In February 1904, Baltimore’s chief firefighter cabled Washington DC: “Desperate fire here. Must have help at once!” A tremendous fire was sweeping through downtown and showed little signs of stopping. Not until 5:00 p.m. the next day was the fire brought under control. Overall, it destroyed 1500 buildings, left 35,000 people unemployed, and damaged $150 million of property. Resilient Baltimore rebounded quickly, erecting new buildings, widening streets, and improving fire safety designs. Rising out of the ashes, Baltimore used the fire to rethink the city, and the downtown we know today is shaped largely by this incident. Join us on this walking tour as we see what 2500 degrees Fahrenheit heat can do to blocks of solid stone, learn how the fire shaped architecture locally and across the country, and hear the tale of one of the fire’s great heroes: Goliath the horse.

Mount Vernon began as a country estate for Revolutionary War hero John Eager Howard and grew to be the place to live for Baltimore’s rich and famous in the mid-nineteenth century. The Garrett family, owners of the B&O Railroad, the Walters, founders of the Walters Art Museum, and the Thomases, owners of Mercantile Bank, are among the families that built handsome mansions along the four parks that surround the Washington Monument. Join us on a tour to hear the stories behind the landmarks of Baltimore’s grandest historic neighborhood.

On April 1, take a step back in time to the Cold War with a tour of a ship formerly powered by uranium! The Nuclear Ship Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered merchant ship, is truly one-of-a-kind. In the 1950s, President Dwight Eisenhower desired a "peace ship" that would serve as an ambassador for the non-weaponized use of atomic power. On July 21,1959, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower christened the $46.9 million vessel at its launching. After traveling almost half a million miles and visiting over 77 international and domestic ports, the reactor was de-fueled in 1975. Currently docked in Baltimore, the ship has been afloat for 60 years now and is still going strong. We hope you’ll join us to tour this registered National Historic Landmark and take in the sleek modern "Atomic Age" interiors decorated with none other than atom diagrams.