Join us for an upcoming heritage tour! We ride bikes, climb scaffolding, and walk up and down hilly streets on our tours of Baltimore’s historic buildings and neighborhoods all across the city. Have a question? Look through our FAQ page. Check out our calendar of events below!

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Psychedelics, Traitors and Treatments: The Unexpected Past of Spring Grove Hospital Center

Spring Grove Hospital Center 55 Wade Avenue, Catonsville, MD, 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 took place. Founded in 1797, it is the second oldest continuously operating psychiatric hospital in the country. On our tour we’ll see the remnants of the oldest building on campus and industrial structures from the 1930s, plus a barely noticeable cemetery. Walk through three centuries of history that weaves together tales of yellow fever epidemic, Confederate traitors, and psychedelic scandal. Groovy.

Event Canceled

The Catacombs Under Westminster: Two Hundred Years of Tombs and Edgar Allan Poe’s Gravesite

Westminster Hall and Burying Ground 519 W Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD, 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!"

Event Canceled

Out of the Ashes: The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904

The Replica Gaslight 300 E Baltimore St, Baltimore, MD, 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 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.

Event Canceled

New Light on Hidden Lives: A Talk on Discovering the Histories of Hampton’s Enslaved Workers

Engineers Club / Garrett Jacobs Mansion 11 West Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD, United States

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? Join us to hear Gregory Weidman, Curator, Hampton National Historic Site, talk about 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.

Event Canceled