Baltimore Heritage

Catacombs, 100-Year Vendors and History at Lexington Market
2020-04-11 10:30 - 11:30, 2020-03-14 10:30 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Faidley’s Seafood (Entrance), 203 N. Paca Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Event Canceled

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, 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!

Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project Talk at Providence Baptist Church
2020-04-09 10:00 - 11:00 | Providence Baptist Church, 1401 Pennsylvania Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21217, United States
We are happy to help the Laurel Cemetery Memorial Task Force spread the news about their upcoming black history lecture. The task force is endeavoring to erect a permanent memorial in recognition of the thousands of African Americans interred at Historic Laurel Cemetery, to ensure the safety and stability of the site into the foreseeable future, and to educate the public about the rich history of the cemetery and the lives of those buried there.
Laurel Cemetery was incorporated in 1852 as Baltimore’s first nondenominational cemetery for African Americans. It quickly became a popular place of burial for people across Black Baltimore’s socioeconomic spectrum, including 230 Black Civil War veterans, members of the United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.) and notables such as Civil Rights activist Reverend Harvey Johnson.
In 1958 and after a series of lawsuits failed to prevail in the courts, Laurel Cemetery was leveled. Today it is the site of the Belair-Edison Crossing Shopping Center, and home to several businesses. However, many current patrons and nearby residents have no knowledge of the site’s former purpose and significance. Join us to learn more about the important history of the site and how we can preserve its memory.

New Light on Hidden Lives: A Talk on Discovering the Histories of Hampton's Enslaved Workers
2020-04-05 14:00 - 15:00 | Engineers Club / Garrett Jacobs Mansion, 11 West Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Event Canceled

In 1790, the Ridgely family’s Hampton Mansion was the largest house in the United States. Who worked to keep this enormous estate running efficiently? Who labored in the surrounding gardens and, a little farther away, in the lucrative, but treacherous iron furnaces? Although the Ridgely family hired indentured servants and free blacks, the estate depended on slave labor for over 100 years, ending only when Maryland State law ended the institution in 1864. The Ridgely’s owned over 500 enslaved people during that period.
Gregory Weidman, Curator, Hampton National Historic Site, will present a lecture based on her recent research as a member of the Hampton Ethnographic Team that worked for three years to uncover and document the lives and families of those enslaved on the Hampton estate. Her presentation will showcase the broad range of historic sources that were used to explore the personal stories of these individuals, documenting their lives both before and after freedom, including identifying their family groups and the lives of descendants. We hope you will join us to hear the important stories of the people enslaved at Hampton Mansion.

Out of the Ashes: The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904
2020-04-05 10:00 - 11:00 | The Replica Gaslight, 300 E Baltimore St, Baltimore, MD, 21202, United States
Event Canceled

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 as we see what 2500 degrees Fahrenheit of 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.

The Catacombs Under Westminster: Two Hundred Years of Tombs and Edgar Allan Poe’s Gravesite
2020-04-04 10:00 - 11:00 | Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, 519 W Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Event Canceled

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!”

Psychedelics, Traitors and Treatments: The Unexpected Past of Spring Grove Hospital Center
2020-03-25 17:00 - 18:30 | Spring Grove Hospital Center, 55 Wade Avenue, Catonsville, MD, 21228, United States
Event Canceled

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.

Destination Baltimore: A Talk on the Story of Immigration and Opportunity
2020-03-22 14:00 - 15:00 | Engineers Club / Garrett Jacobs Mansion, 11 West Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Event Cancelled

For more than two centuries and for almost two million people, Baltimore was the destination that promised hope and opportunity–a new life. In this talk, historian Jack Burkert will discuss the realities of immigrating to America. Beginning in the 18th century, and accelerating through the 19th century, immigrants provided the labor force necessary for Baltimore to become an industrial powerhouse. They built critical infrastructure, created steel in mills, and assembled garments in Baltimore’s burgeoning manufacturing world. New arrivals would congregate in neighborhoods where friends and relatives lived and the language was familiar. In these enclaves, everyday customs from their home countries persisted and flourished.
Throughout the 20th century, new arrivals from other parts of America continued to fuel Baltimore’s growth. The Great Migration and the Hillbilly Migration added to Baltimore’s dynamic heritage. Who were these people? Where were they from? Why did they leave home? We hope you’ll join us to explore these questions and more at this lecture!

Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project Talk at Timothy Baptist Church
2020-03-18 10:30 - 11:30 | Timothy Baptist Church, 1214 W Saratoga St, Baltimore, MD, 21223, United States

The Catacombs Under Westminster: Two Hundred Years of Tombs and Edgar Allan Poe’s Gravesite
2020-03-07 10:00 - 11:00 | 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!”

From Farmstead Settlement to Booming Suburb: A Walking Tour of Historic Towson
2020-03-07 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.

Reinventing the Peale: A Hard Hat Tour
2020-03-05 17:30 - 18:30 | Peale Museum, 225 North Holliday Street, Baltimoe, 21202, United States
Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Peale’s renovations with architect Walter Schamu! Hear some of the many stories of the building, from its origins as the first purpose-built museum in the country, to the introduction of gaslight technology to the city, to its role as Baltimore’s first City Hall and public high school for people of color. Find out what is coming next as the Peale relaunches as a center for Baltimore stories and studies, and a laboratory for reinventing the museum for the 21st century in the creative and innovative spirit of the Peale family.

Serving from Above: A Tour of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command
2020-02-29 14:00 - 15:00 | Maryland State Police Aviation Command, Middle River, MD, 21220, United States
Since 1784, when 13-year-old Edward Warren became the first American to ascend in a hot air balloon above Baltimore, Maryland has been a leader in flight. The Maryland State Police has been serving the state from above since 1954 when it acquired its first aircraft, a donated, two-seat, radio-equipped airplane. On March 19, 1970, the command performed the first civilian medevac transport of an injured patient from a crash that occurred on the Baltimore Beltway to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Never before had a civilian agency transported a critically injured trauma patient by helicopter in a non-military setting. From hot air balloons to civilian helicopter medevacs, Baltimore has been a city of aviation firsts.
Since the 1970s, the Maryland State Police Aviation Command has transported over 150,000 patients. And its duties have grown to include law enforcement and homeland security support, search and rescue, aerial rescue and disaster assessment. We hope you will join us for this incredible behind-the-scenes tour led by some of Maryland’s own State Police pilots and medics. We’ll see you in the hangar!

Baltimore’s Civil Rights Heritage: Shaping the National Movement
2020-02-25 18:30 - 19:30 | Enoch Pratt Free Library – Southeast Anchor Branch, 3601 Eastern Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21224, United States
Baltimore’s airport is named after Civil Rights giant Thurgood Marshall, and plaques in Fell’s Point show where Frederick Douglass took his stand against slavery and for equality. In addition to these well-known leaders, dozens of other Baltimoreans committed themselves to struggle for Civil Rights and helped shape The Movement locally and nationally. Reverend Harvey Johnson worked from Union Baptist Church on Druid Hill Avenue to create some of the first Civil Rights organizations in the country as early as the 1880s. Lillie Carroll Jackson, who headed Baltimore’s branch of the NAACP for 50 years, pioneered non-violent protest tactics that engaged young people. Clarence Mitchell led the NAACPs efforts to pass ground-breaking Civil Rights legislation in Congress in the 1960s. Baltimore Heritage has spent three years documenting Baltimore’s Civil Rights legacy for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Join the organization’s executive director, Mr. Johns Hopkins, to learn more of how Baltimore has shaped the Civil Rights Movement for over 100 years.

Can’t make this talk? Catch the same one at two other Pratt Library branches: Central (January 27) and Brooklyn (February 20)

Baltimore’s Civil Rights Heritage: Shaping the National Movement
2020-02-20 18:00 - 19:00 | Enoch Pratt Free Library – Brooklyn Branch, 300 E Patapsco Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21225, United States
Baltimore’s airport is named after Civil Rights giant Thurgood Marshall, and plaques in Fell’s Point show where Frederick Douglass took his stand against slavery and for equality. In addition to these well-known leaders, dozens of other Baltimoreans committed themselves to struggle for Civil Rights and helped shape The Movement locally and nationally. Reverend Harvey Johnson worked from Union Baptist Church on Druid Hill Avenue to create some of the first Civil Rights organizations in the country as early as the 1880s. Lillie Carroll Jackson, who headed Baltimore’s branch of the NAACP for 50 years, pioneered non-violent protest tactics that engaged young people. Clarence Mitchell led the NAACPs efforts to pass ground-breaking Civil Rights legislation in Congress in the 1960s. Baltimore Heritage has spent three years documenting Baltimore’s Civil Rights legacy for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Join the organization’s executive director, Mr. Johns Hopkins, to learn more of how Baltimore has shaped the Civil Rights Movement for over 100 years.
Can’t make this talk? Catch the same one at two other Pratt Library branches: Central (January 27) and Southeast (February 25)

Open Hours: The Spring Grove Hospital Center Alumni Museum
2020-02-15 09:00 - 12:00 | Garrett Building at Spring Grove Hospital Center, 55 Wade Avenue, Catonsville, MD, 21228, United States
We are happy to help our friends at the Spring Grove Alumni Museum get the word out about their new hours of operation. Starting this Saturday, February 15, 2020 the museum will be open the first and third Saturdays, 9 am-noon, and the first and third Mondays, 7:30 am-noon. The Spring Grove Hospital Center Alumni Museum is located on the campus of Spring Grove Hospital Center, in the Garrett Building, ground floor. The museum’s collection includes photographs and drawings from throughout the hospital’s history, as well as a small library of hospital-related documents, several pieces of period furniture, early medical equipment, and other objects of interest.

*Note: This is a different event from our walking tour

The Caffeinated City: A Tour of Zeke’s Coffee Roastery and Baltimore’s Coffee History
2020-02-12 14:00 - 15:00, 2020-01-23 14:00 - 15:00 | Zeke’s Coffee Roastery, 3003 Montebello Terrace, Baltimore, MD, 21214, United States
Thomas Rhodes sold his first pound of coffee at the Baltimore Farmers’ Market in November 2005 using a newly acquired one-pound coffee roaster. In doing so, Mr. Rhodes’ new business, Zeke’s Coffee, joined a long line of coffee connoisseurs in Baltimore. The line includes Alex. Brown and Sons, the nation’s first investment bank, which imported so much coffee that it became the firm’s main source of revenue by the late 19th century. The line also includes Mr. Deaver Y. Smith Sr., who in 1906 established Smith Punch Base Coffee and Tea Company, the third black-owned business in the 1400 block of Pennsylvania Avenue that operated for 65 years.
Today, Zeke’s is still family owned and now operates in three cities using its unique roasting process where a fountain of beans is continuously agitated by a stream of hot air. Join us for an espresso-ily energizing tour of Zeke’s Coffee as we talk about Baltimore’s history of coffee and learn about the art of coffee roasting.

Historic Laurel: A Walking Tour of a Booming 19th-Century Milltown
2020-02-09 13:00 - 14:30 | Laurel Museum, 817 Main St, Laurel, MD, 20707, United States
Originally called Laurel Factory, today’s town of Laurel started as a 19th-century milltown with ties to Baltimore along the B&O railroad line. Situated halfway between Baltimore and DC on the Patuxent River, Laurel began as a small grist mill in 1811. In the 1840s, it evolved into a cotton mill employing more than 700 workers. And during the Civil War, Union troops guarded the railroad line in Laurel, the only rail connection between the North and Washington, DC at the time.
Please join us and our tour guide, Ms. Ann Bennett, the Executive Director of the Laurel Historical Society as we walk through Laurel’s main street, see the remains of the mill’s ruins along the Patuxent River, and discuss The Grove, Laurel’s distinctly African American neighborhood that got its start in the mid-19th century amid harsh racism, and later institutionalized segregation, in Prince George’s County. We will end at the Historical Society’s museum, which is located in one of the original mill workers houses, and take a look at their new exhibit commemorating the 150th anniversary of the town’s incorporation.

Mount Vernon Love Stories: A Historic Valentine’s Walking Tour
2020-02-09 10:00 - 11:30 | Marburg Mansion, 14 West Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Baltimore historian Jamie Hunt is back with a Valentine’s Day-themed tour of romance in Mount Vernon!

For two centuries, Mount Vernon has seen spectacular love stories, bitter feuds, and more than a few juicy trysts. The neighborhood’s earliest days include patriot and original Mount Vernon landowner John Eager Howard marrying a charming young Philadelphian, Margaret “Peggy” Chew, after her first love was hanged for treason in a plot that involved Benedict Arnold. Fast forward 200 years and Mount Vernon saw a 20th century graduate of its Baltimore School for the Arts, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, fall in love with and marry another noted Philadelphian, actor Will Smith.

In between these two sets of lovers are the royal tales of Betsy Patterson Bonaparte, who died wealthy but bitter in Mount Vernon years after an annulled marriage to Napoleon’s brother Jerome, and Bessie Wallis Warfield, who was christened in a neighborhood church (just across the street from where Betsy died) and grew up to become the Duchess of Windsor. Not to be outdone by royalty, some of Baltimore’s most storied authors have ties to Mt. Vernon along with their beautiful, sad marriages, including Edgar Allan Poe, H.L. Mencken, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. And of course the rich and famous of Baltimore’s Gilded Age include more than a few with off-beat love lives.

Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project Lecture at Israel Baptist Church
2020-02-08 13:00 - 14:00 | Israel Baptist Church, 1220 N Chester St, Baltimore, MD, 21213, United States

Catacombs, 100-Year Vendors and History at Lexington Market
2020-02-08 10:30 - 11:30, 2020-01-11 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, 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!

From the Stamp Act to Yorktown: A Talk on Baltimore in the American Revolution
2020-02-02 14:00 - 15:00 | Engineers Club / Garrett Jacobs Mansion, 11 West Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Join Baltimore historian and educator Wayne R. Schaumburg as we look at Baltimore’s role in the American Revolution. Discover our town’s unique response to the Stamp Act crisis. Learn about a group of soldiers called the Maryland 400, many of whom were from Baltimore, that saved Washington’s army at the Battle of Long Island. Did you know that Baltimore was the capital of the United States for three months? Learn about Mary Katherine Goddard’s contribution to American independence, and the construction of the first American frigate built in Fell’s Point. Finally we answer the burning question: did George Washington sleep here? This and more on February 2nd!

Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project Lecture at Waters A.M.E. Church
2020-02-01 13:00 - 14:00 | Waters A.M.E. Church, 417 Aisquith St, Baltimore, MD, 21202, United States

From Pianos to Pigskins: Ravens Stadium Then and Now
2020-01-29 10:30 - 11:30 | M&T Bank Stadium (Ravens Stadium), 1101 Russell St, South East Lobby across from LOT D, Baltimore, MD, 21230, United States
The Baltimore Ravens were one of the hottest teams in the NFL this season, so what better time to join us at M&T Bank Stadium for a behind-the-scenes tour of their home? We’ll take in the whole building from the suite-level to the locker-rooms. And, because we are Baltimore Heritage and have more than a little history bent, we’ll learn about the history of the site, including German immigrant William Knabe’s enormous piano factory that was once there.
Knabe Piano started in Baltimore in 1837 and located where the stadium now sits in 1869. The company sold pianos to luminaries like Francis Scott Key. When Carnegie Hall opened in New York on May 5, 1891, Knabe family sponsored Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky (think Swan Lake among other pieces) to conduct the opening concert. Who would have predicted that 129 years later, the Baltimore Ravens would have an opera-singing kicker (Justin Tucker) performing at the same spot where Knabe made grand pianos for the country’s opera houses? Join us for this touchdown tour to talk about both football players and piano players.
There will be free parking in a surface lot at the stadium next to the tour starting point.

Baltimore’s Civil Rights Heritage: Shaping the National Movement
2020-01-27 18:30 - 20:00 | Central Branch – Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
Featuring special guest, Reverend Al Hathaway from Union Baptist Church!
Baltimore’s airport is named after Civil Rights giant Thurgood Marshall, and plaques in Fell’s Point show where Frederick Douglass took his stand against slavery and for equality. In addition to these well-known leaders, dozens of other Baltimoreans committed themselves to struggle for Civil Rights and helped shape The Movement locally and nationally. Reverend Harvey Johnson worked from Union Baptist Church on Druid Hill Avenue to create some of the first Civil Rights organizations in the country as early as the 1880s. Lillie Carroll Jackson, who headed Baltimore’s branch of the NAACP for 50 years, pioneered non-violent protest tactics that engaged young people. Clarence Mitchell led the NAACPs efforts to pass ground-breaking Civil Rights legislation in Congress in the 1960s. Baltimore Heritage has spent three years documenting Baltimore’s Civil Rights legacy for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Join the organization’s executive director, Mr. Johns Hopkins, to learn more of how Baltimore has shaped the Civil Rights Movement for over 100 years.
Can’t make this talk? Catch the same one at two other Pratt Library branches: Brooklyn (February 20) and Southeast (February 25)

From Pianos to Pigskins: Ravens Stadium Then and Now
2020-01-07 10:30 - 11:30 | M&T Bank Stadium (Ravens Stadium), 1101 Russell St, South East Lobby across from LOT D, Baltimore, MD, 21230, United States
The Baltimore Ravens are the hottest team in the NFL, so what better time to join us at M&T Bank Stadium for a behind-the-scenes tour of their home? We’ll take in the whole building from the suite-level to the locker-rooms. And, because we are Baltimore Heritage and have more than a little history bent, we’ll learn about the history of the site, including German immigrant William Knabe’s enormous piano factory that was once there.
Knabe Piano started in Baltimore in 1837 and located where the stadium now sits in 1869. The company sold pianos to luminaries like Francis Scott Key. When Carnegie Hall opened in New York on May 5, 1891, Knabe family sponsored Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky (think Swan Lake among other pieces) to conduct the opening concert. Who would have predicted that 129 years later, the Baltimore Ravens would have an opera-singing kicker (Justin Tucker) performing at the same spot where Knabe made grand pianos for the country’s opera houses? Join us for this touchdown tour to talk about both football players and piano players.
There will be free parking in a surface lot at the stadium next to the tour starting point.

A Christmas Carol at Clifton Mansion
2019-12-18 18:00 - 19:30 | Clifton Mansion, 2701 Saint Lo Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21218, United States
We are pleased to help our friends at Clifton Mansion spread the word about their upcoming event, A Christmas Carol at Clifton Mansion! Celebrate the holidays at the historic Clifton Mansion. On Dec. 18 or Dec. 28, listen to a special holiday reading by “Charles Dickens” of his holiday classic A Christmas Carol in the Victorian-era Clifton Mansion. View the historic building’s holiday decorations. Then enjoy wassail and Victorian treats with Mr. Dickens while he reads ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Up into the Clockworks at the Bromo Seltzer Tower
2019-12-27 11:00 - 12:00 | Bromo Seltzer Tower, 21 S Eutaw St, Baltimore, MD, 21201, United States
This event is sold out. We are working on adding more tours. Please check back for additional information. Thank you!

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 the ships stairs 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!
