Author: Johns

Johns Hopkins has been the executive director of Baltimore Heritage since 2003. Before that, Johns worked for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development developing and implementing smart growth and neighborhood revitalization programs. Johns holds degrees from Yale University, George Washington University Law School, and the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment.

Ending spring at the Irish Railroad Workers Museum and starting summer with Bakeries by Bike

As we enter the final weeks of spring before the first official day of summer (June 21), we hope you can join us on some upcoming tours and at our Preservation Awards Celebration at the wonderfully renovated Chesapeake Shakespeare Theater.

Our newest tour is the Irish Railroad Workers Museum will host us on June 16 for a tour in their Lemmon Street alley houses to learn about and see first-hand the immigrant experience in Baltimore. We are also looking forward to our June 13 walking tour of historic Lutherville with town historian Ralph Welsh – rain or shine as always.

You can still pedal with us in June on our Bakeries by Bike tour with guide Ralph Brown but we just rescheduled our Vacant Houses by Bike ride from June 14 to August 9 to avoid a conflict with the wonderful Tour dem Parks Ride and always amazing Kinetic Sculpture Race. Enjoy Tour dem Parks then come on a bike tour this summer!

Mount Vernon Pride, Lutherville, Corpus Christi Church and more upcoming tours!

We’re looking forward to a busy weekend of heritage talks and tours and several new tours coming up next month. On Saturday, Bolton Hill’s Corpus Christi Church is celebrating its 135th Anniversary with a free afternoon lecture about the building’s architect Patrick Keely. On Sunday, we’ll be touring the Havre de Grace Lock House and Canal and reprising our Mount Vernon LGBTQ Heritage Walking Tour. Next month, you can join us on a walking tour of historic Lutherville and a sojourn around East Baltimore for a delicious bike tour of immigration and ethnic history.

Please don’t forget to purchase your tickets for our 2015 Historic Preservation Awards Celebration on June 18 at the Chesapeake Shakespeare Theatre. You can expect a fun evening with casual attire, plenty of food and drink, and an opportunity to recognize inspirational preservation and revitalization work from around the city!

Join us for the 2015 Preservation Awards at the Chesapeake Shakespeare Theater

We are thrilled to invite you to Baltimore Heritage’s 2015 Historic Preservation Awards Celebration downtown at the newly renovated Chesapeake Shakespeare Theater. This year we are honoring a wide range of projects: a single family home in Fell’s Point, a nursery school in Bolton Hill, a former police station, and the Shakespeare Theater itself. We’re also honoring incredible work by individuals, including Ms. Elaine Eff for her work on Baltimore painted screens and Mr. Martin Azola for his lifetime’s work restoring historic buildings in Baltimore.

The celebration will take place on Thursday, June 18, 2015 beginning at 5:30 pm. In addition to seeing the fantastic work inside the Shakespeare Theater, we will take a peek next door at the historic Merchant’s Club building that the theater is planning to occupy. There will be plenty of good food and drink, and lots to celebrate.

Find more details on our event page or sign up today! I hope you can join us.

New tours and events! Archaeology at Herring Run, a road trip to Havre de Grace, and Baltimore by Bike rides

With tonight’s pop-up exhibit on Baltimore archaeology, an open house at Herring Run Park archaeology dig next weekend, an excursion to Havre de Grace’s Lock House and Canal at the end of the month, we think you’ll enjoy our upcoming tours and events.

On Observatory Hill this evening, our Artifacts & Archaeologists Pop-up Exhibit is a chance to meet local archaeologists, check out artifacts from Hampden, Carroll Park and Patterson Park, and learn how to get involved with archaeology in Baltimore. Next weekend, we’re hosting an open house in Herring Run Park where you can learn about the country estate of William Smith and meet the volunteer archaeologists who are digging for answers to many questions about the park’s history.

On Sunday May 31, we’ll be driving up to Havre de Grace to visit a historic lock house and canal. Stick around for lunch and explore a historic community that Smithsonian Magazine ranked as one the best small town’s to see in America. In June, Baltimore by Bike tours return for ride through the city’s long history of salvaging, demolishing and preserving vacant houses and a tasty repeat of our East Baltimore Bakeries by Bike ride with Dr. Ralph Brown.

Finally, we invite you to join us in our push to bring the Red Line to Baltimore. The Red Line is key to saving historic landmarks, revitalizing historic neighborhoods, and creating new jobs for Baltimore residents. Come out to a Red Line rally this spring – May 12, May 15 or May 20 – to learn more and show off your support for this key investment in our city!

Walk through Fell’s Point African American heritage and explore the grand Gramercy Mansion

Over the next few days, we are excited to be celebrating African American history in Fell’s Point in partnership with the Preservation Society. Tomorrow evening, please come out for a free lecture with historian and activist Dr. Helena Hicks. This Sunday, we are looking forward to a walking tour of African American heritage in Fell’s Point covering everything from the famed escape of Frederick Douglass to little-known organizing efforts of African American drydock workers. The walk is led by Louis Fields a tireless advocate for black history in Maryland who was the driving force behind Maryland’s Harriet Tubman Day.

If you are interested in taking a look at the artifacts from last year’s dig in Patterson Park, please join us next Thursday evening on Observatory Hill for a pop-up exhibit on Baltimore archeology. Organized in partnership with the Archeological Society of Maryland, this informal one-day only exhibit will let you take a close look at artifacts from Carroll Park, Hampden, Herring Run, and Texas, Maryland and meet local archeologists.

Finally, we are excited to announce our newest Behind the Scenes tour of the lovely Gramercy Mansion and Gardens (located near Stevenson University). Built in 1902, this Tudor-style home started as a wedding present from railroad president Alexander Johnston Cassatt to his daughter Eliza. The building took an unexpected turn in the 1950s when it became home to the Koinonia Foundation – a predecessor of the Peace Corps. Sign up soon for this tour with Ann Pomykala, the mansion’s owner and historian at heart – we expect the tour will fill up fast!