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The Rotunda
The construction of the Rotunda in 1921, designed by architects Simonson & Pietsch in the neo-Georgian style, marked a radical change in the design of business campuses in the twentieth century.…
The Rennert Hotel: Ambitious Hospitality and the Culinary Creations of Henry Cummings
At the corner of Saratoga and Liberty Streets, people will find an unassuming parking lot. While this parking lot does not appear interesting at first glance, this lot used to be the center of…
The Quad at UMBC: A Place for Quadmania and More
University of Maryland, Baltimore County shares in a unique American college phenomenon of open or green spaces. Campus open spaces—places set aside for students, faculty and staff to gather…
The Patterson
The first Patterson Theater to occupy 3136 Eastern Avenue opened in 1910. In 1918, Harry Reddish purchased the building to renovate and redecorate it. He reopened it two years later and renamed it the…
The Office of John H. Murphy, Sr
From the humblest of beginnings, John H. Murphy Sr. rose to become the founder of the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper, which had an office here at 1336 N Carey St in the 1910’s. Murphy was born…
The National Aquarium
How the National Aquarium came to be in Baltimore is the story of three different aquariums that, over time, became one.
Our story begins in the middle. In the 1970s, Baltimore mayor William…
The Maryland Center for Historical and Culture (formerly the Maryland Historical Society)
The Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC) collects, preserves, and interprets the history, art, and culture of Maryland. Originally founded as the Maryland Historical Society in 1844, MCHC…
The Maryland Building
When the first official World’s Fair in the United States – the Centennial Exhibition – closed in Philadelphia in November 1876, the Maryland delegation chose not to abandon their state exhibit hall.…
The Marlborough
The Marlborough Apartments is an eleven-story landmark well-known for its architecture and as the home to the famous Baltimore art-collecting Cone Sisters. Before the construction of the Marlborough,…
The Latrobe Building
At the northeast corner of Charles and Read Streets stands the beautiful Latrobe Apartment House. The name for the building comes from the original Latrobe House, built just after the Civil War and…
The Jones Falls
In the 1660s, David Jones, a Quaker farmer, selected a location for his farm in the relatively new area of Baltimore County (founded in 1659), just north of what was known as Coles Harbor, and along…
The Ivy Hotel
Mount Vernon’s elegant and historic Ivy Hotel has a rich lineage: its roots are as a Gilded Age mansion and its uses have included city offices, a city owned and operated inn, and now a private…
The Ideal Theater
In the Progressive Age (1890-1920), movie theaters were a new and popular form of entertainment. They were being built all over Baltimore, and Hampden was no different. In 1908, Marion Pearce and…
The Hour Haus
The Hour Haus formerly served as a cornerstone for Baltimore's Station North Arts & Entertainment District. Inside you found rehearsal rooms for musicians, a recording studio, a large stage and a…
The Hampden Theater
For 50 years, the Hampden and Ideal Theaters operated within a few doors of each other in the 900 block of 36th Street in Hampden. Julius Goodman, who ran the Ideal for many years, described the…
The Grand United Order of Odd Fellows Lodge
In the middle of East Lexington Street stands a building that sticks out from the rest. Carved into its brick wall is the face of a horned figure looking out over the street. Today, this building…
The GLCCB: Former Chase Street home of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore
This location once served as home for the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore. In 1977, activists involved with the Baltimore Gay Alliance (BGA), established two years earlier in 1975,…
The Gibbs Canning Company: Cannery Conditions and the Polish Workforce
Formerly located on Boston Street in east Baltimore, Gibbs Preserving Company canned and packaged everything from oysters to jelly to candy to vegetables. The Gibbs Preserving Company exemplified…
The E. J. Codd Company: Industrial Machine Shop Manufacturing, Philanthropy, and Community Involvement
Edward J. Codd founded the E. J. Codd Company in the 1850s. The E. J. Codd Company focused on industrial machinery and aided Baltimore’s booming shipbuilding industry by assembling boilers,…
The Duchess of Windsor at 212 East Biddle Street
The Duchess of Windsor, born Bessie Wallis Warfield, moved into the three-story brownstone at 212 East Biddle Street with her mother in 1908. It was the first home they could call their own as they…
The Commons
By 1990, administrators at University of Maryland, Baltimore County faced a problem. The student body had outgrown the University Center within just a decade of its opening. They considered the…
The Children's Zoo
A giant carrot, a house made of cheese, and barnyard chickens were among the attractions that greeted visitors to the Baltimore Zoo’s new Children’s Zoo when it opened in Druid Hill Park in 1963.…
The Chesapeake Cadillac Company
As you drive up Charles Street through Old Goucher, you might notice some odd details on the facade of the neighborhood Safeway. A carved sentinel eagle keeps watch, and the word “CADILLAC” is etched…
The Brumbaugh House: "Dr. B" and the Elkridge Heritage Society
The handsome Victorian on Elkridge’s Main Street now known as the Brumbaugh House was built around 1870 and began serving as a doctor's office in the nineteenth century. The home’s most famous…
The Bridge Theater
One of the area’s earliest movie theaters, "The Bridge" opened in May 1915, seating seven hundred patrons and featuring Paramount Pictures films. Under the management of Edmondson Amusement Company…
The Blue Top Diner: A Lost Diner In Canton
Walking along Boston Street, people will run into a small store called “Canton Market.” Acting as both a convenient store and sandwich shop, Canton Market serves up a variety of sandwiches such as…
The Baltimore General Dispensary
Up near the top of this handsome Neoclassical brick building at the corner of Fayette and Paca Streets is a stone entablature reading "1801 Baltimore General Dispensary 1911"—a visible reminder of…
The Algonquin
At the southwest corner of Chase and St. Paul in November 1912, the Algonquin Building Company completed a modern ten-story apartment house that neatly complements the historic 1903 Belvedere Hotel…
The Afro-American Newspaper
A Newspaper on a Mission—One of the oldest African-American newspapers in the country; unique in that it has been in the same family for five generations.
Terminal Warehouse: The Flour Warehouse of the Terminal Warehouse Corporation
Designed by well-known local architect Benjamin B. Owens, the "Flour Warehouse" is a unique industrial landmark on the east side of Baltimore's downtown. When contractor S.H. and J.F. Adams erected…