Baltimore Heritage

Up into the Clockworks at the Bromo Seltzer Tower
2023-12-27 11:00 - 12:00, 2024-03-10 11:00 - 12:00, 2024-03-10 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Bromo Seltzer Tower, 21 S Eutaw St, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Always one for flamboyance, Captain Isaac Emerson came back from a trip to Italy and decided he wanted to build a new factory in downtown Baltimore and that it should look like Florence’s fabulous town hall, the Palazzo Vecchio. Completed in 1911, the tower’s four clocks each measure 24 feet across, a foot more London’s Big Ben, and the tower itself was the tallest building in Baltimore at the time. Emerson, the man who became wealthy from his invention of Bromo Seltzer and gave us the slogan “if you keep late hours for society’s sake, Bromo Seltzer will cure that headache,” was quite proud.
Our tour through the building will include a trip up into the clockworks at the top to look at the tick-tock operation in process and peer out the translucent windows. We’ll also stop in at the museum room that holds the world’s largest collection ephemera from Captain Emerson, Bromo Seltzer, and Maryland Glass. And along the way, we’ll get a taste of the newest art that comes from the Tower’s artists: it is now home to dozens of local art studios. If you’ve wondered what goes on in the Bromo Seltzer Tower and how the imposing clocks actually work, now’s your chance!

The Schuler School of Fine Arts: Putting the Monuments in Monumental City
2024-01-11 16:30 - 17:30 | Schuler Schol of Fine Arts, 7 East Lafayette Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21202, United States
Baltimore sculptor Hans Schuler was the first American to win the French Salon’s gold medal at the Academie des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1901. Luckily for us, this former president of the Maryland Institute College of Arts has monuments dotted throughout the city: Martin Luther at Lake Montebello, Johns Hopkins and Sidney Lanier at Hopkins University, Samuel Smith in Federal Hill Park, to name a few. Schuler’s legacy is carried on today at the Schuler School of Fine Arts and Gallery. Eight years after his death in 1951, his son Hans Schuler, Jr. formed the school, converting the family home on Lafayette Avenue into a studio and gallery. Since its opening in 1959, the school has trained students in techniques of the Old Masters in the home where Schuler once lived and worked. On January 11, please join us and our guide from the Schuler School for a tour of the house and the working studio.

The Baltimore Immigration Museum: A Behind-the-Scenes Tour
2024-01-17 17:30 - 18:30 | Baltimore Immigration Museum, 1308 Beason Streeet, Baltimore, MD, 21230
On Wednesday, January 17, join Baltimore Heritage at the Baltimore Immigration Museum to hear the stories of the various ethnic groups, including Germans, Irish, Jews, Poles, Lithuanians, Czechs, Italians, and Greeks, who started their American journey in Baltimore between 1830 and 1914. We also learn about more recent immigrant arrivals, including Asians and Latinos, and African Americans, traveling from the rural South to Baltimore between the 1920s and the 1960s. Finally, we’ll discover the history behind the building originally called Deutsches Emigranten Haus that was built in 1904 to provide temporary accommodations to individuals new to Baltimore. A light wine and cheese reception will be provided. We hope to see you on January 17!

Historic Clifton Mansion
2024-01-27 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-02-24 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-04-06 10:00 - 11:00 | 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.

Ashburton Filtration Plant: A Behind-the-Scenes Tour
2024-02-01 15:30 - 16:30 | Ashburton Filtration Plant, 3001 Druid Park Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21215, United States
Ever thought about where that water from your faucet comes from? On February 1, please join us to learn about the processing and distribution of Baltimore’s excellent drinking water! The City operates three water filtration plants to meet current and future demands of the metropolitan area’s 1.8 million consumers. The Ashburton Filtration Plant, located on the west side of the City, is supplied by Liberty Reservoir through a 10’ wide tunnel that is 13 miles long. This plant can treat up to 165 million gallons per day! We hope you’ll come along to see how Baltimore has stayed hydrated and clean at this plant that has been in continuous operation for over 60 years.

Historic Cylburn Mansion: A Behind-the-Scenes Tour
2024-02-03 10:00 - 11:30 | Cylburn Arboretum, 4915 Greenspring Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21209, United States
Cylburn began as the private estate of Jesse Tyson, president of the Baltimore Chrome Works Company that became Allied Chemical and occupied the site of Exelon’s new headquarters on the Harbor today. At Cylburn, Tyson began building his mansion in 1863 as a summer home for himself and his mother. On Saturday, February 3, please join us and our hosts from Baltimore City Recreation and Parks to discover its Italianate design, stone from Tyson’s own Bare Hills quarry (in Baltimore County), and the interior of hardwood, grand fireplaces, and ornate plasterwork!

The Catacombs Under Westminster: Two Hundred Years of Tombs and Edgar Allan Poe’s Gravesite
2024-02-04 11:00 - 12:00, 2024-04-13 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!”

The Baltimore Basilica: A Behind-the-Scenes Tour
2024-02-10 11:00 - 12:00 | Baltimore Basilica, 409 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
On February 10, join us for a tour of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Baltimore Basilica. Built primarily between 1806 and 1821, the Baltimore Basilica was the first Cathedral built in the United States. Bishop John Carroll, America’s first Bishop and a cousin of Charles Carroll of Declaration of Independence signing fame, was lucky to connect with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who volunteered his architectural services and was to later achieve the moniker “Father of American Architecture.” This internationally significant building that has played a central role in the history of Baltimore and the Catholic Church, and, incidentally, happens to have more than a few accolades of its own: Minor Basilica (designated 1937), National Historic Landmark (designated 1972), Baltimore City historic landmark (designated 1975), and a national shrine (designated 1993).
The Basilica is 100% ADA compliant. There are wheelchair ramps to gain entry from the street level into the church, and elevators inside, so that all areas of the church are accessible, however, the Basilica does not have wheelchairs available for use.
We hope to see you there!

Baltimore’s Marble Hill: How A Neighborhood Shaped the Civil Rights Movement
2024-02-24 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.

Historic Green Mount Cemetery
2024-03-02 09:30 - 11:30, 2024-03-23 09:30 - 23:30, 2024-04-06 09:30 - 11:30 | Green Mount Cemetery, 1501 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21202, United States
Inherited from the great Baltimore historian Wayne Schaumburg, join Baltimore Heritage to tour Baltimore’s historic Green Mount Cemetery.
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, John Wilkes Booth, and Elijah Bond, who patented the Ouija Board!
Accessibility: Although there are some paved pathways, we will be walking over mostly uneven grassy terrain and cobblestones.

The New Lexington Market & Exploring the Neighborhood Around It
2024-03-02 11:00 - 12:00 | Lexington Market (Paca St Entrance), 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 led by Executive Director Johns Hopkins, 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).

Tulkoff Factory Tour: Making Horseradish in Baltimore for Three Generations
2024-03-06 14:00 - 15:00 | Tulkoff Food Products Inc, 2229 Van Deman St, Baltimore, MD, 21224, United States
From their produce stand along East Lombard Street (aka “Corned Beef Row”) in the 1930s, owners Harry and Lena Tulkoff began noticing that their prepared horseradish sauce was flying off the shelves. Made with beet juice and vinegar, it tasted good on beef, fish, fowl, virtually every kind of meat one could eat. Horseradish sales soon outpaced sales of fresh produce, and the Tulkhoff’s switched gears to focus exclusively on producing and selling it to individual customers and food markets. It took their son, Sol, to diversify (slightly) their lineup. After returning from Europe in WWII, he was determined to incorporate the war symbol of a tiger crushing a German tank into the Tulkoff product line. Thus was born Tiger Sauce, the mayonnaise and horseradish condiment that today is Tulkoff’s second biggest selling item.
Now in its third generation of family ownership, Tulkoff Food Products makes a wide array of horseradish-based products from its new facility on Van Deman Street, as well as a West Coast factory that they opened in 1997. Please join us to see first-hand how Tulkoffs takes raw horseradish and turns it into delectable condiments!
Please note that you must wear closed-toe shoes and no bags are allowed inside the factory.

Jonestown & the Shot Tower: A Walking Tour
2024-03-09 10:00 - 12:00 | 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!

Factory Tour of Fashions Unlimited: A Renaissance in Baltimore’s Garment Industry
2024-03-12 11:00 - 12:00 | Fashions Unlimited, 1100 Wicomico Street, Ste. 515, Baltimore, MD, 21230, United States
If you thought that the garment industry in Baltimore was a relic of the past, think again and join us on this tour of Fashions Unlimited! 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. Please join us on a tour of the Fashions Unlimited factory in action and learn how “Made in the USA” is happening here in Baltimore.

Historic Clifton Mansion & Reception
2024-03-20 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 is a special mid-week evening tour with a reception to follow.

Creating the Foundations of The Movement: Baltimore's Civil Rights Bus Tour
2024-03-23 10:00 - 12:00 | 211 N. Paca St, Baltimore, MD 21201, 211 N Paca St, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Baltimore has an incredible history of Civil Rights activism. Join us on this bus tour to explore neighborhoods like Marble Hill, which gave rise to some of the fundamental pillars of the Civil Rights Movement. We will discover how luminaries like Juanita Jackson Mitchell, Thurgood Marshall, and our late congressman, Elijah Cummings, were at the forefront of the fight for equality for Black citizens. We’ll see sites of demonstrations against Jim Crow laws in Druid Hill Park and department stores near Lexington Market, as well as the homes of activists who waged legal battles against racist housing laws in West Baltimore. We’ll discuss the efforts to end segregation in schools and the work of Black suffragists to gain the right to vote. We hope you’ll join us to see how the incredible organizing of people like Lillie Carroll Jackson and Rev. Harvey Johnson promoted Civil Rights not just for Baltimoreans, but for Americans across the nation.

Students are free

This tour will start and end near Lexington Market. This tour will be two-hours long with one stop where we disembark the bus and walk two blocks. There will be an option to stay on the bus and receive the same information as the walking portion. If you are a wheelchair user, please contact Molly Ricks (ricks@baltimoreheritage.org) to make a reservation.

This project has been financed in part with funds from the Charles A. and Lois H. Miller Foundation and State funds from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, an instrumentality of the State of Maryland. However, project contents or opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.

The New Lexington Market & Exploring the Neighborhood Around It
2024-03-30 11:00 - 12:00 | Lexington Market (Paca St Entrance), 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 see the original wagon curbstones and discuss underground tunnels. We’ll end at the new market to see its wonderful public art and, of course, its merchants (new and old).

Out of the Ashes: The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904
2024-04-07 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.

Feisty Females of Fells Point
2024-04-13 14:00 - 15:30 | Median on Broadway, 301 S. Broadway, Baltimore, MD, 21231, United States
On April 13, join us for a walking tour of the Feisty Females of Fells Point! Everyone knows that this neighborhood has a rich history, but do you know about the Caribbean immigrant, Mary Lange, who dared to teach children of color out of her home and rose to be the first Black mother-superior in American history? How about the single mom who helped stop the development of an interstate highway through these historic streets? Spoiler–it’s not Barbara Mikulski, but of course we’ll talk about her important work too. And we’ll stop by the former rowhouse of someone else you might know–Billie Holiday. We hope you’ll join us and tour guide Robin Minor to hear about these fierce women who helped forge Fells Point into the vibrant, distinctive neighborhood it is today.

Historic Ridgely’s Delight
2024-04-14 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.

Patterson Park History Tour
2024-04-14 10:00 - 11:30 | Friends of Patterson Park, 27 S. Patterson Park Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21231, United States
Join Friends of Patterson Park Director, Jennifer Robinson, and Baltimore Heritage Director, Johns Hopkins, to get an intro to the layers of history that lie beneath Baltimore’s best back yard! Who is the Patterson in our name, what’s the park’s connection to Frederick Douglass, what helped the park’s renaissance over the last 25 years, and why do we have cannons and an “observatory”? The park’s history is fascinating and will add to your appreciation for this jewel of a public space.
Meet at the “white house” – the Park Superintendent’s House at 27 South Patterson Park Avenue. Street Parking. Be prepared for walking/standing outside.
Please direct any questions to friends@pattersonpark.com. We look forward to seeing you!

A Piece of the Mediterranean in Baltimore: Pompeian Olive Oil
2024-04-18 15:00 - 16:30 | Pompeian Olive Oil Company, 4201 Pulaski Highway, Baltimore, MD, 21224, United States
Established in Baltimore in 1906, the Pompeian Olive Oil Company was the country’s first national brand of imported extra virgin olive oil. You may have passed their 200,000-square-foot factory and distribution center on Pulaski Highway, their home since 1912, and wondered what goes on behind those walls. Now is your chance to find out. Please join our tour to see how a 110 year old Baltimore company bottles olive oil and vinegar.
Our tour will look behind the scenes, starting with how Pompeian blows glass bottles. We’ll then walk through how they fill, cap, label, and box the final products for shipping. Our hosts will talk about the history of both the company and the making of olive oil, including getting a peek at a 300-year-old olive press. And you will get a few tips from the true experts on cooking with olive oil and vinegar. Although we will be a safe distance from the production machines, our hosts ask that participants wear closed-toe shoes and do not wear dangling jewelry.
There is limited parking inside the Pompeian facility complex but ample street parking one block away on North Haven Street to the north and south of Pulaski Highway.

To Market, To Market: Baltimore’s Public Markets Bus Tour
2024-04-20 10:00 - 12:00 | 211 N. Paca St, Baltimore, MD 21201, 211 N Paca St, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Lexington Market, Broadway Market, Hollins Market and the rest of Baltimore’s public markets have been a part of our daily life for more than 250 years. They’ve survived and thrived by adapting to change without losing their purpose: to feed people! On this bus tour, we will drive between four of Baltimore’s six remaining markets, including the oldest survivor, Broadway, and the newest to be renovated, Hollins. We’ll stop inside our youngest market, Northeast, which dates from 1885, to chat with a market vendor and try some traditional Baltimore coddies. We’ll start at Lexington Market and we’ll end up back there to sample one of Baltimore’s favorite fried chicken spots. Bring your appetite!

Students are free

Ticket price includes food samples. This tour will be two-hours long with one stop in the middle where we disembark the bus and walk around Northeast Market. There will be an option to stay on the bus and receive the same information as the walking portion of this tour. We will end the tour inside Lexington Market. If you are a wheelchair user, please contact Molly Ricks (ricks@baltimoreheritage.org) to make a reservation.

This project has been financed in part with funds from the Charles A. and Lois H. Miller Foundation and State funds from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, an instrumentality of the State of Maryland. However, project contents or opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.
