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.

Behind the Scenes Tour of Bars and Brothels of Fell’s Point

Eighteenth-century visitor John David declared Fell’s Point “a place remarkable for its commerce of various kinds, for here ships land their cargoes and their crews wait not even for the twilight to fly to the polluted arms of the harlot.” Please join us and architectural historian Ms. Sherri Marsh Johns on a short walking tour of some of the notorious bars and brothels (and other possibly more reputable places) of historic Fell’s Point.

Tour Information

Date: Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Time: 5:30 to 6:30 PM (or a tad later)
Place: Meet in front of 1629-31 Aliceanna Street, about ½ block west of Broadway
This is the old Captain’s Hotel. Park at meters on the street.
Cost: $10
Registration: Click Here to Register.
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2010 Preservation Awards: John Manley House

John Manley House before and after, Image courtesy hord | coplan | macht

This week’s entry in our series of 2010 Baltimore Heritage Preservation Awards is the John Manley House. Formerly St. Dominic’s Parish School, the John Manley House at 5304 Harford Road involved taking two school building dating to the early twentieth century and converting them into low-income housing for seniors. Preserving features like the clay tile roof, terrazzo floors, and trim-work were priorities. Even the chalkboards were preserved and reused as message boards for the residents. The result is a fantastic new residence for thirty lucky seniors and a well preserved set of historic buildings. The Adaptive Reuse and Compatible Design Award was awarded to architect  Hord Coplan Macht and contractor Southway Builders.

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2010 Preservation Awards: Hotel Brexton

Following on our recent feature on the American Brewery in East Baltimore, we are excited to share the second entry in our series on the 2010 Baltimore Heritage Preservation Award Winners: Mount Vernon’s Hotel Brexton.

Hotel Brexton at night, image courtesy Daniel Truitt

Constructed in 1881, the seven story Hotel Brexton at 868 Park Avenue is elegantly squeezed onto a tiny triangular lot between Park Avenue and Tyson Street in Mount Vernon. Perhaps the most famous resident of this “residential hotel” was Bessie ‘Wallis’ Warfield, later the Duchess of Windsor. After years of vacancy and neglect, RWN Development acquired the building and finished a total renovation earlier this year. The building is now a hotel and is a worthy addition to the national Historic Hotels of America. The Adaptive Reuse and Compatible Design Award goes to owners and operators RWN Development, general contractor HOD LLC, and architects Kann Partners.
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This Place Matters Community Challenge: Vote for the Hebrew Orphan Asylum

Over the past few months, we have shared a few updates on our efforts to preserve Hebrew Orphan Asylum– an 1876 Victorian Romanesque landmark in the Greater Rosemont neighborhood of West Baltimore and the oldest Jewish orphanage building in the United States. We developed a partnership with the Coppin Heights CDC and Coppin State University and received grant support from both Preservation Maryland and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Now you have a chance to declare that this place matters and support the preservation of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum.

In partnership with Coppin State University, the building’s owner, and the Jewish Museum of Maryland we have submitted the Hebrew Orphan Asylum to the “This Place Matters Community Challenge” a national competition sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  For the next two weeks, people across the country are voting online to support historic places in their communities and the place with the most votes wins $25,000.

Please help us preserve the Hebrew Orphan Asylum by voting online right now. In less than a minute you can help us save over 130 years of Baltimore history. You can only vote one time, so please share this request with friends, family and neighbors who can help us all save this important Baltimore building. The contest ends on September 15 so we only have two weeks to get the word out, but we are still keeping our fingers crossed. Thank you, as always, for your interest and support as we continue our work to save and restore this historic Baltimore place.

Baltimore Building of the Week: American Brewery

This week’s Baltimore Building of the Week from Dr. John Breihan serves double duty as the first in a new series highlighting the 2010 Baltimore Heritage Preservation Award Winners! The American Brewery Building at 1701 North Gay Street might be the most “Baltimore” of all buildings in the city. It is in the style of High Victorian architecture, as so much of our city was built and it is just plain quirky. Since 1973, the 1887 J.F. Weisner and Sons brewery building (later known as the American Brewery) stood as a hulking shell lording over a distressed neighborhood. Its restoration is a noteworthy symbol of optimism for the historic building the surrounding community. The conversion of the brewery into a health care and community center for Humanim more than fits the organization’s motto: “To identify those in greatest need and provide uncompromising human services.” We are thankful that they chose this grand building in Baltimore to carry out that mission. A 2010 Baltimore Heritage Preservation Award in the Adaptive Reuse and Compatible Design category goes to owner Humanim, Inc., architects Cho Benn Holback + Associates, and contractor Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse.

Image courtesy Chauncy Primm/Flickr 2009

On a prominent ridge-top site in East Baltimore, this flamboyant Second Empire extravaganza was actually a working industrial complex between 1887 and 1973 (with a break for Prohibition). Perhaps John Frederick Weissner, who presided over the American Brewery, hoped that its towering turrets and Mansard roof, visible over much of the city, would generate a profitable thirstiness for his product. After years of vacancy and decay, the brewery buildings have been restored to life by Humanim, a community-service nonprofit active in the impoverished neighborhood around the brewery.