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.

Celebrate the 2019 Preservation Award Winners and the transformation of the A. Hoen & Co. Building!

Please join us on Thursday, June 13 for our 2019 Preservation Awards Celebration at the Hoen & Co. Lithograph Building!

From this 1885 motor factory turned printing plant, Hoen designed and published everything from survey maps in the late 1800s to psychedelic album covers in the 1960s. Today, it is being converted into a hub of offices, job training facilities, and community space in East Baltimore—and we’ll get to see it right in the middle of the transformation. With this enormous former manufacturing building as our backdrop, we’re pleased to be honoring this year’s best work in historic preservation, from the restoration of an antique streetcar at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum to the tremendous efforts by the Chinatown Collective to bring new life into Baltimore’s historic Chinatown.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with food and drink then the awards presentation begins at 6:30 p.m. This year, we’re going green! Plates, cups, and everything else we use will be either compostable or recyclable, and with food from Blue Pit that includes their signature vegetarian BBQ, we’re trying to do our part to minimize our impact. Get your tickets today and join us to celebrate our city’s efforts to revitalize our historic building and communities.

Thanks to the sponsors of this year’s event, whose generous contributions keep Baltimore Heritage going throughout the year.

Lead Sponsors

  • Agora, Inc.
  • Eastend Design Group
  • Freedom Car
  • GLB Concrete
  • Lewis Contractors
  • PNC
  • Southway Builders
  • Whiting Turner Contracting Company
  • Zeskind’s Hardware & Millwork

Sponsors

  • AGM Financial Services
  • Brennan and Company Architects
  • Discern Health
  • Gant Brunnett Architects
  • GWWO Architects
  • Roland Park Place
  • SM+P Architects
  • Southway Builders
  • Terra Nova Ventures
  • Ziger/Snead

2019 Award Recipients

Project Awards

Restoration and Rehabilitation

  • 2229 Callow Avenue
  • Marburg House, 6 E. Eager Street
  • 3522 Elm Avenue
  • 2431 Eutaw Place
  • First German United Evangelical Church Conversion, 1728 Eastern Avenue
  • 218 E. Lafayette Avenue
  • 2131 E. Lombard Street
  • 1 West Mount Vernon Place (Hackerman House)
  • Preston Street Lofts, 2-4 E. Preston Street
  • Chez Hugo Bistro, 206 E. Redwood Street
  • Station Arts Homes, 325, 327, 329, 312, 316, and 318 E. Lanvale Street
  • The George Peabody Skylight Restoration, 17 E. Mount Vernon Place

Adaptive Reuse and Compatible Design

  • Carriage House Renovation & Addition (The Brown / Thaddeus Residence), 2214 W. Pratt Street
  • St. Brigid’s School & Convent Conversion, 900 S. East Avenue
  • Fleet Street Lofts, 3801 Fleet Street
  • The Fox Building, 3100 Falls Cliff Road
  • Recreation Bowling Alley Conversion, 602 N. Howard Street

Achievement Awards

Heritage Preservation

  • Car 554 Restoration at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum
  • CHAP Historic Tax Credit Program
  • Chinatown Collective
  • Enslaved at Homewood
  • Preservation in Practice Program at Morgan State University
  • Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Banners
  • Eutaw Manor and Furley Hall Signs at Herring Run Park
  • Historic Sites of Industry in the Jones Falls Valley

Looking for a good excuse to enjoy the beautiful spring weather? Get outside on our upcoming tours!

If you’re looking to get outside and enjoy springtime in the city, we have plenty of opportunities to get some fresh air on our upcoming walking tours, a bike tour through Druid Hill Park, and the latest chance to get inside the Shot Tower.

On Saturday, May 11, our Baltimore by Foot series continues in Union Square where we’re asking what H.L. Mencken might think of summer concerts and window boxes. That same day, we’re also offering our final Lexington Market tour for the spring—and it even has a few spots still open! The following Saturday, May 18, our last Baltimore by Foot tour for the season explores the history (and future) of arts and entertainment on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Early next month, on Saturday, June 8, we hope you can put a little air in your tires and ride along for The Nooks and Crannies of Druid Hill Park by Bike with our two veteran tour leaders Dr. Ralph Brown and artist Graham Coreil-Allen. We keep to a modest pace and a mostly flat grade so people of all biking abilities are welcome.

Finally, whether it rains or shines, our Monumental City Tours continue on Sunday mornings with Historic Jonestown and the Shot Tower on May 12 and Mount Vernon and the Washington Monument on May 19. These affordable tours are a great way to show off the city to visiting family and friends.

With wishes for a happy spring, I hope to see you on one (or two or more!) of our upcoming tours.

A streetscape showing a brick former theater building next to a large brownstone house.

March Tours and Talks at the Baltimore School for the Arts, G. Krug & Son Ironworks and More!

If you explore the Baltimore School for the Arts on Cathedral Street you’ll find more than young talented artists. The school’s two main buildings—the former Alcazar Hotel and the Graham House—are full of fascinating Baltimore history. Please join us on Saturday, March 16 for a tour of the buildings (and a sneak peak at rehearsals with some of the school’s talented performing artists).

On Wednesday, March 20, we’re returning to G. Krug & Son Ironworks for a tour of the nation’s oldest iron-working shop. Our tour will be led by Mr. Peter Krug, part of the fifth generation of Krugs to operate the business, who will show off some of the fantastic decorative iron pieces made here in Baltimore over the past two hundred years.

Finally, our last lecture of the spring at the Garrett Jacobs Mansion will take place on Sunday, March 24 with Antero Pietila talking about his new book: The Ghosts of Johns Hopkins: The Life and Legacy that Shaped an American City.

I hope you can join us at some of these events in March, and stay tuned for an announcement shortly on our 2019 Baltimore By Foot neighborhood walking tours.

Apply by April 12 for a grant from the new Baltimore Historic Preservation Fund

We are pleased to announce an exciting new grant fund for Baltimore non-profits to preserve historic places and even more pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications. Take a look at the grant guidelines and then submit a nomination by April 12, 2019.

The Baltimore Historic Preservation Fund is a partnership between Baltimore Heritage, the Maryland Historical Trust, Preservation Maryland, and the Baltimore Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation. Our goal is provide direct assistance for capital and non-capital projects that advance efforts to preserve historically significant places in Baltimore City.

Any tax-exempt organizations doing historic preservation work in Baltimore City is eligible to apply. Grant requests between $1,000 and $10,000 will be the most competitive. Projects eligible for funding include rehabilitation work, preparation of National Register nominations, and education, research, and planning efforts related to historic preservation projects.

The Baltimore City Historic Preservation Fund has a limited amount of money to give away, but we are eager to help support good work in Baltimore. If you have any questions, please contact Baltimore Heritage director Johns Hopkins at 410-332-9992 or hopkins@baltimoreheritage.org.

Apply online

G. Krug & Sons Tour, Antero Pietila Book Talk, and Mount Vernon Love Stories

Did you know that Baltimore has the nation’s oldest iron working company? G. Krug & Son Ironworks has stood in the same building just a block from Lexington Market since 1810, and today produces fantastic iron pieces as it has for over two hundred years. On Wednesday, March 20, Peter Krug is sharing the history of the business on our Behind the Scenes tour. As a member of the fifth generation of the Krug family to run the business, Peter not only knows the history but will also demonstrate ironworking on machines that are nearly as old as the company itself!

On Sunday, March 24, we’re looking forward to a talk by author Antero Pietila on his new book The Ghosts of Johns Hopkins: The Life and Legacy that Shaped an American City. We are pleased to offer this event at the Engineers Club as part of our ongoing lecture series with the Garrett Jacobs Mansion Endowment Fund.

We also still have a few spots left for this Sunday’s Mount Vernon Love Stories tour with local historian Jamie Hunt. With a morning tour at 11:00 am and an afternoon tour at 1:00 pm, we hope you can join us to hear some great tales of jilted lovers and secret trysts spanning over two hundred years while learning about the history about this great historic neighborhood.

Finally, we are asking you to share your nominations for the city’s best preservation projects over the past year. Do you know somebody who has done a wonderful rehab on their house? Or who has organized volunteers to help restore a neighborhood landmark? We’d love to hear their story. Our online nomination process is simple, and I am always here try to help and answer questions. Please take a minute and help us recognize the people who are working to ensure our historic buildings and neighborhoods continue to be vibrant places.

Keep your hat and coat by the door, and I hope to see you on some the upcoming talks and tours.