Year: 2010

Baltimore Building of the Week: Cemetery Gates

This week is a bit darker than usual with a set of three historic cemetery gates in Baltimore, including the Westminster Burying Ground, Greenmount Cemetery, and the Baltimore Cemetery on North Avenue.

Greenmount Cemetery, courtesy Jack Breihan

Baltimore’s explosive growth in the late 18th and early 19th century soon created a demand for burial sites. The Presbyterian burial ground on West Fayette Street was established in 1786 and is the final resting place of many eminent early Baltimoreans, including Edgar Allen Poe. The Egyptian-style gate was probably added during the eclectic period in American architecture in the 1840s. Later, still larger cemeteries turned to the Gothic Revival style. Robert Cary Long, Jr., designed the elaborate gatehouse for Green Mount Cemetery in the mid 1840s; the less well known gatehouse for Baltimore Cemetery seems to be from about the same era. It stands at the eastern end of North Avenue.

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Partnering to Preserve the Hebrew Orphan Asylum in West Baltimore

Hebrew Orphan Asylum, 2009

When the recent Urbanite article on the Hebrew Orphan Asylum asked the question, “Can National Register status save Baltimore’s coolest abandoned building?” we must respond, “Yes but not alone.” Preserving the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, better known to West Baltimore residents as the former Lutheran Hospital of Maryland, depends on the continued success of partnerships between Baltimore Heritage, Coppin State University, the Coppin Heights Community Development Corporation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and stakeholders throughout Baltimore and the nation. The Hebrew Orphan Asylum building is important, not only for its significance as the oldest Jewish orphanage building in the United States, but also to the neighborhoods of Greater Rosemont with its great potential to anchor transit-oriented development around the future Rosemont Red Line station. We are working in partnership to bring this historic 1876 building into the future, as a renewed asset to historic West Baltimore.

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Baltimore Building of the Week: Upton Mansion

The two Greek Revival mansions featured in this Baltimore Building of the Week feature both have rich histories. Upton was home to the WCAO radio station from 1929 through 1947 and then served as the Baltimore Institute of Musical Arts, an accredited music school open to African American students, through 1955. However, while the Dumbarton House is now occupied by the Baltimore Actors’ Theatre, Upton remains on the Baltimore Heritage Watchlist threatened by vacancy and neglect.

Upton, courtesy Jack Breihan

The environs of Baltimore also boast Greek Revival country houses. Dunbarton, just over the county line in Rodgers Forge, is a grand example. Upton is a particularly fine medium-sized Greek Revival mansion which has given its name to the Baltimore neighborhood that grew up around it (Upton). Long used by the City school administration, Upton is now vacant and in constant threat of “demolition by neglect.”

Join us for our 50th Anniversary!

Please join us for the Baltimore Heritage 50th Anniversary Gala on June 11, 2010! We asked Karen Lewand, Chair of our 50th Anniversary Committee and a Baltimore Heritage member for many years, to share a personal invitation for everyone in Baltimore to join us at our Gala or for any of our tours or programs throughout the year.

We hope that you will join us at our many programs and events throughout 2010 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Baltimore Heritage by people who recognized our rich architectural heritage and the need to protect, reuse, and celebrate it. As I look back over the many years that I have been involved, it’s clear that working through Baltimore Heritage, many individuals have helped our citizenry understand how that unique heritage belongs to all of us. Landmark buildings, neighborhoods, and modest places from the past can be reused and enjoyed far into the future. What could be more enriching and sustainable?

Find more information on our 50th Anniversary Celebration or contact Johns Hopkins at 410-332-9992 for more information. Baltimore Heritage depends on member support and members at $100 level receive one free ticket to our 50th Anniversary Celebration on June 11, 2010. Please become a member of Baltimore Heritage today!