Category: Tours

Behind the Scenes Tour of the Jensen House

What does someone who spends all day mounting exhibits at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History do when he gets home? Why, he stages vignettes of his collections, of course. Please join us on a tour of the home of Brian Jensen. His vast collection, which includes Victrolas, vintage appliances, and a working 1927 Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ, are a must-see. Wine and cheese will be served.

Jensen House

27 East 21st Street, 21218
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 | 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
$15 for members; $20 for non-members
RSVP today!

Space is limited so sign up early! Confirmations will be sent by email, and payment will be due upon confirmation. For additional information and questions, call Marsha Wise at 443-306-3369, or email wise@baltimoreheritage.org.

Brian Jensen purchased his circa 1879 rowhouse in 1976. Although it was in need of much repair, Brian saw the home’s potential in the high ceilings, curved walls, carved staircase, and wall niches. He took advantage of a low-interest loan offered by Baltimore City to make it inhabitable. Today it houses over 40 years of collecting. When a power-outage hits the neighborhood his home is the only one still ablaze in light as the home boasts period gas chandeliers. Brian’s most prize possession is his working 1927 Wurlitzer pipe organ. The organ was removed from the State Theatre in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and brought to Maryland by its purchaser. Brian, a lover of pipe organ music, jumped at the opportunity to buy it when the Maryland owner decided to sell. He and the organ were meant to be together. He had a great-aunt Winnie who had been a silent film organist at the end of the era. Recalling that she had mentioned living in North Carolina, he asked her about the State Theatre. She said, “I remember playing that organ.” The blowers for the organ reside in Brian’s basement and the pipes are installed in a room on the third floor.

Explore five historic neighborhoods this spring with Baltimore by Foot

Baltimore by Foot, our annual spring walking tour series, provides thought-provoking guided strolls that uncover the buildings, stories and places that weave the cultural fabric of Baltimore’s historic neighborhoods. This spring you can join Baltimore Heritage us in exploring our city’s rich past and exciting future. Walking tours are $15 for members and $25 for non-members.

Our Spring 2011 tours include these five unique historic neighborhoods–

  • Waverly | April 23, 10 AM to 12 PM
  • Station North Arts & Entertainment District | April 30, 10 AM to 12 PM
  • Morgan Park | May 7, 10 AM to 12 PM
  • Franklin Square | May 14, 10 AM to 12 PM
  • Lauraville | May 21, 10 AM to 12 PM

Learn more about these tours and our knowledgeable guides or go ahead and RSVP for a tour or two today! Our Waverly and Lauraville tours have already sold out but there is still room for more on our Station North, Morgan Park, and Franklin Square tours. Members find out about these tours before anyone else, so if you have not joined already please become a member today.

Behind the Scenes Tour of Great History and Great Food in Little Italy

In our first foray to combine Baltimore’s great history with equally great food, please join us at Little Italy’s Chiapparelli’s Restaurant for an evening of Italian food and history about the Little Italy neighborhood shared by life-long residents. The evening will include a buffet of antipasto, calamari, salad, bread, and, of course, wine. We will end the evening with a short walk through the neighborhood to learn a little more about this wonderful Baltimore community.

Tour Information

Chiapparelli’s Restaurant | 237 S. High Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 | 5:30 – 7:00 PM
$35 for members, $50 for non-members
Price includes antipasto, calamari, salad, bread, and wine.
RSVP Today!

Confirmations will be sent by email, and payment will be due upon confirmation. Free on street parking and paid off street parking are both available in the area. Valet service available at the restaurant for an additional fee. For additional information and questions, call Baltimore Heritage’s tour coordinator, Marsha Wise, at 443-306-3369 or email her at wise@baltimoreheritage.org.
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Historic Baltimore by Bus Redux: Celebrating 50 Years of Saving Historic Places

Last October, we hosted a bus tour of central Baltimore to commemorate Baltimore Heritage’s 50th anniversary. In response to your kind comments and continued interest in this trip, we are repeating the bus tour and hope you can join us if you didn’t make it the first time around. So…

Step back into 1960 Baltimore: Charles Center was just underway (with Mies van der Rohe’s One Charles Center two years from completion); Baltimore’s population had dropped by 10,000 people, down to 940,000; city planners had begun crafting highway plans to run through Fell’s Point, Mount Vernon, and West Baltimore; and Baltimore Heritage was founded to preserve historic places in Baltimore City. We are recreating a bus tour of historic sites in central Baltimore that launched our organization and the historic preservation movement in Baltimore City. Please join us on this two-hour bus trip with our tour guides, local historians Wayne Schaumburg and Marsha Wise, as we connect the dots of historic preservation and city development between the Baltimore of 1960 and the Baltimore of today.

Tour Information

Sunday, March 27, 2011 | 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM or 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM
$25 | Register today!

Meet at the Peale Museum (225 North Holliday Street, Baltimore 21202). Free street parking is available. The tour is by bus (school bus, to be exact) and will last two hours. We will get off the bus a few times to examine historic places up close and stretch our legs.
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Behind the Scenes Tour of Ships Out of Water

This winter, the USS Constellation and USS Submarine Torsk were towed from the Inner Harbor and put in dry dock at the Sparrows Point Shipyard for much-needed repairs. The historic vessels are scheduled to return to the water in a few weeks, but before they do we have a chance to visit them and learn about the boats and how historic ships are repaired. Please join us and our tour guide, Mr. Christopher Rowsom, executive director of Historic Ships of Baltimore (which owns these and other historic vessels), on a tour to see the Constellation and Torsk in a way that not many do: from the underside up!

Sparrow’s Point Shipyard, 600 Shipyard Road, Edgemere, MD 21219

Saturday, March 5, 2011 | 9:30 to 11:00 AM
$10 for members; $20 for non-members
Register online today!

The tour is at the shipyard in Edgemere, about ½ hour from downtown. The Sparrows Point Shipyard is not open to the public and we will have to be escorted in through the main gate promptly at 9:30 AM.
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