Author: Eli

Eli Pousson started as a Field Officer at Baltimore Heritage in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in October 2009. Prior to moving to Baltimore, Eli worked for the DC Office of Historic Preservation and completed graduate work in anthropology and historic preservation at the University of Maryland College Park. Eli continues to work with the Lakeland Community Heritage Project and other heritage organizations in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

February 7, 2014

Waverly Main Street listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Congratulations to the Waverly Main Street community including Joe Stewart, Tom Gamper, Elise Hoffman and many others for the listing of the Waverly Main Street Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places! Baltimore Heritage also played an important role in providing technical assistance for the completion of the nomination in 2012. This new historic district includes the area roughly bounded by East 29th Street, Barclay Avenue, East 35th Street, Old York Road, and Greenmount Avenue.

Download the full nomination (PDF) for the Waverly Main Street Historic District for more background on the history and architecture of this vital Baltimore neighborhood.

Image courtesy Live Baltimore.

February 5, 2014

News: Patterson Park archaeological dig set to start in April

Patterson Park archaeological dig set to start in April, Baltimore Guide, February 5, 2014.

January 22, 2014

[Baltimore 1814: January 16-22] “this morning presents a most violent Snow Storm” and more familiar stories

1814 is much like the present in many ways. Women became mothers, men became grandparents, and others passed away leaving family behind. Here are two births and one death we’re remembering this week:

Wendell Bollman was born at his father’s bakery on Water Street. Bollman grew up to become the “Master of the Road” for the B&O Railroad, famed for his iron bridges.
With the birth of Ramsay McHenry, James McHenry, the namesake of Fort McHenry, became a grandfather. At the beginning of 1814, the elder McHenry suffered an attack of paralysis that left him home-bound in West Baltimore.
John Henry Fusselbaugh, a dealer in building materials and resident of Old Town on East Street, died. He was survived by his wife Barbara and his 13-year-old son.

Missed last week’s update? Don’t forget to check out our story on Robert Mills and his “book of designs” for Baltimore’s Washington Monument.

American and Commercial Daily Advertiser, January 17, 1814

January 16, 2014

[Photo] Washington Monument’s “Basement”

January 14, 2014, gkrugandson on Instagram.

Thanks to G. Krug and Son Ironworks for sharing this neat shot from the ongoing restoration of the Washington Monument. Tons of brick and marble make up this 178-foot tall icon—all supported by the stone and brick arches down in the “basement.”

January 15, 2014

[Baltimore 1814: January 8-15] “Cloudy morning,” a “book of designs” for the Washington Monument, and Baltimore at Sea

Courtesy Drew Peslar, Smithsonian.

This week’s Baltimore 1814 stories include much more than just news about the “cloudy morning” of January 15, 1814:

33-year-old architect Robert Mills submitted a “book of designs” to the Board of Managers of the Washington Monument with a dozen drawings and a letter staking his claim to the title of “first American architect.”
Nathan Levering and the Baltimore Manufactory Company advertised to hire a blacksmith, wood turner, weaver and a “complete Mule Spinner” to work at the Powhatan Cotton Works (built along the Gwynns Falls in 1811).
Joseph Sterett, commander of Maryland’s Fifth Regiment, lost a $2500 check made out by Thomas Tenant, a wealthy major in Maryland’s Sixth Regiment. What was the check for and how was it lost? Let us know if you have a theory!

Read on for a few items from one of our newest themes: Baltimore At Sea – featuring the stories of seamen, shipbuilders, privateers and the United States Navy. Thanks to volunteer Dennis Lilly for his help in launching this new series!

Missed last week? Check out last week’s update or go read the story of Jean Pierre Morel de Guiramand, a refugee from the Haitian Revolution, received a patent a new “power loom” on January 7, 1814.