Factory Tour of Fashions Unlimited: A Renaissance in Baltimore’s Garment Industry
2019-09-13 08:30 - 09:30 (America/New_York) | Fashions Unlimited, 1100 Wicomico Street, Ste. 515, Baltimore, MD, 21230, United States
In response to the strong interest in our tour of Fashions Unlimited last year, we are repeating a tour of this Baltimore garment factory in action. Since its founding in 1976, Fashions Unlimited has been manufacturing clothing from its South Baltimore factory and is going as strongly today as ever. With sewing machines and a skilled workforce of designers, cutters, and sewers, it produces a range of products from bathing suits for start-up businesses to sportswear for Fila, Nike, and Champion. The company even makes jackets for Mt. Everest climbers and high-tech jerseys for European soccer leagues so that coaches can monitor everything in real time from a player’s heartbeat to her waning acceleration in the second half of the game.
Please join us and company founder Phil Spector on a tour of the Fashions Unlimited factory in action and learn how “Made in the USA” is happening here in Baltimore. (P.S., Our tour is indeed at 8:30 am. The factory is in production from 6:30 am until 2:30 p.m. and we wanted to do our tour when it is in full swing.)
Our Behind the Scenes Tours are made possible by a grant from Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts.

Catacombs, 100-Year Vendors and History at Lexington Market
2019-09-14 10:30 - 11:30, 2019-10-12 10:30 - 11:30, 2019-11-09 10:30 - 11:30 | Faidley’s Seafood (Entrance), 203 N. Paca Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Begun in the early 1800s on land donated by John Eager Howard, Baltimore’s iconic Lexington Market holds the title as the oldest market in America. Ralph Waldo Emerson also dubbed it “the gastronomic capital of the world.”
During the tour, we will visit Faidley’s, Berger’s, Konstant’s Candy, and other vendors that have been in their stall for a century or more. We will also explore the catacombs under the marketplace. Rediscovered in 1951 during the construction of a parking garage, the origins of these tunnels and vaults are mysterious. Were they used for cold storage before refrigeration? Did they house distilleries during Prohibition? We may not get the definitive answer, but we’ll at least get a first-hand look at these spaces that are normally closed to the public.
Be sure to bring your canvas bags to do some quintessential Baltimore shopping afterward. And while 10:30 am may seem early for a Saturday morning, at least we’re not lining up when the historic starting bell would ring in the new market day at 2:00 am!

Mount Vernon Place and the Washington Monument: Monumental City Tour
2019-09-15 09:30 - 10:30, 2019-10-20 09:30 - 10:30, 2019-11-17 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. The recent renovations to the two-hundred-year-old Washington Monument are the latest news from the revival of this historic neighborhood over the last decade.
Join us on a tour to hear the stories behind the Washington Monument and see the landmarks of Baltimore’s grandest historic neighborhood. If you are able, you can climb the Monument’s stairs for a birds-eye view of central Baltimore! Space inside the monument is limited. Each tour is capped at fifteen people and we’ll meet at the south entrance of the monument.
Our Monumental City tours are guided walks exploring iconic Baltimore landmarks in Downtown, Jonestown, Federal Hill and Mount Vernon the first four Sundays of the month from April through November, except holiday weekends. Our Washington Monument tour is organized in partnership with the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy.

Rowhouses Near and Far: Historian Charlie Duff on his New Book “The North Atlantic Cities”
2019-09-15 14:00 - 15:00 | Engineers Club / Garrett Jacobs Mansion, 11 West Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
What do Amsterdam, London, Dublin, and Baltimore have in common? They are part of the great family of the world’s rowhouse cities, of course! Join historian Charlie Duff for an exploration of these and other row house cities and the debut of his newly released book, The North Atlantic Cities. If you’ve ever wondered why we have so many rowhouses in Baltimore as compared to pretty much nearly everywhere else, what it means to organize your city around them, or what led Baltimoreans two hundred years ago to start the ball rolling down this rowhouse path, this talk is for you. Mr. Duff will have copies of his book to purchase.
This talk is a partnership between Baltimore Heritage and the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion. This program and our speaker series have been funded by Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts.

Federal Hill Beyond the Views: Monumental City Tour
2019-09-22 09:30 - 10:30, 2019-10-27 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 fortified the hill 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! Join us on a tour of Federal Hill and the surrounding neighborhood 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 Downtown, Jonestown, Mount Vernon and Federal Hill on the first four Sundays of each month from April through November, except holiday weekends.

Bmore Historic 2019
2019-09-27 09:00 - 16:00 | Baltimore Museum of Industry, 1415 Key Hwy, Baltimore, MD, 21230, United States
Save the date! Bmore Historic 2019 will take place at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, 1415 Key Highway on Friday, September 27, 2019. Registration will open this summer.
Special thanks to our 2019 sponsors: the Dresher Center for the Humanities at UMBC and the Orser Center for the Study of Place, Community & Culture.
What is Bmore Historic?
Bmore Historic is a participant-led unconference for scholars, students, professionals and volunteers who care about public history, historic preservation and cultural heritage in the Baltimore region. Bmore Historic is an opportunity to connect with local historians, humanities scholars, preservation advocates, museum professionals, archivists, and anyone interested in exploring the vital intersections between people, places and the past in Baltimore and Maryland. We’re bringing people together and you set the agenda.

Mount Vernon Place Plein Air Art Show at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion
2019-09-29 13:00 - 17:00 | Engineers Club / Garrett Jacobs Mansion, 11 West Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
This summer, artists from the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association bring their easels to Mount Vernon Place to capture its magnificent history, landscape and architecture. These outdoor painters will work throughout the summer, and we hope you will stop by and watch them in progress. And we also hope you will join us on Sunday, September 29, 2019, at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion for an exhibition and sale of the paintings. Get there early as the sale will begin sharply at 1:00 pm!
The event is a partnership between Baltimore Heritage, the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion Endowment Fund, and the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy. The ticket price includes wine and cheese nibbles.

Finding the Love: How to Appreciate Baltimore’s Curious Empty Buildings with Architect and Artist Jerome Gray
2019-10-03 17:30 - 19:30 | First Unitarian Church, 1 West Franklin Street, Baltimore, 21201, United States
From the Modernist Kagro Building at the corner of North and Maryland Avenues to the New Refuge Deliverance Cathedral at St. Paul and Chase Streets that has been covered in scaffolding for over a decade, Baltimore contains a number of distinct buildings that are highly visible, curiously vacant, and all but overlooked in plain sight. Architect and artist Jerome Gray will discuss his research into who built these places, who occupied them, who were supposed to be their stewards, and how these seemingly dull places actually contribute to Baltimore’s built environment.
Mr. Gray’s discussion will combine his research into the histories of several buildings, comments on them as an architect and artist, and a presentation of his own artwork celebrating them as part of Baltimore’s urban fabric. Please join us for the talk at 5:30 and stay for a wine and cheese reception. Both are free!
We are pleased to be sponsoring this event in partnership with the Baltimore Architecture Foundation, which is handling registration.
This talk is part of Free Fall Baltimore which is presented by BGE, and is a program of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
Register Here!

The Founding Days: Doors Open Bus Tour of Some of Baltimore’s Oldest Buildings
2019-10-05 09:00 - 12:30 | Robert Long House, 812 South Ann Street, Baltimore, MD, 21231, United States
1765. 1785. 1790. 1797. These are the dates of construction of the Robert Long House, Old Otterbein Church, the wooden Caulkers Houses in Fell’s Point, and Mayor Thorowgood Smith’s house in Jonestown. They are some of the oldest standing structures in Baltimore and four of the five historic places we’ll visit on our 2019 Doors Open Bus Tour. To round out the tour, we’ll also visit the Public Works Museum inside the Eastern Avenue Sewage Pumping Station, a wonderful civic structure erected as part of rebuilding the city and its sewage system in the wake of the 1904 Fire.
Please join Baltimore Heritage director Johns Hopkins on this bus trip of some of the oldest buildings in the city. We’ll meet at the Robert Long House in Fell’s Point. Four-hour meter parking is available, as well as a garage at Thames and Caroline Street. Come for the tour and grab lunch in Fell’s Point afterwards!
We are proud to be partnering on this tour with AIA Baltimore and the Baltimore Architecture Foundation.
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT

Downtown Landmarks and Lions: Monumental City Tour
2019-10-06 09:30 - 10:30, 2019-11-03 09:30 - 10:30 | Hollywood Diner (at the Baltimore Farmer’s Market), 400 East Saratoga Street, Baltimore, MD, 21202, United States
Where can you find a piece of the Berlin Wall, a cannon ball mounted on a Conestoga wagon hitch, and over a hundred lions looking down at you from the tops of Baltimore’s buildings? On our Downtown Landmarks and Lions tour, of course! In this leisurely stroll—we cover a little over a mile in a little over an hour—you’ll see and hear the highlights of downtown Baltimore’s history and architecture. Best of all, you’ll discover where all the noble lions, hellish fiends, and neo-Egyptian sphinxes are hiding—the trick is in looking up! If you are Baltimore born-and-raised or a visitor from out-of-town, you don’t want to miss this Monumental City walking tour!
Our Monumental City tours are guided walks exploring iconic Baltimore landmarks in Downtown, Jonestown, Mount Vernon and Federal Hill the first four Sundays of each month from April through November, except holiday weekends.

Baltimore in the Golden Age of Radio
2019-10-06 14:00 - 15:00 | Baltimore, MD, United States
Note – Change of Date. This talk was originally scheduled for October 13. It will now take place on Sunday, October 6, 2019.

From Guglielmo Marconi’s experiments in sending audio signals via radio waves in the 1890s to the strains of Rock and Roll coursing through teenage ears in the 1960s, and everything in between, Baltimore historian Jack Burkert explores the Golden Age of Radio in the lives of Americans, with a special focus on Baltimore. In today’s world of internet and visual media, we forget how radio transformed America with national networks, new snazzy commercial jingles, and the story of how one company came to dominate the new radio market only to suddenly exit altogether. Of course, Mr. Burkert will take a look at Baltimore’s own radio stations, some of the broadcasts they transmitted, and a few of the charming personalities involved in the radio business along the way.
This talk is a partnership between Baltimore Heritage and the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion. This program and our speaker series have been funded by Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts.
*NEW* Come early for an inside look at the historic Garrett-Jacobs Mansion during a rare Sunday afternoon pre-talk tour, led by one of our docents. The tours start at 1 p.m. Learn more about the Garrett family’s far-reaching influence, the building’s architecture (designed by two prominent architects, Stanford White and John Russell Pope), and “Baltimore’s Mrs. Astor,” Mary Frick Garrett Jacobs. Tickets are an additional $10.

Celebrate National Coming Out Day on a LGBTQ Heritage Walking Tour in Charles Village!
2019-10-12 10:30 - 12:00 | Normal’s Books & Records, 425 East 31st Street, Baltimore, MD, 21218, United States
Although we’re technically a day late, we hope you can help us and our partner Preservation Maryland celebrate National Coming Out Day with a LGBT heritage walking tour in Charles Village!
Although Charles Village is better known for its colorful “painted ladies,” the neighborhood was home to many activists and institutions at the heart of the city’s LGBT community in the 1970s and 1980s. Guides Richard Oloizia, Shirley Parry, Louis Hughes and Kate Drabisnki 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’ll end the tour at Peabody Heights Brewery where you supply the conversation and we will supply a pizza lunch.
This tour is the second in a two-part LGBT heritage program made possible by funding from PNC and supported in part by Preservation Maryland and the Maryland Historical Trust.

Today’s Solution to an Age-Old Problem: Inside the 1940 Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant
2019-10-15 14:00 - 15:00 | Patapsco Waste Water Treatment Plant, 3501 Asiatic Ave., Baltimore, MD, 21226, United States
In the wake of the Great 1904 Fire, Baltimore had two pressing tasks: rebuild downtown and get on board with other European and American cities in developing a functioning sewage system. Both were critical if the city was to continue to grow, and luckily for all of us coming after this defining moment, Baltimoreans of the day successfully accomplished both.
The Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant was completed in 1940 and supplemented the earlier Eastern Avenue facility at the Inner Harbor that was finished in 1912. The Patapsco plant, sited at the very tip of the Brooklyn and Curtis Bay peninsula, beat out competing ideas on how to treat Baltimore’s waste, including pumping it into the middle of the Chesapeake Bay (Maryland’s oystermen were adamantly opposed) and shipping it to a facility in Anne Arundel County (too expensive). When the facility was completed, it could handle 5 million gallons of sewage a day, an amount that the city quickly exceeded. After years of planning, the plant was dramatically expanded in 1985 to handle 63 million gallons daily, and today serves nearly half a million people in Baltimore City as well as Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel Counties.
Please join us as we take a tour of this fascinating facility that has its roots in the 1904 Fire and today uses state-of-the-art technology to handle a problem as old as the city itself.

Free Thank You Reception and Micro-Grant Give Away at Clifton Mansion
2019-10-17 17:30 - 19:30 | Baltimore, MD, United States
With sincere thanks to the many people who volunteer with us, come on our heritage tours, and support us as members, donors, and sponsors, we are pleased to say thank you with our 2019 preservation micro-grant awards and reception at the historic Clifton Mansion. If you have never been to Clifton Mansion or haven’t been in a while, it is looking fabulous thanks to renovations sponsored by the Friends of Clifton Mansion and Civic Works. Join us and check it out!
The event will include light fare and drinks and the chance to help us give away four micro-grants to help advance good ideas in Baltimore. This is our fourth year of providing micro-grants and as we have done in past years, we’ll have six finalists provide three-minute “pitches” of their ideas… and then we will ask you to cast ballots for the ones you would like to see get funded. We’ll learn about some great initiatives underway in Baltimore and have a little fun helping them out. This is also Baltimore Heritage’s annual meeting where we elect board members and officers. It’s free! Please join us…and also please RSVP.

Thank you again for supporting us and our work with Baltimore’s historic buildings and neighborhoods. We hope you can join us on October 17 at Clifton Mansion.

Ghost Tours of Baltimore's Historic Clifton Mansion by Civic Works
2019-10-25 18:00 - 21:00 | Clifton Mansion, 2701 Saint Lo Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21218, United States
We are pleased to help Civic Works get the word out about their spooky event: Ghost Tours of Baltimore’s Historic Clifton Mansion!
For two nights only, the Restless Ghosts of Clifton Mansion will appear. Tour Baltimore’s Historic Clifton Mansion and hear the stories of the ghosts who still haunt Clifton Park. This evening tour will be full of surprises.
Tours will start every 15 minutes and last for half an hour. Ghosts are impatient so please arrive at least ten minutes before your scheduled start time. Doors will open at 6:00 pm and close at 9:00 pm. Enjoy drinks at the bar before and after your tour.
Clifton Mansion parking is free. For questions or more information, contact Civic Works at (410) 366-8533

Psychedelics, Traitors and Treatments: The Unexpected Past of Spring Grove Hospital Center
2019-10-26 09:30 - 10:30 | Spring Grove Hospital Center, 55 Wade Avenue, Catonsville, MD, 21228, United States
Timothy Leary’s got nothing on Baltimore! Join us for a walk around the Spring Grove Hospital Center campus to see this partially abandoned historic facility where, among other things, the first and longest government-run psychedelic drug research program took place. Here, scientists tested LSD and other chemicals as potential treatments for psychiatric illnesses until national controversy caught up with everybody and the research was shut down in 1976.
Spring Grove has a history far deeper than the experimental 1960s. Founded in 1797, it is the second oldest continuously operating psychiatric hospital in the country. Before the Civil War, free and enslaved African Americans were also patients here. Later it became a whites-only facility. Today, Spring Grove treats around 300 patients, a fraction of its 1960 population. And there is again a psychiatric illness research facility in the same building where the LSD experiments once occurred.
On our tour, we’ll see the remnants of the oldest building on campus, industrial structures from the 1930s, plus a barely noticeable cemetery. Join us and our guide Paul Lubell as we walk through three centuries of history that weaves together tales of yellow fever epidemics, Confederate traitors, and psychedelic scandal. Groovy.

Jones Falls Historic Sites of Industry Bike Tour
2019-10-27 09:30 - 12:00 | Common Ground, 819 West 36th Street, Baltimore, MD, 21211, United States
Please join Baltimore Heritage’s partner organization the Greater Hampden Heritage Alliance on a bike tour of historic factories along the Jones Falls. The tour will stop at sites included in the Jones Falls Historic Wayfinding Signage Project that tell the story of the industrial history of the valley and the lives of its workers, from the early 19th century to the present day.
The tour will be on bike paths and low-traffic roads, rolling with some hills in the Jones Falls Valley. Any bike with good working brakes and gears will do, and the group will go at an easy pace with frequent history stops. The total distance is about 12 miles. Because of the hilly terrain, this tour is recommended for experienced riders.
The tour will begin outside the coffee shop Common Ground (819 W. 36th St.) promptly at 9:30AM and will take approximately 2 hours.
For more information, contact Mr. Nathan Dennies at the Greater Hampden Heritage Area (ndennies@gmail.com).
Register Online Here

Historic Jonestown and the Shot Tower: Monumental City Tour
2019-11-10 10:00 - 11:00 | Carroll Mansion, 800 Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD, 21202, United States
Anchored by the Phoenix Shot Tower, Historic Jonestown is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city and includes often overlooked landmarks. In addition to going inside the Shot Tower, on this tour you’ll learn about the city’s oldest religious building (Friends Meeting House) and the third oldest synagogue in the country (Lloyd Street Synagogue), and the longest-lived signer of the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll. The Shot Tower, the tallest structure in the United States until 1846, stands out in Baltimore’s skyline as a reminder of our early industrial heritage and is a must-see for visitors and locals alike!
Our Monumental City tours are guided walks exploring iconic Baltimore landmarks in Downtown, Jonestown, Mount Vernon and Federal Hill on the first four Sundays of every month, excluding holiday weekends. Our Jonestown tour is organized in partnership with Carroll Museums, Inc.

Psychedelics, Traitors and Treatments: The Unexpected Past of Spring Grove Hospital Center
2019-11-16 09:30 - 10:30 | Spring Grove Hospital Center, 55 Wade Avenue, Catonsville, MD, 21228, United States
Timothy Leary’s got nothing on Baltimore! Join us for a walk around the Spring Grove Hospital Center campus to see this partially abandoned historic facility where, among other things, the first and longest government-run psychedelic drug research program took place. Here, scientists tested LSD and other chemicals as potential treatments for psychiatric illnesses until national controversy caught up with everybody and the research was shut down in 1976.
Spring Grove has a history far deeper than the experimental 1960s. Founded in 1797, it is the second oldest continuously operating psychiatric hospital in the country. Before the Civil War, free and enslaved African Americans were also patients here. Later it became a whites-only facility. Today, Spring Grove treats around 300 patients, a fraction of its 1960 population. And there is again a psychiatric illness research facility in the same building where the LSD experiments once occurred.
On our tour, we’ll see the remnants of the oldest building on campus, industrial structures from the 1930s, plus a barely noticeable cemetery. Join us and our guide Paul Lubell as we walk through three centuries of history that weaves together tales of yellow fever epidemics, Confederate traitors, and psychedelic scandal. Groovy

Christmas in Old Baltimore with Historian Wayne Schaumburg
2019-11-17 14:00 - 15:00 | Engineers Club / Garrett Jacobs Mansion, 11 West Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
In mentally gearing up for this year’s holiday season, have you ever wondered which Baltimore holiday traditions have changed over the years and which have stayed the same? Join Baltimore historian and educator Wayne R. Schaumburg for a talk on “Christmas In Old Baltimore” to get a little insight. Mr. Schaumburg will focus on some of Baltimore’s great holiday customs from the 1940s to the 1960s, including downtown shopping, visiting Santa, the Toytown Parade, firehouse train gardens, and even our favorite holiday topic to quibble over: aluminum trees. We hope you can join us!
This talk is a partnership between Baltimore Heritage and the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion. This program and our speaker series have been funded by Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts.

The Chesapeake Bay: A Look Back In Film
2019-11-18 18:30 - 20:30 | Heron Room Event Destination, 3000 Falls Road, Baltimore, MD, 21211, United States
Baltimore Heritage’s partner organization, the Greater Hampden Heritage Alliance, will host local film presenter, Bob Wagner, for a free screening of a selection of 16mm films about Baltimore and the Chesapeake region. The 1970’s and 80’s brought a wave of attention on the Bay. These films highlight growing concerns about the environment and the complex link between cities, farms and the waterfront. We’ll see some great footage of Baltimore during the 70’s, learn about oysters and sea grasses, watch an exciting crab race, and hear from Miss Crustacean 1985.

Program lasts about 100mins. Registration at 6:30 pm, screening will begin at 7:00 pm. Light refreshments provided. For more information, contact Mr. Nathan Dennies at the Greater Hampden Heritage Area (ndennies@gmail.com).

From Farmstead Settlement to Divine’s First Home: A Walking Tour of Historic Towson
2019-11-23 10:00 - 11:00 | Historic Towson Courthouse, 400 Washington Ave, Towson, MD, 21204, United States
Did you know that Divine of John Waters movie fame was born and buried in Towson? Join Towson’s own history buff, Ms. Brenda Carl, for a look back at the town’s wonderful history and notable characters. We’ll start at the pre-Civil War Towson Courthouse and learn how the two Towson brothers from Pennsylvania came down the York Turnpike in the 1700’s to start the town that’s named for them. We’ll also visit the site of the original Towson Hotel, where farmers stopped over before continuing on to Baltimore to sell their goods. We hope you’ll join us to discover how places like Prospect Hill Cemetery, Loch Raven Reservoir, and East Towson, founded by African Americans formerly enslaved at Hampton Mansion, helped make Towson into the bustling college town it is today.

Open House: Christmas at Krug!
2019-12-07 10:00 - 14:00 | G. Krug & Son Ironworks, 415 West Saratoga Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
We are pleased to help our friends at G. Krug and Son Ironworks get the word out about their Christmas at Krug holiday open house!
Would you like to see a blacksmith at work? How about walk through a historic ironworks shop and see all the old-timey implements? Well, this is your chance. We will be giving blacksmithing demonstrations and tours of our building and historic items. Plus members of the Krug family will be on-hand.
Hand-made items as well as T-shirts and mugs will be available for sale in our gift shop. Bring a printout of this ad for 10% off any project you have in mind (railings, gates, fences, custom items, etc).
Light refreshments will be served. No need to RSVP. Come as you are! Free admission!
