Author: Baltimore Heritage

Exploring the Guilford Mansion & Estate – “Billy” McDonald’s 52-room mansion and A.S. Abell’s family home

We’re excited to share a guest blog post from Tom Hobbs, President of the Guilford Association highlighting 100 years of history in Guilford. The Guilford Association is planning many great events this year to recognize the centennial anniversary which you can find on their website or on the Guilford Centennial Facebook page. Today’s post features the early history of the Guilford Mansion – home to “Billy” McDonald and Arunah S. Abell:

guilfdb4[1].source Charles Hall Abell album.
Image courtesy Charles Hall/Guilford Association.
What we now identify as Guilford initially comprised ten land patents granted to British citizens from the mid 1600’s through the 1700’s. The entire region was sold in 1780 as confiscated property to Revolutionary War veteran Lieutenant-Colonel William McDonald. McDonald gave Guilford its name to commemorate the battle of Guilford Court House, North Carolina His son William, better known as “Billy,” inherited the estate and in 1852 built the Guilford Mansion.

The Italianate design of the mansion was a collaboration of British architect Edmond Lind and American William T. Murdock. According to Baltimore: Its History and Its People, the 52-room wood house was built over walls of masonry and was imposing in size and rich finishes. A solid walnut staircase rose with a grand sweep in a spiral ascent to the square turret. The drawing-room, library, billiard and reception rooms and great dining room all opened on to a main hall and had exposure to wide verandas shadowed by magnolia trees and draped in wisteria. The main hall itself was as wide as the driveway, paved in marble and lighted with stained-glass windows.

The mansion once stood where Wendover Road now meets Greenway. The entrances of the 300 acre Guilford estate were marked by imposing gates that were guarded by stone lions, reported to be copies of the lions of the Louvre. Frescoes on either side of the drive entrance depicted knights ready for conflict. Gates stood at York Road near present-day Underwood Road, Charles Street at University Parkway and Charles Street just south of Cold Spring Lane. Billy McDonald was an enthusiastic horseman and at Guilford he stabled his renowned mare, “Flora Temple.” The mare was housed at the Guilford estate in stalls that were kept in magnificent style as a suite of four apartments. Above her head was a stained glass window with her portrait.

Flora Temple and her colt, courtesy the Library of Congress
Flora Temple and her colt, courtesy the Library of Congress
Arunah S. Abell, courtesy the Guilford Association
Arunah S. Abell, courtesy the Guilford Association

In 1872, Arunah S. Abell, founder of The Sun, purchased Guilford from McDonald’s heirs. A.S. Abell had a home in the City and several country estates but he spent much time at Guilford living there for 35 years. On August 12, 1887, the New York Times reported that A. S. Abell celebrated his 81st birthday. “Mr. Abell passed the day quietly and pleasantly at his country seat, Guilford, surrounded by his children and grandchildren, who had tastefully arranged in the rooms of the beautiful mansion, particularly Mr. Abell’s private room, many lovely flowers.” Eight months later Arunah S. Abell died.

Arunah S. Abell had 12 children and three sons and five daughters were still living at the time of A.S.’s death. The Sun newspaper was left entirely to the three surviving sons and they managed the considerable estate, a significant income from which was to be distributed to the daughters. The Guilford estate remained in the Abell family holdings for another 35 years but sat vacant during much of that time. Prior to 1888, the northern boundary of Baltimore City was essentially what is known today as North Avenue. The area north of the city was heavily wooded, sparsely settled and largely held in country estates. In 1888, the city annexed 2 miles to the north of the existing city limit and urban expansion was inevitable. With the urban development advancing north from the center of Baltimore the decision was made to sell the Abell property.

With this prospect,a group of Baltimore’s most influential citizens, including Robert Garrett, William H. Grafflin, William Marburg, Thomas J. Hayward and H. Carroll Brown formed the Guilford Park Company. The motive for the organizers was both profit as well as preserving the beautiful piece of property from being sold in small parcels for speculative building. They were determined that the property should be developed as a whole following the best modern city planning practices. The Guilford Park Company raised funds through stock sales and in 1907 the Guilford estate was sold to the Guilford Park Company for one million dollars.

Guilford estate and nearby properties, 1889 Thompson Atlas, courtesy the Baltimore City Archives
Guilford estate and nearby properties, 1889 Thompson Atlas, courtesy the Baltimore City Archives

However, several years after the property purchase the Guilford Park Company had failed to carry out its 1907 intention to develop the 296-acre country estate and Guilford-the-suburb had remained an “on paper” venture. At the same time in an area west of Guilford the development of the planned community of Roland Park was well underway. In 1891 a syndicate of English capitalists, Midwestern promoters and Baltimore investors came together and incorporated the Roland Park Company. The company had initially purchased 800 acres of land for the purpose of developing a suburban town to the north of Baltimore. The principal members of the Guilford Park Company were impressed by the quality and success of the Roland Park undertaking.

Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.
Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., courtesy the National Association for Olmsted Parks

Edward H. Bouton, the Roland Park Company’s general manager, had engaged Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to design a “splendid green suburb.” Bouton also had his eye on the Guilford property development. On February 14, 1911 he wrote to Olmsted: “All of the future suburban growth of Baltimore of the character of Roland Park, is going to be confined in the comparatively narrow space lying between York and Falls Roads.” Later in July, he wrote: “I think it’s more than likely that the consolidation of Guilford with Roland Park is going to be consummated and that this will be determined within the next two weeks. If it goes through I want to consult with you about it as early as possible.”

The country estate of Guilford was acquired by the Roland Park Company on November 20, 1911 from the Guilford Park Company. Bouton, the community planner and builder, would direct the development of this prized parcel of land.

Thanks again to Tom Hobbs for sharing his writing and research. The Guilford Mansion survived up until 1914 when, after several years of standing vacant, the Roland Park Company demolished the structure. You can join in Guilford’s Centennial Celebration with the Centennial Tulip Dig coming up on May 25, 2013 from 7:00am to 11:00am at Sherwood Gardens. This piece was originally published in the Fall 2010 and Winter 2011 issues of The Guilford News. Look out for our next guest post from Tom on the history of Guilford later this year!

Baltimore Bar Libary

Discover law books, architecture and a rich history Behind the Scenes at the Baltimore Bar Library on May 21

In 1840, a 27-year-old Baltimore lawyer named George William Brown took it upon himself to organize a legal library open to the city’s attorneys. The Library Company of the Baltimore Bar, better known as the Bar Library, was born the same year as Mr. Brown and 43 other Baltimore attorneys opened the library in a room at the old courthouse at Calvert and Lexington Streets. (Mr. Brown, it seems, came from a line of innovators: one grandfather was Rev. Patrick Allison, founder of the First and Franklin Church, and another grandfather was Dr. George Brown, a founding member of the first medical society of Baltimore. Both grandfathers were among the men who founded Baltimore’s first circulating library, the Library Company of Baltimore.)

The Bar Library is one of the oldest dues-supported libraries in the country and contains cases, treatises and other legal material dating back hundreds of years. It also is occupies a fantastic historic space inside the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse. The Main Reading Room is 35 feet by 125 feet and is crowned with a soaring barrel vault ceiling. Rich oak wainscot rises fifteen feet around the room, complemented by carved English oak shelves and wall paneling. Please join us in this wonderful historic space starting at 5:30pm for wine and cheese and a tour with Joe Bennett, Director of the Baltimore Bar Library, will begin at 6:00pm.

Finding architecture in the archives with the Roland Park Company collection at JHU

Thanks to Jordon Steele, University Archivist at Johns Hopkins University, Sheridan Libraries for this guest blog post on the Roland Park Company records and an upcoming panel discussion on the  Roland Park Company’s lasting legacy in architecture, planning and society. Discover more about this archival adventure through monthly posts by Jordon and his colleagues on the Sheridan Libraries blog.

rp1
JHU Sheridan Libraries

The Roland Park Company Records were donated to Johns Hopkins University’s Sheridan Libraries in 2010. This rich and diverse collection of correspondence, photographs, architectural drawings, and related corporate records provides a window into one of the most important development companies of the 20th century. Upwards of 400 cubic feet, upon arrival only a small portion of the Roland Park Company Records were fully processed and therefore accessible to researchers. Responding to overwhelming research demand from audiences ranging from the local community to international scholars, the Sheridan Libraries successfully applied for a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources to hire a full-time, professional project archivist to arrange and describe this collection according to archival best practice.  The collection will reopen to researchers, fully processed and accessible, in March 2014.

Please join us for an exciting program featuring the only two scholars that have published research based on the collection: Professor Robert Fishman, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan and Paige Glotzer, PhD Candidate, Department of History, Johns Hopkins University. They will be joined by Garrett Power, Professor Emeritus of Law, University of Maryland School of Law and the panel chair, Mary Ryan, John Martin Vincent Professor of History, Department of History

The Roland Park Company: Building History in Baltimore and Beyond

Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 5:30 pm to 6:30pm
Mason Hall Auditorium, Johns Hopkins University
Find more information on the event from JHU or on Facebook.

Turnbirdge Avenue, JHU Sheridan Libraries
Turnbirdge Avenue, JHU Sheridan Libraries

This panel will convene urban studies and land planning scholars to discuss the impact of the Roland Park Company’s projects on urban and suburban development, housing policy, race and ethnic relations, and architectural tradition.  From the company’s start in 1891 through the mid-20th century, Baltimore’s Roland Park Company made a major impact on the city’s built environment, played a major role in defining the characteristics of suburbs and suburban life that are now second nature, and left behind a checkered legacy that endures to this day.

New self-guided tour highlights the history of Baltimore’s Clarence Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse

Thanks to William M. Dunn, Master in Chancery of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City for contributing a guest post on the history of Baltimore’s Clarence Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse. William Dunn and a generous group of volunteers welcome visitors to the Courthouse most weekdays from noon to 1:00pm at the Museum of Baltimore Legal History. Stop in and pick up the museum’s new self-guided walking tour brochure (also available to check out on Facebook or at the Baltimore Bar Library) by Master Dunn and his colleague James Schneider, Judge for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland. Small group tours may be available on request – contact William Dunn at 410.396.3304 or william.dunn@mdcourts.gov for more information.

419295_382626811836418_781478833_nIn 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 “temple of justice, second to no other in the world.” 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’s 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.

Library of Congress, LC-D4-16517
Library of Congress, LC-D4-16517

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 façade 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’s 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).

MSA SC 5590
Washington Surrenders His Commission, MSA SC 5590

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’s 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.

New historic marker commemorates the 1877 Railroad Strike at Camden Station

Our latest guest blog post comes from Bill Barry, long-time Director of Labor Studies at the
Community College of Baltimore County introducing us to the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and a new historic marker at Camden Station to commemorate the event. We’re also excited to feature a video on the 1877 strike produced for Explore Baltimore Heritage by UMBC student William Carroll for the course Practices in Public History course with Dr. Denise Meringolo.

Bill Barry
Bill Barry

When I spoke at a gathering of the Occupy Movement at the McKeldin Fountain in 2011, I mentioned that we were on hallowed ground because the original “occupy” movement in Baltimore City occurred in 1877, as tens of thousands of railroad workers carried on the first national strike, shutting down all freight traffic and giving new meaning to the term “reconstruction.” The strike started on July 16, 1877, against the B & O Railroad and the first strike demonstrations were in front of the company’s main depot at Camden Yards.

One aspect of the strike was the military opposition to the strikers, first from state militia in Maryland and West Virginia, and then by federal troops ordered out by President Rutherford B. Hayes, who had been elected, in part, for his commitment to withdraw all federal troops from the states. In a devastating moment, eleven citizens were murdered by the militia near City Hall as the troops tried to march from the armory across from the Shot Tower to Camden Yards. Since this movement is virtually unknown—the Pratt Library catalogues its documents under “The Riots of 1877″—I decided to propose a historical marker in front of Camden Yards, honoring the strikers and their community.

214965cuThe process for applying for a new marker is available at online at the Maryland Historical Trust website. While proposals generally have to get approval from the State Highway Administration, this one also had to pass the Maryland Stadium Authority because of its unique location. In addition to the usual historical support, I also turned in several dozen letters from high school teachers across the country, who participated in a workshop in July, 2011, about the strike. My partners in this project—Nancy Kurtz from the Maryland Historical Trust and Jan Hardesty, from the Stadium Authority—were wonderful and a process that I was warned could take years was completed in about six months! The state cast (and paid for) the marker, using language I proposed, and the unveiling will be a great event.

1877 Railroad Strike Historical Marker Unveiling
Saturday March 23, 10:30 am
Unveiling at Camden Yards in front of the B&O Warehouse on Howard Street
See the Orioles website for information on parking and transit options. There will be a reception after the unveiling at The Irish Railroad Workers Museum on Lemon Street, across from the B & O Museum. Free parking is available for anyone who RSVPs in advance with Bill Barry at billbarry21214@gmail.com.