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!
Brrr! Weathering the “polar vortex” this week certainly encouraged our interest in Captain Henry Thompson’s daily journal entries on Baltimore’s weather. On January 7, 1814, Thompson recorded:
“7th – Fine day, and having Frozen for a week past, commenc’d filling my Ice House, haul’d 21 loads today with two Carts from Herring Run Went to Town return’d to Dinner”
Over the past week of 1814, Baltimore has been hauling ice and more:
Sheriff John Chalmers advertised an auction to sell off property confiscated from James Hamilton: “A negro Woman named Ledda, with 2 small female children, slaves for life.”
Jean Pierre Morel de Guiramand, one of many of former French colonists who fled Saint-Domingue for Baltimore at the beginning of the Haitian Revolution,received a patent a new “power loom.”
Happy holidays! We hope to see you on one of our great heritage tours in the early new year. Don’t forget to take a look at our end-of-year video. It is our way of saying thank you to the hundreds of volunteers and supporters who make all of what we do possible.
Join us next month for a lunchtime Behind the Scenes tour of Baltimore City Hall! All of Baltimore’s political, civic and business leaders came together for the dedication of the new City Hall in October 1875. Architect George Frederick was only 21 when he won the design competition with this handsome French Second Empire civic building. Our tour guide, City Hall curator Jeannie Davis, will lead us on a tour covering both architectural history and the history of city government in Baltimore. In addition to the rotunda, we’ll venture into the building’s ceremonial room, the original mayor’s office, and the council chambers.
As we head into the holiday season, reflecting back on the past year and looking to the year ahead, we put together a short holiday video to say thank you for participating, volunteering, and supporting all of our work. We are not holding our breath for a call from Ken Burns, but please check it out and let me know what you think.
Thank you again for all of your interest and support as we continue expanding our work to preserve Baltimore’s historic buildings and revitalize our neighborhoods. Have a happy holiday, and we’ll see you in 2014!
P.S. Membership with Baltimore Heritage makes a great holiday gift! Share Baltimore’s history and architecture with your family and friends today.
Thanks to Margaret De Arcangelis, Education & Outreach Director with Preservation Maryland for sharing the story of her historic Bolton Hill rowhouse and the adventure of starting an exciting restoration project.
I came across a tweet the other day and could not help but smile: “It’s funny what makes you happy as a home owner. I have baseboards. Yeah!!! J”
As someone who has always enjoyed visiting old houses and loves learning about architecture, I always thought baseboards were great. It was not until this summer, however, when my husband and I bought our first house, that I truly appreciated the value of a well-placed baseboard. This appreciation is largely due to the fact that some of our baseboards, plaster, banisters and light fixtures are missing and I can only dream of the day when they will all be back in place.
Christopher and I did not buy a move-in ready starter house like many people do. Instead Chris has lovingly followed me into what may be my most hare-brained (but wonderful!) idea yet. We bought a true fixer-upper – an 1886 brownstone in Bolton Hill that needs more repair work than I have space to list in this short post. Like so many of the houses in that neighborhood, a prior owner subdivided the house into apartments leaving vestiges of long abandoned kitchens and bathrooms on each floor. Numerous walls were damaged when temporary walls were built and later torn down. Unlike many others rowhouses in Bolton Hill, however, our house remained in the hands of just one family from the 1880s to the 1950s (thank you MD Land Records for providing that fun fact!) and much of the original detail remains intact down to the stylish patterned parquet floors. Much of wood work including our 45 wood windows is covered by only one or two coats of paint and, despite a few missing pieces, the original stained glass transoms are in place and can be repaired.
Parquet floor in the front parlor.
View down front hallway. Lincrusta on the left. Oak staircase on the right.
Some of the plaster damage we must repair.
A note left on the wall by the wallpaper hangers in 1896.
A hole in the stained glass window.
After searching for the right house for ten months, I knew this was the perfect house for us the first time I saw it. There are so many beautiful details throughout the house that would be impossible or at least cost prohibitive for us to have in any other house. Some days the house does present challenges. The first few times it rained we found a new leak each time. We discovered that the duct tape on one of the sewer lines in the basement was not covering up a small crack in the pipe, but instead was put there to cover the ten inch by two-inch gouge in the pipe. We learned that sometimes the scope of a project changes midway through due to unforeseen circumstances, which may mean you need to remove a 100-year-old piece of Lincrusta from the wall so the plumbers can run new water lines. No matter what the new issue is with our house, all of those feelings of frustration go away each time I go to unlock the front door and am reminded how lucky I am to own such a beautiful old house.
We’re looking for more “old house stories” along with resources, tips and tricks you can share with other old house owners in Baltimore. Join the conversation on Facebook with Baltimore’s New Old House Forum or get in touch with Eli Pousson at pousson@baltimoreheritage.org
