Join us for our brand new Baltimore by Boat tours! America defeated the British here. Frederick Douglass escaped from here. Today we are pioneering watershed restoration here. Join us for 300 years of history on a live-narrated tour of Baltimore’s world famous Inner Harbor. Come see how Baltimore’s wonderful waterfront connects the past with the present and Baltimore to the rest of the world.
Please stay tuned for more boat tours coming Spring 2025!
Boat tours are 75 minutes long. We have partnered with the Baltimore Water Taxi to use their vessels.
For Private Boat Tours: Starting at $250 plus the price of the boat rental (prices vary). Please contact Molly Ricks at ricks@baltimoreheritage.org or 240-305-3984 for scheduling.
In October 2024, Baltimore Heritage held our annual awards event where we gave away 6 micro-grants to 6 very worthy community projects. One award went to the Friends of St. Peter’s Cemetery to support the restoration of this historic site in partnership with the PRINCE Program, which trains incarcerated citizens in cemetery preservation. Last week, we were able to visit the cemetery and see the valuable work being done here. The Baltimore Heritage micro-grant money was used in the last round of vegetation clearance and funded two additional days of clean-up.
Baltimore Heritage recently adopted a new strategic plan, along with new mission and vision statements. Each of these complements and supports community projects like the work being done by the Friends of St. Peter’s Cemetery.
Our new Mission Statement: To amplify Baltimore’s diverse cultural heritage through collaboration, advocacy, and education.
Our new Vision Statement: We create a thriving Baltimore by preserving, honoring and sharing our histories
Last Thursday, October 10, Baltimore Heritage had its annual Preservation Celebration at Hollins Market! We handed out 12 awards to groups and individuals doing fabulous work celebrating and preserving our city’s history and buildings. We gave out 6 micro-grants to 6 very worthy community projects. We conducted our organization’s annual meeting and welcomed a few new board members. And we said a big thank you to our wonderful volunteers. They make historic preservation possible in Baltimore. All the while, we ate delicious food from Hollins Market and drank wine from Spirits of Mt. Vernon! Thank you to everyone attended.
Award Winners
The Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center (Photo courtesy of Dr. Al Hathaway)
Volunteer of the Year: Linda Snyder
For leading countless public and private tours
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Beloved Community Services Corporation
For the restoration of the Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center (PS 103)
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Dr. Ashley Minner Jones, the Native American Senior Citizens,
and the Baltimore Reservation Project
For promoting Lumbee American Indian heritage in East Baltimore
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Bruce Willen
For the Ghost Rivers public art and history project
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Dr. Raynetta Wiggins-Jackson, curator of Ethel’s Place: Celebrating Ethel Ennis, Baltimore’s First Lady of Jazz
Dr. Raynetta Wiggins-Jackson
For the exhibit, Ethel’s Place: Celebrating Ethel Ennis, Baltimore’s First Lady of Jazz
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Upton Planning Council and Pennsylvania Avenue Main Street
For the renovation of 1829 Pennsylvania Avenue for the Pennsylvania Avenue Welcome Center
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Shelley Halstead & Black Women Build
For work to rehab houses and build community in West Baltimore
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Christina Delgado
For establishing Tola’s Room, a Puerto Rican home museum
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Betty Bland Thomas
For decades of work to preserve heritage in Sharp Leadenhall
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Baltimore Museum of Industry
For the exhibit, Collective Action: Labor Activism in 21st Century Baltimore
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James Ruttley and Kathleen Lechleighter
For the restoration of 1209 Calvert Street
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Douglas Gordon Award: Charlie Duff
For a lifetime of work in historic preservation
Pitch Party Winners
Sara Artes presenting for the Corner Team Boxing Club
$2000: Corner Team Boxing Club
Funds will support Phase 1 of the Joe Gans Monument project, which will pay the sculptor to design and fabricate a maquette of the statue
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$1000: Evolving Young Girls Mentoring Organization
Funds will support the Baltimore’s Hidden Treasures: Youth Preservation Workshop
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$1000: Friends of St. Peter’s Cemetery
Funds will support the restoration of St. Peter’s Cemetery in partnership with the PRINCE Program, which trains incarcerated citizens in cemetery preservation
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$500: Friends of Patterson Park’
Funds will support a videographer to create a video of the interior of the Observatory for virtual access
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Jessica Williams presenting for Westminster Hall & Burying Ground
$500: Westminster Hall and Burying Ground
Funds will support the restoration of the brick pathway
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$500: Pride of Baltimore
Funds will support replacement of the ship’s planks
Baltimore Heritage is collaborating with the Heritage Crossing Residents Association to restore the Perkins Square gazebo!
The neighborhood of Heritage Crossing turned 25 years old last year, and in preparing for that milestone, the Residents Association developed a list of priorities that would help them improve their public spaces. Improving the landscaping in the central park and restoring the gazebo were at the top of the priority list. The Perkins Square gazebo is a vital public space for the predominantly Black West Baltimore community. The community was created to bring new vibrancy to this part of Baltimore as high rise public housing apartments that were here were demolished.
The gazebo, c. 1905
The gazebo has been at the heart of the Heritage Crossing community since it was erected in the 1850s to provide shade for people getting water from a natural spring, and today is in the center of the park. This year, the Residents Association is partnering with Baltimore Heritage to help secure qualified contractors who are experience with historic structures and help raise the funds needed to undertake the work.
Baltimore Heritage completed a new strategic plan in 2023 that calls for us to directly assist communities in preservation projects. Heritage Crossing is the first community partnership that Baltimore Heritage has entered into under its new strategic plan, a recognition of the importance of the historic gazebo and the impact that its restoration will have on the Heritage Crossing community.
The restored gazebo is a key component to the Heritage Crossing community’s ongoing effort to improve the park and build community. Baltimore Heritage is honored to be part of such an important project! Stay tuned for more details about a ribbon cutting ceremony when the restoration is complete.
In October 2024, Baltimore Heritage held our annual awards event where we gave away 6 micro-grants to 6 very worthy community projects. One award went to the Friends of St. Peter’s Cemetery to support the restoration of this historic site in partnership with the PRINCE Program, which trains incarcerated citizens in cemetery preservation. Last week, we were able to visit the cemetery and see the valuable work being done here. The Baltimore Heritage micro-grant money was used in the last round of vegetation clearance and funded two additional days of clean-up.
