Author: Molly Ricks

Accepting Ideas for 2020 Micro Grants for Preservation Work

We’re in our 5th year of giving away micro-grants to help fund preservation work in the city. If you have a good idea to help preserve a historic building or place in Baltimore or help revitalize a historic neighborhood, we’d love to hear from you! The process is easy: simply fill out the online application and hit send by Wednesday, September 23, 2020.

We’ll pick the five most promising ideas and give them a chance for one of two $500 grants, two $250 grants, or one $50 grant. The awards will be made on October 22, 2020 at a virtual pitch party. Over Zoom, supporters of each idea will get three minutes to pitch them and at the end, the crowd will cast virtual ballots to decide which ideas receive the micro grants. Whether funded or not, we will promote all the ideas and projects to help them garner attention and volunteers.

The types of eligible projects are endless, and as long as they relate to Baltimore’s history, heritage, historic buildings or historic neighborhoods we will consider them. Past award winners include: restoring leaking masonry at a historic church, launching an after school arts-based safe space program in a historic neighborhood, supporting archaeological efforts at a historic furnace, and providing supplies for a community trying to provide access to a neighboring park. The sky’s the limit!

The amount of the award ($50, $250, or $500) may not be enough to complete an entire project. That’s OK. The goal is to help spark new and support existing neighborhood-level preservation work. You don’t need to be a nonprofit organization or even a formalized group to be eligible. Individuals and small groups are welcome! Complete rules can be found on the application.

And you can now register for October 22’s Virtual Preservation Pitch Party! 

Mapping Sites of Baltimore’s Slave Trade

Baltimore Heritage would like to share some information on the city’s role in the slave-trade in the 19th century. One of our dedicated volunteers, Richard Messick, has spearheaded this research and in his guest blog below, he gives us some insight into what he has found. Thank you Richard!

I once took a tour at Hampton National Historic Site lead by Park Ranger Anokwale Anansesemfo, called “Forced Servitude at Hampton.” The tour described the variety of labor used by the Ridgely family to operate their estate: indentured servants, prisoners of war, and enslaved people. It was a profound and moving experience that sent me on a research project to learn more about slavery in Baltimore.

After its incorporation in the late 18th century, the population of Baltimore grew very quickly along with the expansion of the new country. One of the many “trades” that grew along with the city was the sale of people. Several things contributed to this development. First, local farmers had shifted from a labor-intensive tobacco crop to the growing of cereal grains, which required less work and contributed to a surplus of slave labor in the area. Secondly, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793, which quickly and easily separated cotton fibers from their seeds. The cotton industry then became incredibly profitable and that fueled a desire for more land and forced labor in the South. The third factor was that the importation of people for sale was outlawed in 1808.

The market for the sale of people that grew up in the Mid-Atlantic region was extensive. This map focuses on where enslaved people were sold in Baltimore. I have used a number or sources for my research, but my primary resource was Ralph Clayton’s book, Cash for Blood: The Baltimore to New Orleans Domestic Slave Trade.  Although many of the associated buildings no longer exist, the overall map shows the deeply interwoven relationship between the trade of human beings and our streets of Baltimore.

— Richard Messick

Baltimore Heritage 2020 Preservation Award Winners

On behalf of all of us at Baltimore Heritage, we would like to congratulate the winners of our 2020 Historic Preservation Awards. These people and their work are saving some of Baltimore’s most important historic places and transforming our city’s neighborhoods. Thank you!

We had been planning an in-person celebration for June to recognize the winners, but are canceling it because of the coronavirus. We are still thinking through how to celebrate this year’s awardees virtually and please stay tuned for that. In the meantime, take a look at the list below and if you know any of them, please reach out and say congratulations. They deserve it.

*If you were part of an award-winning project, and you were not listed below, please let us know.

Restoration and Rehabilitation Awards:

113 West Ostend Street

  • Mr. Joshua Parker
  • Labyrinth Properties LLC
  • Cole Builders LLC

421 George Street

  • Matthew and Megan Strott

500 South Ann Street Store Front

  • David H. Gleason Associates
  • Contraction Administration Services

2318 Mount Royal Terrace

  • Ruth Wright

3840 Bank Street

  • Urban Design Group LLC

Beth Am Synagogue

  • Beth Am Synagogue
  • Alexander Design Studio
  • Red Sketch Landscape Architecture
  • Colbert, Matz Rosenfelt, Inc
  • Acoustical Design Collaborative, LTD
  • Carney Engineering
  • Henry Adams, LLC
  • Flux Studio
  • CapEx Advisory Group
  • Southway Builders
  • David Hess 

Clifton Mansion Dining Room

  • Thomas Moore Studio
  • Gillian Quinn
  • Laurie Timm
  • Mariah Gillis
  • Sue Crawford
  • Bridget Cimino
  • Ewa Pohl
  • Vincent Greene Architects
  • Matthew Mosca
  • Henry Johnson
  • Tom McCracken
  • Friends of Clifton Mansion
  • C&H Restoration
  • Brough Schamp
  • Erik Kvalsvik

H.L. Mencken House and Museum

  • Society to Preserve H.L. Mencken’s Legacy, Inc.
  • Azola Building Rehab, Inc.
  • Manifold Design
  • Baltimore National Heritage Area
  • Baltimore City Department of General Services
  • Baltimore Office of the Mayor
  • Washington Place Equities
  • Baltimore Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation
  • P & E Engineering & Consulting, LLC
  • JLR Design Consultants, Inc.

Johns Hopkins University Maryland Hall Cupola

  • Johns Hopkins University
  • SM+P Architects
  • Lewis Contractors
  • Worcester Eisenbrandt

Ministry of Brewing

Adaptive Reuse and Compatible Design Awards:

Hoen & Co Lithograph

  • 2101 East Biddle LLC
  • Cross Street Partners
  • City Life Historic Properties
  • Ziger/Snead LLP
  • 1200 Architectural Engineers Pllc
  • Kovacs Whitney & Associates
  • James Posey Associates
    STV, Inc
  • Michael S. Walkley, P.A.
  • Budova Engineering
  • Froehling & Robertson, Inc
  • Urban Green Environmental
  • Betty Bird & Associates LLC
  • EHT Traceries Historic Preservation
  • Cohn Reznick LLP
  • Reinvestment Fund (TRF)
  • Best Fence
  • Ruppert Landscape
  • Watchmen, LLC
  • H. J. Poist Gas Co
  • KMT Disposal
  • C. L McCoy Framing Co, Inc.

  • City First Bank
  • PCG
  • Department of Commerce
  • U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation
  • City First New Markets Fund II, LLC
  • National Trust Community Investment Corp
  • Telesis Corporation
  • Baltimore City
  • Ace Environmental Services, Inc
  • Fence Masters
  • Knockorp LLC
  • SHE Excavating, Inc
  • English Concrete, Inc
  • D.A. Drenner Concrete Construction, Inc
  • Quiet Floors Systems LLC
  • Elite Restoration of Maryland
  • Worcester Eisenbrandt, Inc.
  • Neuner Masonry Company Inc
  • Wilson Point Steel, Inc.
  • Slaghammer’s Welding
  • Majer Metal Works

  • Loudoun Stairs
  • Reisterstown Lumber
  • Heidler Roofing
  • North American Roofing
  • CNC Roofing LLC
  • ACW Inc
  • Fullview Aluminum & Glass
  • Revolution Windows Systems
  • Tegeler Construction & Supply
  • Unified Door & Hardward Group, LLC
  • CEV Building Systems LTD
  • Eastwood Painting & Contracting, Inc
  • Business Flooring
  • Polished Concrete Systems, Inc.
  • MD Partitions
  • Mats Inc
  • Livingston Fire Protection Inc.
  • Scaffold Resources LLC
  • Delaware Elevator
  • Fidelity Mechanical Services
  • Benchmark Automation & Controls
  • Fleet Electric Inc.
  • Kevson Services Group

Ministry of Brewing

  • Michael Powell
  • St. Michael’s Redevelopment Partners
  • Present Company
  • Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates
  • ThermalTech Engineering
  • F.M. Harvey Construction Co., Inc
  • Fleet Electric

A. Hoen & Co Lithograph

Special Recognition for Once-in-a-Lifetime Restoration and Rehabilitation Work:

Center for Health Care and Healthy Living at the Baltimore Hebrew Orphan Asylum

  • Ballard Spahr LLC
  • Baltimore City Health Department
  • Behavioral Health System of Baltimore
  • C.L. McCoy Framing Co.
  • Coppin Heights Community Development Corporation
  • Cross Street Partners
  • Reinvestment Fund
  • Southway Builders
  • Waldon Studios Architects

Enoch Pratt Free Library

  • Enoch Pratt Free Library
  • Beyer Blinder Belle
  • Ayers Saint Gross
  • Mueller
  • Sustainable Building Partners
  • WFT
  • AMT Engineering
  • Jensen Hughs
  • Spexsys
  • Restl
  • VDA
  • Tillotson Design
  • ASSA ABLOY
  • Cerami & Associates
  • Gilbane
  • Baltimore Department of General Services
  • SVA 

Heritage Preservation Awards:

Henry Holt Hopkins, for leadership in restoring the Washington Monument, Clifton Mansion, and the Clifton Gardener’s Cottage

Charlie Duff, for helping us understand Baltimore’s historic and contemporary development through his book North Atlantic Cities 

Doors Open Baltimore, for helping thousands of people appreciate Baltimore’s historic places through its annual Doors Open Baltimore event

Dr. Gary Rodwell, for dedication to completing the renovation of the Baltimore Hebrew Orphan Asylum and commitment to revitalizing historic communities in West Baltimore

Douglas Gordon Lifetime Achievement Award:

David H. Gleason, FAI

David Gleason has been a preservation leader in Baltimore for over 50 years, including serving on the board of directors of Baltimore Heritage, as president of the Fell’s Point Preservation Society, as a commissioner at CHAP, as a volunteer in efforts to preserve neighborhoods like Lafayette Square and Market Center, and in countless historic restoration projects he undertook as a professional architect. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Lead Sponsors

  • GLB Concrete
  • Hord Coplan Macht
  • Lewis Contractors
  • PNC
  • Quinn Evans Architects
  • Southway Builders
  • Zeskind’s Hardware and Millwork

Sponsors

  • AGM Financial
  • brennan + company architects
  • Discern Health
  • GWWO, Inc.
  • Roland Park Place
  • Poverni Sheikh Group
  • Murphy & Dittenhafer
  • Terra Nova Ventures
  • Whiting Turner
  • Ziger Snead

New Five Minute Histories Project: Join Us to Virtually Explore Baltimore!

We are launching a new series called Five Minute Histories. Each day, we’ll record a short video about a different historic place in Baltimore. My on-site production crew consists of my 14 year old daughter and 15 year old son, and we are honoring Governor Hogan’s request and are doing this from home.

In the days ahead, we’ll explore Civil Rights history, mercantile history, immigration history, religious history, and a whole lot more. Although we sorely wish we could be out and about with you in person, please stay safe and check us out online each day as we try to bring a new historic site to you.

Click here to see all the videos and look for updates everyday! You can also go to our Facebook page or YouTube channel. 


— Johns Hopkins, Executive Director


P.S. If you have suggestions for places to explore, please shoot me an email!