Eat your way through Baltimore’s Old Chinatown

nixon_eating_chinese_food
President Nixon’s historic 1972 visit to China

Behind the Scenes Tour of Old Chinatown
Saturday June 1, 2013 from 4:15 pm to 6:30 pm
RSVP Today!
$45 members / $55 non-members
Includes sampling of international food from several restaurants
Limit of 10 people

Beginning in the 1870s, Chinese settlers started arriving in Baltimore from California and other West Coast states. Most had worked as laborers for the transcontinental railroad that was completed in 1869 and came east looking for jobs and to escape a rising level of persecution. In Baltimore near Lexington Market, the immigrants established places of worship (Joss houses), laundries, gambling houses, and restaurants. The original “Chinatown” was in the 200 block of Marion Street and even included a school for 40 children. Baltimore’s Chinatown was relocated to Park Avenue during an urban renewal effort in the 1950s and achieved its peak in the years preceding President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China in 1972. Today the area has a number of shops and restaurants featuring international cuisine, including of course Chinese.

Please join us and our guide, Ms. Sharon Reuter, on a walking and eating tour that will follow Baltimore’s Chinese immigrants through historic Chinatown along Park Avenue to the present-day hodgepodge of ethnic eateries. The tour will include sampling dishes from Vietnamese/Thai, Ethiopian, and of course Chinese restaurants. It will also include learning about this once-bustling two-block area in the heart of downtown Baltimore and finding out what happened to the vigorous Chinese community and its many restaurants that once inhabited the area and which newer immigrants have since opened restaurants nearby.

The tour will provide an early dinner with a menu of vegetables, legumes, beef, shrimp, pork and duck dishes, along with water, tea and a bottle of Chinese beer. Vegetarian options, with or without shellfish, are available with advance notice. I hope you can join us! Johns

Tiffany, tile work and more: historic church tour with authors Sally Johnston and Lois Zanow

brown_memorial_stained_glass_windowIn their recent book “Monuments to Heaven,” historians and authors Sally Johnston and Lois Zanow describe the architecture, art and history of many historic houses of worship in Baltimore. Please join us on a tour with Ms. Johnston and Ms. Zanow to learn about the stained glass windows, lovely mosaic tile work, and great history of two of the city’s most impressive churches: Corpus Christi-Jenkins Memorial Church and Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church. The churches are a short walk apart in the Bolton Hill neighborhood.

Behind the Scenes Tour of Corpus Christi and Brown Memorial Churches
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm
Meet at Corpus Christi Church: 110 W. Lafayette Ave., Baltimore 21217
RSVP today. $10 members | $20 non-members

Corpus Christi Memorial Church was built in 1891 in memory of Thomas and Louisa Jenkins by their children. Their goal was to build the most exquisite church in Baltimore. Patrick Keeley, the foremost architect of Catholic churches in his day, designed the building. The interior, designed by John Hardman & Company of London, glitters and glows with colorful mosaics accented with gold tessera, stained glass windows and a high vaulted ceiling with clerestory windows. Famous for its large Florentine style mosaics adorning the chancel, Corpus Christi also has smaller mosaic Stations of the Cross as well as a charming mosaic depicting the founding of Maryland. There are four chapels and a baptistery which boast  gold mosaic ceilings, marble walls, statues of saints and stained glass windows.

Just one block from Corpus Christi is Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church, built in memory of George Brown in 1870 by his wife Isabella Brown. The church was designed by Nathaniel Hutton and John Murdoch, and the stunning interior has 17 stained glass windows including 12 Tiffany windows, making it one of the world’s largest and finest collections of stained glass. The two largest windows measure 16″ by 32″ and are the largest windows the Tiffany Studios ever made. The chancel has a five part window in the medieval style by the Wilbur Burnham Studios. Without interior columns, there is an unobstructed view of these glorious windows.

I hope you can join us to learn about these wonderful churches and their artwork.

Weatherization, Retrofit Baltimore

Introduction to weatherization and historic tax credits on May 14

Want to keep your old house cool and comfortable this summer? Learn more about weatherization and the great financial incentives for retrofitting your home from  Retrofit Baltimore. We’ll also share how you can save money on weatherization and other home rehabilitation projects with historic tax credits! Join Baltimore Heritage and Retrofit Baltimore for a free one-hour workshop for more information or find more details about historic tax credits programs here.

Weatherization & Historic Tax Credits Workshop

Tuesday, May 14, 6:30pm to 7:30pm
Govans Branch Library, 5714 Bellona Ave Baltimore, MD 21212
RSVP today!

Free on-street parking available. For more information contact, Ben Wallen at bwallen@retrofitbaltimore.org or Eli Pousson at pousson@baltimoreheritage.org