congregation located in Dickeyville, an urban enclave of historic homes that was founded in 1772.
The church, built in 1885, continues to serve as a focal point for the village's holiday celebrations such as Christmas caroling, a Fourth of July parade, and community potlucks.
William J. Dickey, who lived in the village, was a devout Presbyterian and eager to have a Presbyterian Sunday school available for his friends and employees. The Sunday School first met in 1873 in Public School #6 on Wetheredville Road, with Charles W. Dorsey as its head 鈥 Dorsey鈥檚 portrait hangs in the present day Parish Hall. Four years later, in 1877, responding to a petition from many residents of the village, the Presbytery of Maryland organized a church. Known as the Wetheredville Presbyterian Church, the congregation had as its head the Reverend David Jamison, a nephew of William J. Dickey who had studied at Princeton Theological Seminary. For several years the congregation met in the Ashland Manufacturing Company Hall.
In December 1885, the cornerstone of the current church was laid, situating the building near the village鈥檚 western edge, but still within easy walking distance of most of its homes. The building was completed in 1889, at which point the Ashland Manufacturing Company deeded the property to the Trustees of the Wetheredville Presbyterian Church. In 1896, the church鈥檚 name was changed to Dickey Memorial Presbyterian Church.
The Gwynns Falls first saw industrial development as early as the late 1700s and, by 1808, the small industrial village began to form around an early paper mill along the water where Dickeyville sits today. Although few of these early stone structures remain, the village endured and grew in the mid 1800s when the Wethered Brothers, owners of the mills, began building homes for their workers and made other improvements for the community. The Wethereds sold off small lots to private owners, many of whom built their own houses along with public buildings such as a fraternal hall, a general store, and churches. The diversity of worker housing and industrial buildings created over time resulted in a uniquely diverse architecture that is at the heart of the historic village鈥檚 captivating character today. In the 1930s, however, the isolated mill village was rocked by change thanks to the start of the Great Depression and the introduction of electrified industrial facilities that brought older mills like those on the Gwynns Falls to a stop. In 1934, the entire stock of buildings was sold at auction and bought by a group called the Title Holding Company. The new owners hired Palmer and Lamdin, noted local architects from the Roland Park Company, to build new houses and renovate existing ones, using the Roland Park Company as its sales agent. A rush of new residents decided they wanted their community to resemble an English village in design and name鈥攎aking Dickeyville one of Baltimore鈥檚 earliest attempts at historic restoration. The new homeowners added many historic details such as gas-lamps, Belgian block gutters, and picket fences, and gave their streets names evoking another era鈥攍ike Pickwick Road named for an English village. Dickeyville residents have worked hard for several generations to maintain and build from the village鈥檚 historic buildings and character. Standing in the center of the community today, you might swear you were in the middle of an nineteenth century village in the Cotswalds.
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In 1914, Luigi DiPasquale, Sr., an Italian immigrant to Baltimore, established a small corner store on Claremont Street stocking groceries and household goods for residents in the developing Highlandtown neighborhood. Over a century later, the business has kept up with the changing tastes of local shoppers. Now owned by Joe DiPasquale, the store on Gough Street is now a unique marketplace that draws shoppers from across the region seeking imported and locally produced Italian food. Early on, the DiPasquale family butchered chickens and goats to offer fresh meat and produced household products, such as homemade bleach. Of course, Luigi, also known as Louie Moore, DiPasquale also played an active role in the community鈥攐rganizing a band along with Larry DiMartino at Our Lady of Pompei church (established in 1923). In the 1940s, a growing number of Italian immigrants moved from Little Italy to Highlandtown as commercial development of the downtown area expanded. In the 1980s, the shop鈥檚 current owner, Joe DiPasquale, took an extended trip to Italy, where he travelled the length of the country, fell in love with the country and, most importantly, the traditional foods. Joe鈥檚 wife family had only recently immigrated to the United States in the 1970s and he credits them as an influence. After his close study of authentic Italian cooking, Joe DiPasquale always orders the finest ingredients and foods he can find, whether it is imported or domestic. For example, while the Nutella hazelnut spread is produced in the United States, Joe noticed that the Italian-manufactured version offered a better flavor鈥攕o the store only stocks the imported option. In 1988, DiPasquale鈥檚 expanded in a move from their original location on Claremont Street to the current site on Gough Street one block away. The business installed ovens to bake their own bread. In recent years, DiPasquale鈥檚 prepared foods have been featured on the Food Network鈥檚 鈥淒iner, Dives, and Drive-Ins鈥 and on the Travel Channel鈥檚 鈥淶immern List.鈥 The television fame brought an overwhelming influx of patrons. For weeks, lines of customers looking to buy lasagne and arancini di riso (deep fried balls of rice and meat) stretched out the door.
*As of 2022, Dipasquale's is no longer operating out of this building, but it is still in business in other locations in Baltimore
The Domino Sugar refinery (and its iconic red neon sign) is one of the last major working industries along Baltimore's inner harbor. Raw sugar arrives at the plant in giant ships and barges, and is unloaded and refined to become white, powdered, and brown sugar, as well as various liquid sugar products. Packaged and distributed via highways and railways, sugar produced in Baltimore travels to kitchens across the nation. This South Baltimore site is the second largest sugar refinery in the U.S.
The 30-acre, 15-building campus was constructed in 1921 and opened for business in 1922. The buildings remain largely unchanged, as they were a 鈥渕onument of state-of-the-art modern industrial design鈥 (according to its nomination to the National Register of Historic Places) a century ago.
Baltimore was once home to six different sugar refineries, though only Domino remains. This industry boomed between 1865-1873, when Baltimore鈥檚 rail system and shipping channels attracted six manufacturers to the area. The industry fell apart in the 1870s when a major importer of sugar and molasses declared bankruptcy.
Domino庐 Sugar was first produced in New York in 1901 and received a trademark in 1906. American Sugar Refining, Inc. (ASR), a subsidiary of ASR Group International, Inc. (ASR Group), based in Florida, acquired Domino Sugar in 2001. ASR owns the Domino refineries in Locust Point as well as Yonkers, New York, and Chalmette, Louisiana; they also own the leading West Coast brand C&H庐 Sugar, the Canadian brand Redpath庐, the British brands Tate & Lyle庐 and Lyle鈥檚庐 and Sidul庐 in Portugal.
Workers process approximately 6.5 million pounds of raw cane sugar each day, operating round-the-clock over three shifts Monday-Friday and 24/7 from September to January, when demand for sugar is higher. As of January 2020, the plant employed 485 workers and generated 125 related transportation jobs. The sugar processed here ends up at grocery stores as well as in the industrial kitchens of food suppliers.
The red neon 鈥淒omino Sugars鈥 sign was installed in 1951. Triangle Signs installed and continues to maintain this South Baltimore landmark, visible from across the harbor. The scale is hard to fathom鈥攁 semi-truck could drive through the hole in the 鈥淥.鈥 This sign serves not only as a stunning local landmark but also a reminder that Domino Sugar still operates in its original location on the harbor. What types of businesses do you think might operate along Baltimore鈥檚 waterfront a century from today?
Douglas Memorial Community Church was built is 1857 for the Madison Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church. The building boasts a grand Greek Revival design by architect Thomas Balbirnie with a sanctuary that seats a thousand people and an 鈥渦ndercroft鈥 designed to hold six hundred.
In 1925, the congregation of the Douglass Memorial Community Church split off from the established Bethel A.M.E. Church on Druid Hill Avenue and acquired the building on Madison Avenue. In July 1949, Dr. Marion C. Bascom became a senior pastor at the church; a position he continued to hold up until his retirement in March 1995. Before his death in 2012, Pastor Bascom had dedicated his life to activism including everything from participating in the protests at Gwynn Oak Park to leading efforts to create new affordable housing in the Upton neighborhood. Speaking about his involvement in a July 4, 1963, protest at Gwynn Oak, Pastor Bascom explained:
鈥淚 am the one who said all along I will not go to jail, but I will help others who go. But this morning I said to myself, I have nothing to lose but my chains. So if I do not preach at my pulpit Sunday morning, it might be the most eloquent sermon I ever preached.鈥
639 N. Carey Street is the former residence of Dr. J.E.T. Camper. In 1942, Baltimore NAACP official Dr. J. E. T. Camper and Juanita Mitchell worked with the Citizens Committee for Justice (CCJ), to lead 2,000 people from 150 groups on a march on Annapolis pressuring the Governor to address the issue of police brutality in Baltimore. The protest followed the death of Thomas Broadus, a black enlisted soldier from Pittsburgh, after he was shot and killed by Baltimore police officer, Edward R. Bender.
The Home of the Friendless at 1313 Druid Hill Ave opened as a refuge for orphaned boys in 1870. An earlier institution, the Home of Friendless Vagrant Girls was established in 1854 on Pearl Steet. By 1860, it had moved to a new building on Druid Hill Ave. Five years later an adjoining lot was purchased for the construction of a boy鈥檚 home鈥攖oday鈥檚 1313 Druid Hill Ave.
The orphanage only accepted white children. Between 1870 and 1931, 200 children, half of whom were foreign born, lived here each year. By 1931, the rise of welfare programs, social services, and new approaches to childcare decreased the need for orphanages. The National Register of Historic Places states, 鈥淭he size of the building, the segregation of boys and girls, the racial make-up of the institution and its urban setting are representative of orphanages prior to concepts of civil rights, gender equality and foster care. By the early twentieth century, reformers called for child care facilities in cottage settings far from urban centers.鈥 The institution left the Marble Hill neighborhood for northwest Baltimore and eventually merged with the Woodbourne Center, which still operates today.
The federal Works Progress Administration then occupied the building until Baltimore City bought it in 1938 to create the Druid Hill Health Center. Notably, this was Baltimore鈥檚 first public health center for African Americans. Various health services were offered until 1961. The city鈥檚 Department of Housing then owned the building until 1992. It has been vacant since then.
The Marble Hill Community Association has been demanding that the city stabilize this deteriorating building for several years. In 2021, the building sustained damage from torrential rains. Falling debris became a hazard to pedestrians and traffic. In response, the city said it will stabilize the building.
*The research and writing of this article was funded by two grants: one from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority and one from the Baltimore National Heritage Area.
Druid Hill Park was established on the eve of the Civil War by Baltimore Mayor Thomas Swann on October 19, 1860. Much of the park started as part of "Auchentorlie," the estate of George Buchanan, one of the seven commissioners who founded Baltimore City in 1729.
Later renamed "Druid Hill," the City of Baltimore purchased the property from then owner Lloyd Rogers in 1860. The purchase was paid for thanks to a one-cent park tax on the nickel horse-car fares.
Built in 1921, Pool No. 2 in Druid Hill Park served the recreational and competitive swimming needs of over 100,000 Black residents Baltimore. Pool No. 2 measured just 100鈥 x 105鈥 (half the size of whites-only Pool No. 1), but proved so popular that the swimmers had to be admitted in shifts. In 1953, a young Black boy swimming with friends in the Patapsco River accidentally drowned. The tragedy revealed the difficult circumstances for many Black residents looking for a place to swim in Baltimore. The boy lived near Clifton Park but swam in a dangerous river due to his exclusion from the park鈥檚 whites-only pool. In response, the NAACP started a new push to make all of Baltimore's municipal pools open to all races. When the City Parks Board refused to desegregate, the NAACP filed a lawsuit and eventually won on appeal. On June 23, 1956, at the start of the summer season, Baltimore pools opened as desegregated facilities for the first time. Over 100 African Americans tested the waters in previously white-only Pool No. 1 but only a single white person swam in Pool. No. 2. Pool No. 2 closed the next year and remained largely abandoned up until 1999. That year, Baltimore artist Joyce J. Scott won a commission to turn Pool No. 2 into a memorial. In creating her installation, Scott asked herself, 鈥淗ow do we make this area useful and beautiful, and harken back to the pool era?鈥 The results combined architectural elements and aquatic symbolism with abstract, colorful painted designs on the pavement around the pool. The designs and interpretive signage have weathered in the years since but Pool No. 2 remained an important destination to explore the Civil Rights history of Druid Hill Park and Baltimore's pools. Watch our on this site!
The Superintendent鈥檚 House in Druid Hill Park dates to 1872 and was designed by architect George Frederick (who also designed City Hall). It was built using local 鈥淏utler Stone鈥 from Baltimore County and has wonderful Gothic decorations including decorative quoins and steep gables.
When the Parks and People Foundation acquired the building in 1995, it was in ruins. Multiple fires had destroyed the roof and almost all of the interior. Trees were even growing through the windows. The first step in the restoration process was to bring in a team of goats to chew through the Amazon-like vegetation so that human beings could actually get to the building.
The restoration was challenged by the decrepit state of the structure and lack of historic plans or records. Nonetheless, the project team did a remarkable job. They replaced stones; created a new roof and supporting structure; and, added back gutters, downspouts, chimneys, and the front porch. They even gave it an historically compatible set of paint colors.
The restored building is part of a new campus for Parks and People. It is helping revive the surrounding Auchentoroly Terrace neighborhood and tie this part of West Baltimore to Druid Hill Park.
In 1863, the Baltimore City Council approved a $300,000 loan to construct a billion gallon capacity reservoir in the newly established Druid Hill Park. Though the new city waterworks project from Lake Roland to the Mount Royal Reservoir on the Jones Falls had just been completed, it had become apparent that the city鈥檚 water problems were far from solved.
Having an abundance of natural springs and deep ravines, Druid Park seemed to be the perfect site for a new reservoir. In addition to providing suitable drinking water, this reservoir was also meant to enhance the beauty of the newly created park, accompanying its ancient oak trees bearing noble names such as 鈥淭he Sentinel,鈥 鈥淜ing of the Forrest,鈥 and 鈥淭ent Oak.鈥
A deep ravine formed by a stream that traveled southeast from the boat lake toward the Jones Falls was selected as the site for the new reservoir. Civil engineer Robert Martin developed plans and constructed a giant wall of mud that became the largest earthen dam in America (at that time). Steam excavators were used for the first time in the city to move 500,000 cubic yards of earth. The dam itself consisted of a water tight clay core, or puddle wall, surrounded by steep banks of soil, and was supported by a stone wall laid in cement running the entire length of the dam. Earthen banks were laid in thin layers and pressed by horse drawn rollers.
When completed in 1871, the dam supported a reservoir that covered 55 acres, reached a depth of 94 feet (averaging 30 feet), and sat at an elevation 217 feet above mid-tide. Towering over the surrounding park at a height of 119 feet, the dam was 750 feet long, with a width of 600 feet at the base tapering up to 60 feet at the top.
The resulting body of water had been known during the first half of its construction as Lake Chapman, after Unionist Mayor and head of the Water Board at the time, John Lee Chapman (1811-1880). Since much of Chapman鈥檚 tenure as mayor was characterized by the bitter partisan feuding of the Civil War period, it came as little surprise when his Democratic successor, Robert T. Banks (1822-1901), and the City Council voted unanimously to change the name to Druid Lake just four months after he left office in early 1868.
Over 140 years later the dam still holds strong, and in 1971 it was named a National Historic Civil Engineering landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Bethlehem Steel owned and operated Sparrow鈥檚 Point as a company town near the expansive mill complex from the 1890s through the early 1970s. In 1916, however, Bethlehem Steel departed from the model of company-owned housing when it commissioned the construction of Dundalk. Initially, the company erected five hundred gray stucco and slate roofed homes on tree-lined streets between Dundalk Avenue and Sollers Point Road. In the center of the community stood a shopping center surrounded by a park.
Bethlehem Steel, which had recently purchased the mills and shipyards at Sparrows Point, faced an increased demand for ships as the United States mobilized for the first World War. The need for shipyard workers and the labor force at the plant grew. In Dundalk, workers could purchase their own homes through payroll deductions, enabling lower-tier managers, foremen, and top-tier skilled workers to become homeowners. Originally, Bethlehem Steel sought to replicate Roland Park, an upscale neighborhood in northern Baltimore; but the demands of wartime prompted the company to rely on the United States Navy to undertake the construction. Expediency was key so the Navy opted to build duplexes which could be built much faster than the planned single-family homes.
Almost everything about Dundalk was influenced by its connection to the shipbuilding industry鈥攖he curved streets extending northward from the town center form the shape of a boat. Street names include Flagship and Midship. In just two years, the population of Dundalk reached 2,000; it would grow to 8,000 over the course of the next decade. In 1924, Bethlehem Steel created the Dundalk Company, a corporation to oversee the company鈥檚 real estate. Even as it grew, Dundalk remained a segregated white community and closely tied to the operations on Sparrow鈥檚 Point.