Category: Tours

Craftsmanship abounds on our first 2016 Tours

McLain WiesandWe are glad to start the new year, and our winter tour season, by taking you behind the scenes at the workshops of two wonderful local artisans. For our January 27 tour, we’ll visit Thomas Brown Woodwright, a Remington workshop that turns out the highest quality wood products while almost exclusively using machines built before the Great Depression. On February 10, we’re headed to Mount Vernon on a walk through the studio of McLain Wiesand.  From their shop on Cathedral Street, McLain Wiseand create decorative arts pieces and furniture sold in glamorous showrooms from Los Angeles to New York following the tradition of Baltimore’s famed 19th century furniture makers.

Finally, we are back again with Baltimore historian Jamie Hunt for our annual Mt. Vernon Valentines Love Stories tour covering two hundred years of love, loss and betrayal in Baltimore’s high society. We’ll be doing two of these tours on February 13—the first at 11:00 am and the second at 1:00 pm.

We are looking forward to year packed with heritage tours and hope you can join us on our first two.

Tucking in tours with the holidays

This Sunday, November 15, architect David Gleason is leading the final walking tour of Fell’s Point in our series celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Robert Long House with the Preservation Society. Mr. Gleason’s tour will focus on the making of modern Fell’s Point, from the fabled “Highway Fight” in the 1960s and 1970s to ongoing efforts to ensure that this waterfront community retains its charm.

We are also pleased to announce two holiday-themed tours in early December. On December 1, we are exploring Mt. Clare, the richly preserved 1760 colonial home of Charles Carroll that will be decked out for the holidays. And on December 9, you can find us at St. Mary’s Seminary, the grand edifice on Northern Parkway that is home to the nation’s oldest Catholic seminary.

Finally, if you haven’t yet been up in the Washington Monument or Patterson Park Observatory, join our Monumental City Sunday morning tours of these great places this month.

A full weekend of heritage tours from Annapolis to Fell’s Point

What better way to spend the weekend than by joining us on two upcoming heritage tours? On Saturday morning we’re visiting the richly restored Annapolis State House Senate Chamber where George Washington resigned his military commission and affirmed that civilians would control the new United States. And on Sunday we’re stretching our legs on a walking tour in Fell’s Point with local historian Dean Krimmel to discover more about this historic waterfront neighborhood and its colorful immigrant past.

George Washington’s fellow revolutionary Benjamin Franklin once said:

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

We invite you to come and get involved through these upcoming tours!

Join us for Baltimore by Bike and out-of-town tours this fall

We love Baltimore best but even we have to admit stunning architecture and incredible history can be found in communities all across Maryland. This month, we’re  offering two tours that take us beyond the city: a repeat of our sold-out spring walking tour of Lutherville and a look at the newly restored and reopened Senate Chambers at the Maryland State House in Annapolis. Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Michael Day is personally leading our Senate Chambers tour which includes the opportunity to stick around for lunch and hear more behind-the-scenes stories of this incredible restoration project.

Of course, you’ll still see us rolling around Baltimore on our two upcoming bike tours: Baltimore Meets Florence and Black and Jewish Civil Rights Heritage by Bike. We’ll also be strolling down the narrow alleys of Fell’s Point (and dreaming of fish dinners) with historian Dean Krimmel on a tour of Baltimore’s immigrant past organized in partnership with the Preservation Society. We hope you can join us!

Mount Vernon, Antietam and Patterson Park Cannons

With August almost over, we’ve turned our attention to the fall and have lined up some great new heritage tours. On September 12, Civil War historian and Preservation Maryland director Nicholas Redding is kindly leading a car caravan tour of Antietam Battlefield in Sharpsburg. That same morning, we are also taking a walk around Mount Vernon Place and the collections of the Maryland Historical Society to explore “the cradle of American philanthropy.” On September 26, we are getting our bikes tuned up for the Baltimore Meets Florence bike tour to eat gelato and explore Italian architecture.

Finally, we are pleased to celebrate the continued stewardship of Patterson Park’s War of 1812 history with the Friends of Patterson Park. As we searched for buried fortifications during our archaeological dig in the park last spring, the Friends led an effort to restore Observatory Hill’s row of memorial cannons. It is a year later, the restoration is complete and the cannons are back in park! Join us on September 13 to celebrate Defender’s Day and the the rededication of this iconic memorial including a Battle of Baltimore tour up the Observatory led by Eli Pousson.

We hope you can join us on a tour next month!