Restoration Two Ways in Mount Vernon and an Evening to Remember in Hampden!

Do you know one of the wonderful things about Baltimore rowhouses? Even when they look nearly the same on the outside, there are countless different ways they can be rehabbed and restored on the inside. Please join us next week on a tour of two neighboring rowhouses in Mount Vernon. Each is grand in its own way: one restored to its original glory and the other rehabbed by mixing stunning modern elements with the historic fabric.

We’re also pleased to be working with a new partner—the Greater Hampden Heritage Alliance—to develop a new Explore Baltimore Heritage tour of Hampden and promote an evening open house this Friday. Come out to enjoy the historic Church & Co. venue (a former church, of course!), hear performances by local musicians, donated refreshments, and bid on their fun silent auction to raise money for a new history walking tour brochure of Hampden landmarks!

As always, we hope you can join us for one of our Looking Up Downtown tours or stop by Patterson Park for our next free Battle of Baltimore tour.

Featured image: Photograph of 823-831 Park Avenue Baltimore, MD. Courtesy Library of Congress, Historic American Building Survey, HABS MD-1135-1.

[We Dig Hampstead Hill] Volunteer to help process artifacts from Patterson Park

Our archeological investigation in Patterson Park this spring surprised almost everyone with the great number and diversity of artifacts we recovered. Over a thousand artifacts from 1814-era musket balls to left-over animal bones help us learn more about the history of Patterson Park and the people of Baltimore.

This summer, Archeological Society of Maryland is continuing its generous support for We Dig Hampstead Hill by taking on the laboratory processing of the archeological materials at their volunteer lab in Crownsville, Maryland. If you thought archeology was all about digging, this is your opportunity to experience the next phase of archeological discovery!

When can I volunteer?

Volunteer opportunities are available most weeks Tuesday and Wednesday between 9:30am and 3:30pm. Processing the Hampstead Hill collection is expected to continue from August through September. Volunteers are welcome to sign up for a few hours or for a full day. After the conclusion of this project, additional volunteer opportunities will be available at the lab on most Tuesdays to process artifacts from a contact-period Native American archeological site.

Where is the lab located?

Maryland Historical Trust
100 Community Place
Crownsville, MD 21032

How can I sign up?

To volunteer, contact Greg Katz at gkatz@louisberger.com. Seats in the lab are limited and will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis.

Processing includes washing/cleaning, drying, labeling, identification, cataloging, data entry, and packaging for long-term care. No prior experience or training is required to get involved with this stage of the project! Volunteers will work alongside lab director Louise Akerson, retired Director of the Baltimore Center for Urban Archaeology, and Fieldwork Director Greg Katz and his team from the Louis Berger Group. Cleaning artifacts is a great way to learn more about conservation and artifact identification.

Photos: 2014 Preservation Awards Celebration at the Baltimore Design School

Thank you to everyone who joined us last month at the Baltimore Design School for our annual Preservation Awards Celebration. Special thanks to Melissa Gerr who volunteered to capture a few great photographs of the evening. Enjoy!

Welcome to the Jenkins House

New tours! Join us at Jenkins Mansion and along the Jones Falls

In July of 1814, Captain Henry Thompson reported that this month began with sultry mornings and showers in the afternoons. The weather hasn’t changed much even 200 years later but we’re rolling through the height of a sultry Baltimore summer with some new tours.

For the casual bicyclist, we have a new tour of historic mills in the Jones Falls Valley, where you can roll down hill then take the light rail home! For anyone curious about Baltimore’s elite in the Gilded Age, we have the chance to look inside the Jenkins Mansion in Mount Vernon, one of the city’s most gilded and best preserved residences. Please join us!

Interior photographs courtesy Julie Canard/MRIS.