Baltimore Heritage

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!”