Baltimore Heritage

Historic Clifton Mansion
2022-06-18 10:00 - 11:00, 2022-08-20 10:00 - 11:00, 2022-10-22 10:00 - 11:00, 2022-11-19 10:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York) | Clifton Mansion, 2701 Saint Lo Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21218, United States
Join us for a tour inside Clifton Mansion, the unique Italianate country house that has overlooked Baltimore City for over 200 years! At one time the summer home of War of 1812 captain Henry Thompson and then philanthropist Johns Hopkins, the story of Clifton Estate is one about two prominent businessmen, enslaved & free Black people, and more. You’ll see the latest restorations made possible by the Friends of Clifton Mansion and Civic Works. You will also be invited into unrestored spaces that are brimming with stories to tell! And the tour wouldn’t be complete without climbing the tower and taking in one-of-a-kind views of Clifton Park and our surrounding city. We hope to see you there!

Mount Vernon Place: A Monumental City Tour
2022-06-26 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-07-24 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-08-28 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-09-25 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-10-23 09:30 - 10:30 | Washington Monument (South Entrance), 699 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
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.
Our Monumental City tours are guided walks exploring iconic Baltimore landmarks in Federal Hill, Downtown, Mount Vernon and Ridgely’s Delight on the first four Sundays of each month from April through November, except holiday weekends.

Historic Ridgely’s Delight
2022-07-10 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-08-14 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-09-11 09:30 - 10:30 | Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum, 216 Emory Street, Baltimore, MD, United States
For a tiny neighborhood squeezed between the University of Maryland and Camden Yards, Ridgely’s Delight contains an oversized history. George Washington slept here and Babe Ruth was born here! Join us to walk the preserved, picturesque streets of one of the earliest neighborhoods in Baltimore while we look back at the stories of both its famous visitors and the ordinary Baltimoreans who worked and raised their families here.
Our Monumental City tours are guided walks exploring iconic Baltimore landmarks in Federal Hill, Downtown, Mount Vernon and Ridgely’s Delight on the first four Sundays of each month from April through November, except holiday weekends.

Federal Hill Beyond the Views: A Monumental City Tour
2022-07-17 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-08-21 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-09-18 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-10-16 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-11-20 09:30 - 10:30 | Federal Hill Park (Southwest Corner), 301 Warren Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21230, United States
Baltimoreans celebrated atop Federal Hill when we ratified the U.S. Constitution. We used it to defend the city from the British in the War of 1812 and to make sure we stayed in the Union in the Civil War. We have even tunnelled under it to quarry minerals. Join us on a tour of Federal Hill and the neighborhood around it to learn about this waterfront community’s rich history, including stops at one of the last wooden houses in the city, the oldest house in Federal Hill, and the wonderful alley houses along Churchill Street.
Our Monumental City tours are guided walks exploring iconic Baltimore landmarks in Federal Hill, Downtown, Mount Vernon and Ridgely’s Delight on the first four Sundays of each month from April through November, except holiday weekends.

Out of the Ashes: The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904
2022-08-07 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-10-02 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-11-06 09:30 - 10:30 | The Replica Gaslight, 300 E Baltimore St, Baltimore, MD, 21202, United States
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.

Our Monumental City tours are guided walks exploring iconic Baltimore landmarks in Downtown, Ridgely’s Delight, Mount Vernon and Federal Hill on the first four Sundays of each month from April through November, except holiday weekends.

Druid Ridge Cemetery by Bike
2022-09-10 10:00 - 12:00 | Druid Ridge Cemetery, 7900 Park Heights Avenue, Pikesville, MD, 21208, United States
Join Ralph Brown and Phil Briscoe on a bike tour of Druid Ridge Cemetery to see that, contrary to popular belief, not all famous Baltimoreans are buried at Green Mount Cemetery! Even 100 years ago, some people wanted to escape the bad city air and spend eternity in the bucolic hinterlands of the county. How could they have predicted that they would still end up within the confines of the Beltway? Did you ever wonder where the Coen sisters ended up, or John Goucher, or Virginia Hall, or Art Modell? Maybe you were afraid to visit Druid Ridge Cemetery because of the curse of Black Aggie. Your safety is guaranteed. There will be a few slight ups and downs on the route but nothing too strenuous. Also—lots of trees and shade!

Historic Clifton Mansion
2022-09-17 09:30 - 10:30 | Clifton Mansion, 2701 Saint Lo Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21218, United States
Please note this September 17 tour now starts at 9:30 am

Join us for a tour inside Clifton Mansion, the unique Italianate country house that has overlooked Baltimore City for over 200 years! At one time the summer home of War of 1812 captain Henry Thompson and then philanthropist Johns Hopkins, the story of Clifton Estate is one about two prominent businessmen, enslaved & free Black people, and more. You’ll see the latest restorations made possible by the Friends of Clifton Mansion and Civic Works. You will also be invited into unrestored spaces that are brimming with stories to tell! And the tour wouldn’t be complete without climbing the tower and taking in one-of-a-kind views of Clifton Park and our surrounding city. We hope to see you there!

Historic Green Mount Cemetery
2022-09-17 09:30 - 11:30, 2022-10-01 09:30 - 11:30, 2022-11-05 09:30 - 11:30 | Green Mount Cemetery, 1501 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21202, United States
Baltimore Heritage has inherited the Green Mount Cemetery tour from the great Baltimore historian Wayne Schaumburg and we invite you to join us. Opened in 1839, Green Mount is an early example of an urban-rural cemetery, that is, a cemetery with a park-like setting located close to the countryside. Green Mount is the final resting place of some of Maryland’s most famous, and infamous, figures including Johns Hopkins, Enoch Pratt, William and Henry Walters, Mary Elizabeth Garrett, Betsy Patterson, A.S. Abell, John H. B. Latrobe, A. Aubrey Bodine, John Wilkes Booth, and Elijah Bond, who patented the Ouija Board! Join us to tour Baltimore’s historic Green Mount Cemetery.

Woodberry Walking Tour
2022-09-24 10:30 - 12:00 | Outside of Woodberry Kitchen, 2010 Clipper Park Rd., Baltimore, MD, 21211, United States
Join Baltimore Heritage, the Baltimore Museum of Industry and the Ivy Bookshop for a walking tour of historic Woodberry, once home to the largest machine shop and iron works in the country, with Jones Falls historian Nathan Dennies. Discover how the site of the Poole & Hunt Machine Shop and Iron Works has changed over its 150-year history and meet artisans working in the metal industry today. After the tour, participants are invited to gather at Pariah Brewing for a social hour where they have the opportunity to purchase “The Metalworkers: A History of Robert Poole and his Ironworks in 19th-Century America,” by Steven C. Swett.

This tour is part of the BMI’s “Metalworkers in Maryland” program series, which seeks to explore the history of metal industries in Baltimore and beyond by focusing on the workers who powered it.

Historic Green Mount Cemetery
2022-10-08 09:30 - 11:30 | Green Mount Cemetery, 1501 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21202, United States
Rescheduled to October 8 to not conflict with the Baltimore Running Festival.

Baltimore Heritage has inherited the Green Mount Cemetery tour from the great Baltimore historian Wayne Schaumburg and we invite you to join us. Opened in 1839, Green Mount is an early example of an urban-rural cemetery, that is, a cemetery with a park-like setting located close to the countryside. Green Mount is the final resting place of some of Maryland’s most famous, and infamous, figures including Johns Hopkins, Enoch Pratt, William and Henry Walters, Mary Elizabeth Garrett, Betsy Patterson, A.S. Abell, John H. B. Latrobe, A. Aubrey Bodine, John Wilkes Booth, and Elijah Bond, who patented the Ouija Board! Join us to tour Baltimore’s historic Green Mount Cemetery.

Jonestown & the Shot Tower: A Walking Tour
2022-10-29 10:00 - 11:00 | Carroll Mansion, 800 Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD, 21202, United States
Jonestown is Baltimore’s oldest and most historic neighborhood. Both groundbreaking industry and vibrant communities have thrived here. On this tour, we will see the vestiges of its Eastern European Jewish residents as we pass Corned Beef Row. We hope you’ll join Baltimore Heritage and tour guide Bev Rosen as we stroll past a series of firsts: the McKim Free School, the city’s oldest education building from 1833, the Lloyd Street Synagogue, the first synagogue in Maryland and the third oldest in the country, the 1808 home of Charles Carroll, the longest living signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the Hendler Creamery, the nation’s first fully-automated ice cream manufacturing plant. And of course, what is a visit to Jonestown without a look inside the iconic Phoenix Shot Tower, which until 1846 was the tallest building in the country!

Baltimore's Marble Hill: How A Neighborhood Shaped the Civil Rights Movement
2022-12-03 10:00 - 11:00 | Lillie Carroll Jackson Museum, 1320 Eutaw Place, Baltimore, MD, 21217, United States
Join us for a guided tour of Baltimore’s Marble Hill neighborhood, which was the home to an astonishing amount of groundbreaking Civil Rights leaders. Reverend Harvey Johnson began one of the first collective action movements here in the 1880s. In the 1930s Lillie Carroll Jackson engaged youth in “The Movement” and pioneered new non-violent protest tactics that were later picked up in cities across the country. Thurgood Marshall grew up here, as did the chief lobbyist for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Clarence Mitchell. Most recently this was the district for the late Representative Elijah Cummings, one of the most powerful voices for civil rights in Washington. Join Johns Hopkins and Lashelle Bynum to learn how fundamental pillars of the Civil Rights Movement got built here by driven, activist neighbors with their eyes on the prize.
The tour will begin and end at the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum. We encourage you to tour the museum after the conclusion of our tour. Admission is free.

The New Lexington Market & Exploring the Neighborhood Around It
2022-12-17 10:30 - 11:30 | Faidley’s Seafood (Entrance), 203 N. Paca Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
For over 200 years, Lexington Market’s wooden sheds and concrete stalls have been a gathering place for Baltimoreans. And the market is still evolving! In October 2022, the new Lexington Market opened in a brand new building. On this tour we’ll first explore the surrounding neighborhood to discover how Baltimore emerged as a leading industrial and economic city in the 19th century. Immigration, slavery, commerce and major changes in transportation were all part of the mix here in Baltimore and the country as a whole. We’ll end with a tour of the new market, including its wonderful public art and, of course, its merchants (new and old). Please join us and make Lexington Market a part of your holidays. Be sure to bring your canvas bags to do some quintessential Baltimore shopping after the tour!
