Baltimore Heritage

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. 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!

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.

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.

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!"