Baltimore Heritage

Where can you find a piece of the Berlin Wall, a cannon ball mounted on a Conestoga wagon hitch, and over a hundred lions looking down at you from the tops of Baltimore’s buildings? On our Downtown Landmarks and Lions tour, of course! In this leisurely stroll—we cover a little over a mile in a little over an hour—you’ll see and hear the highlights of downtown Baltimore’s history and architecture. Best of all, you discover where all the noble lions, hellish fiends, and neo-Egyptian sphinxes are hiding—the trick is in looking up! If you are Baltimore born-and-raised or a visitor from out-of-town, you don’t want to miss this Monumental City walking tour!

Image courtesy Monument City.

Image courtesy the Library of Congress.

Walk just a few blocks from Baltimore’s Sunday Farmers Market and you enter one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city—historic Jonestown. On this tour of often overlooked landmarks, you’ll see the city’s oldest religious building (Friends Quaker Meeting House) and third oldest synagogue in the country (Lloyd Street), learn about cast iron buildings and the longest-lived signer of the Declaration of Independence, and get inside the famed Phoenix Shot Tower—the tallest structure in the United States until 1846.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Mount Vernon began as a country estate for Revolutionary War hero John Eager Howard then grew up as the place to live for Baltimore’s rich and famous in the mid-19th century. The Garrett family, owners of the B&O Railroad, the Walters, founder of the Walters Art Museum, and the Thomases, owners of Mercantile Bank, are among the families that built handsome mansions along the four parks that surround the Washington Monument. The recent renovations to the 200-year old Washington Monument are the latest news from the revival of this historic neighborhood over the last decade. Join us on a tour to hear the stories behind the Washington Monument and see the landmarks of Baltimore’s grandest historic neighborhood. If your legs are strong, climb the Monument’s stairs for a birds-eye view of central Baltimore!

Baltimoreans have celebrated atop Federal Hill when we ratified the U.S. Constitution, used it to defend the city in the War of 1812, and fortified it to make sure we stayed in the Union in the Civil War. We have even tunnelled under it to quarry minerals. Join us to learn about the rich history of this waterfront community, including stops at one of the last wooden houses in the city, the oldest house in the community, and the wonderful alley houses along Churchill Street.