Parkway Theater, 1915. Courtesy Hughes Company Glass Negatives, The Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, P75-54-N458g.

Discover a century of arts & industry in Station North during Artscape

Come out to Artscape this month and join us for a free walking tour on the history of the theaters, schools, factories and more that made North Avenue one of Baltimore’s most vibrant and creative neighborhoods decades before it ever became an arts district. We’re offering five identical tours from Friday through Sunday during the festival. Don’t forget to bring a bottle of water to beat the summer heat!

Station North Walking Tours

  • Friday, July 20 – 5:30pm and 7:30 pm
  • Saturday, July 21 – 3:30 pm and 5:30 pm
  • Sunday, July 22 – 3:30 pm

RSVP online today! Meet at the southwest corner of Charles Street and Lafayette Avenue.

Parkway Theater, 1915. Courtesy The Photography Collections, UMBC, P75-54-N458g.

Today, Station North has a growing reputation as a hub for art, performance and design but it also boasts a long history of creativity in industry, arts & entertainment. In the first few decades of the 20th century, the inventor of the modern bottle cap built his factory on Guilford Avenue, entrepreneurs on Charles Street pushed the theater business in new directions, and the stately Polytechnic High School on North Avenue trained thousands of young engineers, draftsman and designers who helped to shape Baltimore’s industrial growth. Today, architects, entrepreneurs and educators are adapting these old buildings to new uses from artist studios to the city’s new Design High School. Join us as we explore stories from the past and present of the Station North Arts District on a one-hour walking tour past local landmarks and lesser known gems from the Parkway Theater to Penn Station!

This project is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, creator of the Baker Artists Awards, and Station North Arts & Entertainment, Inc. Special thanks to Elise Hoffman who contributed to the research on this project and will be leading our tours!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.