Baltimore Heritage

Federal Hill Beyond the Views: A Monumental City Tour
2023-05-21 09:30 - 10:30, 2023-07-16 09:30 - 10:30, 2023-08-20 09:30 - 10:30, 2023-09-17 09:30 - 10:30 (America/New_York) | 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.

Celebrate Pride! LGBTQ Heritage in Charles Village
2023-06-03 10:00 - 11:30 | Normal’s Books & Records, 425 East 31st Street, Baltimore, MD, 21218, United States
Celebrate Pride Month with us on a LGBTQ Heritage walking tour of Charles Village! You may know this neighborhood for its colorful “painted ladies,” but it was also home to many activists and institutions at the heart of the city’s LGBTQ community in the 1970s and 1980s. Guides Richard Oloizia, Louis Hughes and Kate Drabinski will take us on a walk past local landmarks from the original home of the Gay Community Center of Baltimore, now the GLCCB, to the St. Paul Street church that supported the growth of the Metropolitan Community Church, Baltimore’s oldest LGBT religious organization, and the radical feminist writers and publishers that gave a voice to lesbian authors who might not otherwise have been read. We hope you’ll join us to celebrate Pride and the incredible community that called Charles Village its home.

History from the Middle of the Street: A Walking Tour for the Charles Street Promenade
2023-06-03 14:00 - 15:00 | 1 W Saratoga St, Baltimore, MD 21201, 1 W Saratoga St, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Baltimore is kicking cars off of portions of Charles Street for a day, and we’re taking advantage of it! On Saturday, June 3, only pedestrians and bicycles will be allowed on a good portion of Charles Street between Saratoga and North Avenue as part of the Charles Street Promenade. Join Baltimore Heritage’s Executive Director, Johns Hopkins, on a stroll down the middle of the street to get a perspective that we normally don’t get of many of the city’s most interesting historic buildings. We’ll talk about some of Maryland’s oldest churches, take in architecture from Colonial Revival to Brutalist, and share stories from the founding of American philanthropy to the role rye whisky played in shaping more than a few beloved institutions…all from the middle of the street!
What is Charles St Promenade? Enjoy the day shopping, strolling, and dining, as Charles Street closes down to vehicular traffic for a full day of exploration and Downtown fun!

Out of the Ashes: The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904
2023-06-04 09:30 - 10:30, 2023-08-06 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.

Historic Ridgely’s Delight
2023-06-11 09:30 - 10:30, 2023-07-09 09:30 - 10:30, 2023-08-13 09:30 - 10:30, 2023-09-10 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, and Ridgely’s Delight on the first three Sundays of each month from May through November, except holiday weekends.

Historic Green Mount Cemetery
2023-06-17 09:30 - 11:30, 2023-09-16 09:30 - 11:30, 2023-09-23 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.

Baltimore’s Marble Hill: How A Neighborhood Shaped the Civil Rights Movement
2023-06-17 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 us to learn how fundamental pillars of the Civil Rights Movement got built here by driven, activist neighbors with their eyes on the prize.

The Catacombs Under Westminster: Two Hundred Years of Tombs and Edgar Allan Poe’s Gravesite
2023-06-24 11:00 - 12:00, 2023-07-15 11:00 - 12:00, 2023-09-24 11:00 - 12:00 | Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, 519 W Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Join us to explore the eerie catacombs underneath Baltimore’s First Presbyterian Church, now called Westminster Hall, and the graves that surround it, including the final resting place of Edgar Allan Poe. The burial ground predates the church, which was built on arches above the gravesites, so that the graveyard and its tombstones lie both underneath and around the building. We bet you will also recognize more than a few Baltimore street names as we walk among the patriots and civic leaders buried at Westminster including Calhoun, Hollins, Gilmore, and Bentalou. All told, the compact cemetery next to the University of Maryland School of Law is the final resting place for over 1,000 individuals. We can’t wait to see you “Where Baltimore’s History Rests in Peace!”

Mount Vernon Place: A Monumental City Tour
2023-06-25 09:30 - 10:30, 2023-07-23 09:30 - 10:30, 2023-08-27 09:30 - 10:30, 2023-09-24 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.

“Life Goes On:” The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks and Turner Station
2023-07-16 09:30 - 11:30 | Sollers Point Multi-Purpose Center, 323 Sollers Point Road, Dundalk, MD, 21222, United States
Don’t know who Henrietta Lacks was? Most of the world didn’t until about ten years ago. Mrs. Lacks is best recognized for her immortal cells, which scientists and doctors still use today to study the effects of toxins, drugs, hormones and viruses on people without experimenting on humans. Her cells helped create the HPV and polio vaccines. Yet it took some twenty-five years before the Lacks family received any knowledge of the important contribution of their beloved wife and mother. Please join us and the Henrietta Lacks Legacy Group for a walking tour of Turner Station in Dundalk, the last home of Henrietta Lacks, to hear about Henrietta, her family, and her life in Turner Station.
In 1951, Mrs. Lacks went to Johns Hopkins Hospital for treatment of cervical cancer. Without informing Mrs. Lacks, Hopkins doctors noticed that the removed cancer cells continued to grow in the lab. This marked the first instance of continuous growth of human cells outside the body. Henrietta died on October 4, 1951 from her cancer. She was 31 years old.
Doctors named her cells HeLa (from the first letters of her first and last names) and, without Lacks family approval, began sending them to laboratories around the world for research. Mrs. Lacks’ story weaves together important ethical and racial issues of the medical industrial complex, segregation, and the polarized economy of Baltimore. We are honored to be partnering with the Henrietta Lacks Legacy Group for this tour. Join guides Servant Speed and Adele Newson-Horst as we walk through Henrietta’s Turner Station community and learn about her incredible story.
Want to learn more about Henrietta Lacks?
The Double-Edged Helix” in Rolling Stone Magazine
“The Miracle of HeLa” in Ebony Magazine
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Passion & Pride: Discover Belair-Edison’s Public Art and Puerto Rican Cultural Hub
2023-07-23 10:00 - 12:00 | Tola’s Room, 4212 Sheldon Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21206, United States
On July 23, join Baltimore Heritage for an art walk & talk in Belair-Edison with artist, curator, and community organizer Christina Delgado! The tour will include a history of community art projects along Belair-Edison’s Main Street and sections of Herring Run Park. We’ll also talk a little about the history of the neighborhood, which was once known as Georgetown. The tour will end at Tola’s Room, a Puerto Rican home museum & culture space, with delicious empanadas by Cane de Sucre. The only Puerto Rican culture hub in Baltimore City, the museum designed by Delgado draws on personal cultural perspective, displaying a passion and pride for identity in family and homeplace. We can’t wait to walk around Belair-Edison with you to discover its past, present and future!

Historic Irvington
2023-08-05 11:00 - 12:00 | 4004 Frederick Ave, Baltimore, MD 21229, 4004 Frederick Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21229, United States
Join us to discover the past, present and future of Irvington, a leafy neighborhood nestled in Southwest Baltimore! Located on the old National Road and developed in 1874, this historic neighborhood is dotted with sublime pocket parks, peaceful gardens and vibrant murals created by the non-profit Cooperative Community Development Inc Group (the Cooperative). On this walk Johnny D. Martin, Board President of the Cooperative, and Baltimore Heritage’s Molly Ricks will take us back through Irvington’s history and showcase its bright future!

The Irish Railroad Workers Museum: A Behind The Scenes Tour
2023-08-17 17:30 - 18:30 | Irish Railroad Workers Museum, 918-920 Lemmon St, Baltimore, MD, 21223, United States
Join Baltimore Heritage on a special behind-the-scenes tour of the Irish Railroad Workers Museum with its managing director, Megan “Sammie” Samuels! This unique museum shares the lives of Irish immigrants, their communities, and legacy in America. Learn about the Great Hunger, also known as the Potato Famine, and walk through the restored home of 19th century Irish immigrants, James and Sarah Feeley. You’ll hear about their treacherous journey across the Atlantic and how they developed a new way of life in this vibrant, thriving city. After the tour, we will have time for light refreshments, questions and great conversation! We hope to see you there!

The New Lexington Market & Exploring the Neighborhood Around It
2023-09-09 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 at the new market to see its wonderful public art and, of course, its merchants (new and old). Be sure to bring your canvas bags to do some quintessential Baltimore shopping after the tour!

Jonestown & the Shot Tower: A Walking Tour
2023-09-23 10:00 - 11:00 | Carroll Mansion, 800 Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD, 21202, United States
Jonestown is one of Baltimore’s oldest and most historic neighborhoods. 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, and the 1808 home of Charles Carroll, the longest living signer of the Declaration of Independence. And of course, what is a visit to Jonestown without a stop at the iconic Phoenix Shot Tower, which until 1846 was the tallest building in the country!

Historic Clifton Mansion Tour & Reception
2023-09-27 17:30 - 19:00 | 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.
This special mid-week evening tour will include a light reception and question time after the tour!
