Over the weekend of July 28, Dr. Adam Fracchia and a group of trained archaeologists volunteered with Baltimore Heritage in an archaeology exploration on the grounds around the Sellers Mansion in West Baltimore’s Lafayette Square neighborhood. The work was done to help the mansion’s owner, Sellers Mansion Partners LLC, meet a city requirement to conduct an archaeology investigation before moving forward in stabilizing the building.
Sellers Mansion in West Baltimore’s Lafayette Square neighborhood
The Sellers Mansion was built in 1868 as the first residence on Lafayette Square by Matthew Bacon Sellers, Sr., the head of the Northern Central Railroad. Sellers’ son, Mathew Bacon Sellers, Jr., grew up in the house and went on to become a leader in creating what is today the space agency NASA. In addition to the Sellers home, the mansion served as offices for a variety of community organizations before becoming vacant in the 1990s. It has been a preservation priority for Baltimore Heritage since then.
Archaeologists exploring a curved brick walkway
The two-day investigation documented several aspects of the Sellers’ estate, including a curved brick walkway on the north side of the building and the foundation of a small free-standing building at the northeast corner that was likely a nursery.
Ceramic fragment
The volunteers also unearthed a number of ceramic fragments dating to before the Civil War. These include pieces of dinnerware and the stem of a clay pipe, the types of things that you would expect to find around a house that dates to the mid-nineteenth century.
Slate pencil
Late on the second and final day, the team also uncovered a section of a slate pencil: akin to today’s graphite pencil but without the wood and used to write on slate.
The exploration is now complete and the next step is for Dr. Fracchia and Baltimore Heritage to prepare and submit a report to the City’s historic preservation commission (CHAP) documenting the work and what was found. With CHAP’s approval, Sellers Mansion Partners will then have the green light to continue with stabilizing and eventually rehabbing the building.
One hundred years ago, newly-wed couple Louis and Esther Rheb started making fudge and taffy out of their house on Wilkens Avenue. Join us on an August 8 tour to discover the story of Rheb’s candies and tour the family house and garage where a fourth generation still carries on this legacy business and long-time Baltimore favorite sweet spot.
Mark your calendar for a tour on Saturday, September 8 where we will visit the Maryland Historical Society’s newly updated exhibit “Divided Voices: Maryland in the Civil War,” then walk around Mount Vernon Place with our own Eli Pousson, and hear the neighborhood’s stories of slavery and emancipation. The following weekend, on Saturday, September 15, radio host, architectural historian, and Charles Village resident Lisa Simeone will lead a walking tour covering the colorful history of this rowhouse neighborhood.
We’re also pleased to announce a new lecture series in partnership with the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion. About once a month from September until March 2019, we’ll feature a different speaker on Baltimore history. The first speaker is historian Jack Burkert talking about the Port of Baltimore on Sunday, September 23. Other speakers include Wayne Schaumburg, Antero Pietilla, and Ric Cottom. Come to one or come to all!
We hope you are staying cool this summer and can stay tuned as we line up our fall tours, talks, and events.
Do you ever wonder about the history of the computer or smartphone you’re using to read our tour announcements? Please join us on Wednesday, July 25 for a tour exploring the long history of computing from ancient adding machines to mid-century punch cards and mainframes and more.
The System Source Computer Museum in Hunt Valley features a remarkable collection of artifacts including the Altair 8800, on which a young Bill Gates learned to code; an accurate replica of an Enigma cypher machine used by the German navy in 1942; and even an original iPhone which turned eleven years old last month. You can check out the museum’s collection on their website but, even in our digital age, the screen is no substitute for exploring history in person.
You can also find us leading a walking tour around Federal Hill on Sunday, July 22 for our ongoing Monumental City tours. We hope you are staying cool this summer and can stay tuned as we line up our fall tours, talks, and events.
Thank you to everyone who joined us at the historic Fox Building last night to celebrate and honor this year’s preservation award recipients.
From the rehabilitation of the historic house on Walrad Street in Irvington (a project that one member of our review committee compared to a phoenix rising from the ashes) to the meticulous repairs at Homewood House and Krieger Hall on the Johns Hopkins University campus—our 2018 award recipients varied widely. The awards showcase how preservation can include everything from a meticulous restoration of the grand library at Baltimore City College to the remarkable rehabilitation at the SNF Parkway Theater that almost freezes in time the building’s worn but still magnificent interior.
Please read on for the list of award recipients or take a look at the full slideshow for before and after photos of all of the projects. Thank you again to everyone who participated last night, volunteered for the event and on our awards review committee, and to all of our generous sponsors.
2018 Preservation Awards
Restoration & Rehabilitation Awards
127 North Lakewood Avenue
Matthew Lesko and Anita Pilch
847 Park Avenue
Jubilee Baltimore, Edgemont Builders, Zeskind’s Hardware and Millwork
1625 Saint Paul Street. Courtesy Inner Harbor Homes.
1625 Saint Paul Street
Inner Harbor Homes, Richard Wagner, Edgemont Builders, Thomas Foulkes LLC
1809 Barclay Street
Adam Kutcher, Trace Architects, Edgemont Builders, Zeskind’s Hardware and Millwork
1909 Bank Street
Idan Tzameret
2309 Eutaw Place
PenCor Properties, L & L Building Blocks
3342 East Baltimore Street
G&G Homes, O’Connell & Associates
4107 Walrad Street
MLR Development Corp.
Baltimore City College Library. Courtesy JRS Architects.
Baltimore City College Library, 3220 The Alameda
Baltimore City College, Baltimore City Public Schools, JRS Architects, Inc., KES Engineering, Inc.
Callow Avenue Redevelopment Project, 2214-2229 Callow Avenue
Druid Heights Community Development Corp., SM+P Architects, Zeskind’s Hardware and Millwork
Johns Hopkins University Homewood Museum Roof Drainage Improvements
Johns Hopkins University Homewood House Museum, Lewis Contractors
Johns Hopkins University Krieger Hall
Johns Hopkins Facilities and Real Estate Division, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Courtesy Maryland Film Festival.
SNF Parkway Theatre
Maryland Film Festival, Ziger Snead Architects, Acoustical Design Collaborative, Flux Studio, Gower Thompson, James Posey Associates, Post Typography Graphic Design, Seawall Development, Southway Builders
Adaptive Reuse & Compatible Design Awards
21 South Calvert Street
Edgemont Builders, Seto Architects, Charles Belfoure
1100 Cathedral Street
SM+P Architects, Baltimore Fabrication, David Buckley, DoublEdge Design, LLC, JC Porter Construction, Majer Metal Works
3501 Clipper Road
Gregg Zoarski
Entrance on Calvert Street, Baltimore Center Stage. Courtesy Cho Benn Holback, A Quinn Evans Company.
Baltimore Center Stage, 700 North Calvert Street
Baltimore Center Stage, Cho Benn Holback, A Quinn Evans Company, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, DoublEdge Design LLC, James Posey and Assoc., Inc., KCP Photographer LLC, Pentagram, Simpson Gumpertz and Heger
Apartment and hallway, Independence Place. Courtesy Gant Brunnett Architects.
Independence Place, 4103 Old York Road
Marian House, Gant Brunnett Architects, Southway Builders, ACW, Inc., Adcorp Signs, Inc., Anderson Fire Protection, Bay Country Professional Concrete, Belsinger Sign Works, Inc., Business Flooring, Inc., C. A. Grimmel, Inc., C. L. McCoy Framing Co., Inc., Carpentry & Hardware Services, Inc., Carter Paving & Excavating, Inc., Chaudron Glass & Mirror Co, Inc., Choice Stairways, Inc., Clean Air Heating & Air Conditioning, Clearview Home Remodeling, Colonial Sash & Door, Inc., Cotten Construction Company, CR Services, Design House Kitchens and Appliances, Francisco Gonzalez Perez, GEDCO, Glass and Screen Hospital, HDL Construction, Inc., Hostetter Supply Co., Inc., Ironshore Contracting LLC, J. W. Draperies, Inc., Long Fence, Madison Mechanical Contracting, Millstone Corporation, Milton Electric Company, Inc., Order Green Supply, Otis Elevator Company, Palencia Construction LLC, POS Construction, Inc., Retro Environmental, Inc., Robey Stucco, Rose Restoration, Select Floors, Inc., T.W. Perry, Vynal Industries, Wells & Associates, Inc., Western Cary Building Products
Photograph by Todd Harvey.
Sagamore Pendry Hotel at the Rec Pier, 1715 Thames Street
1715 Thames Street LLC, Sagamore Development, Beatty Harvey Coco Architects LLP, Mahan Rykiel Associates, Patrick Sutton Interiors, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, Vanderweil Engineering, WBCM
Heritage Preservation Awards
Flickering Treasures: Rediscovering Baltimore’s Forgotten Movie Theaters
Amy Davis
Commitment to Baltimore’s Historic Buildings and Communities
Jacques Kelly
2018 Preservation Awards Sponsors
Lead Sponsors
Agora, Inc.
FreedomCar
GLB Concrete Construction
Hord Coplan Macht
Lewis Contractors
Murdoch Architects
Southway Builders
Station Arts Homes
The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Zeskind’s Hardware & Millwork
Co-Sponsors
Brennan and Company Architects
Freeman Architecture
Gant Brunnett Architects
GWWO Architects
Roland Park Place
Unique Resources
Ziger Snead Architects
You may have seen the news in the Baltimore Brew or the Baltimore Fishbowl—a local developer is seeking to demolish two of Woodberry's early nineteenth century mill workers' houses to make way for a new apartment building known as Woodberry Station Apartments. This is just one of several major changes under consideration for the neighborhood. The new owners of Clipper Mill are considering a major development for the Tractor Building—a WWI-era machine shop that has housed a parking lot for the last several years.
