Welcome! We Love Red Line Landmarks

As Baltimore continues working to building the Red Line light rail route, we are telling the stories of historic landmarks and neighborhoods along Red Line’s West Baltimore corridor. From its earliest days as a local road and then part of the nation’s first federal highway, the U.S. Route 40 corridor is rich in history. In this series of digital and print publications, Landmarks on the Red Line highlights the history and architecture from Poppleton to Edmondson Village. Check out each Red Line stop to find local architecture,  discover the history of West Baltimore neighborhoods, and learn more about how to save historic places in the corridor. With support from the Baltimore City Department of Transportation and the Maryland State Highway Administration, we are excited to document the rich heritage of neighborhoods along the Red Line corridor and to help West Baltimore communities turn the light rail project into transit-oriented community development in the years ahead.

Learn more about this project

Explore West Baltimore Landmarks

Learn more about local architecture and history by exploring landmarks from each Red Line Station Area in West Baltimore. Find more stories and historic photographs through our Explore Baltimore Heritage website and app (available for iOS and Android).
Explore Baltimore Heritage
Courtesy Baltimore News American.

Poppleton

Explore the stories of a 200-year-old graveyard for Baltimore’s Old Defenders, the “Mother Church of West Baltimore,” the Edgar Allan Poe House and more historic landmarks in Poppleton.
Photograph by A. A. Bodine. Courtesy Maryland Historical Society, B1617.

Harlem Park

Explore the stories of Gothic Revival churches, grand Victorian mansions with unrivaled architecture, peaceful tree-lined paths, and more landmarks from Harlem Park and Franklin Square.
American Ice Company on Franklin Street, 1938. Courtesy Baltimore Museum of Industry, BGE 11708.

West Baltimore MARC

Explore stories of a 100-year-old ice factory, the Sisters of Bon Secours, the Movement Against Destruction, and more just blocks from the West Baltimore MARC Station.
Courtesy Union Memorial UMC.

Greater Rosemont

Explore stories of Afro’s chaplain, the only city park named in honor of a crossing guard, and the oldest Jewish orphanage building in the United States.
Edmondson Avenue at Allendale Street, February 1972. Courtesy Baltimore Museum of Industry, BGE.47795.

Allendale

Explore stories of scenic parkways, classic movie houses, and, of course, the life-long home of Mayor William Donald Schaefer.
Edmondson Village Shopping Center, June 1962. Courtesy Baltimore County Public Library, 6921046.

Edmondson Village

Explore stories of an innovative shopping center, a treasured community library, and the famed Edmondson-Westside High School.

Discover West Baltimore Neighborhoods

Dig deep into the history of West Baltimore’s neighborhoods with our print and online publications on the history of Harlem Park and Greater Rosemont.

Greater Rosemont

Learn more about the history of Greater Rosemont!

Harlem Park

Save Places That Matter

Hebrew Orphan Asylum

Hebrew Orphan Asylum

Baltimore Heritage is currently working in partnership with the Coppin Heights CDC and Coppin State University to preserve and plan the rehabilitation of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum Building.
American Ice Company

American Ice Company

The 1911 American Ice Company building was severely damaged in a 2004 fire. Fortunately, the current owner supported a recent nomination to the National Register of Historic Places and plans to redevelop the property while retaining the historic ice house structure.
Union Square

Friends of West Baltimore Squares

The Friends of West Baltimore Squares is a new initiative started in partnership with the Parks & People Foundation and neighborhood organizations in West and Southwest Baltimore to organize support for Franklin Square, Harlem Park, Lafayette Square, Perkins Square and Union Square, through events, outreach and advocacy.
Rowhouses, West Lafayette Avenue

Edmondson Avenue Historic District

With support from the Evergreen Protective Association, the Bridgeview/Greenlawn Neighborhood Improvement Association, the Alliance of Rosemont Community Organizations and West Baltimore MARC TOD, Inc. we have nominated nearly 1700 properties in West Baltimore to the National Register of Historic Places.