Tag: Union Square

Looking for a good excuse to enjoy the beautiful spring weather? Get outside on our upcoming tours!

If you’re looking to get outside and enjoy springtime in the city, we have plenty of opportunities to get some fresh air on our upcoming walking tours, a bike tour through Druid Hill Park, and the latest chance to get inside the Shot Tower.

On Saturday, May 11, our Baltimore by Foot series continues in Union Square where we’re asking what H.L. Mencken might think of summer concerts and window boxes. That same day, we’re also offering our final Lexington Market tour for the spring—and it even has a few spots still open! The following Saturday, May 18, our last Baltimore by Foot tour for the season explores the history (and future) of arts and entertainment on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Early next month, on Saturday, June 8, we hope you can put a little air in your tires and ride along for The Nooks and Crannies of Druid Hill Park by Bike with our two veteran tour leaders Dr. Ralph Brown and artist Graham Coreil-Allen. We keep to a modest pace and a mostly flat grade so people of all biking abilities are welcome.

Finally, whether it rains or shines, our Monumental City Tours continue on Sunday mornings with Historic Jonestown and the Shot Tower on May 12 and Mount Vernon and the Washington Monument on May 19. These affordable tours are a great way to show off the city to visiting family and friends.

With wishes for a happy spring, I hope to see you on one (or two or more!) of our upcoming tours.

See the city through H.L. Mencken’s eyes with Baltimore by Bike on November 11

Our last Baltimore by Bike ride of the year offers a chance to see the city through the eyes of Baltimore’s own H.L. Mencken – one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century. H.L. Mencken grew up and spent most of his life in a handsome brick rowhouse on Union Square but he never hesitated to explore the city he loved (and loved to skewer) as he walked, reported, and even rode a bike through Baltimore neighborhoods from Mount Vernon to Bolton Hill and beyond.

Mencken’s Baltimore by Bike

Sunday, November 11, 9:30am to 12:00pm
Meet at Union Square Park, Hollins Street and South Stricker Street
RSVP online today! $15 per person.

Photo courtesy the The Smart Set.

Join us for a easy fall ride through H.L. Mencken’s Baltimore. The eldest son of August Mencken, a successful local cigar manufacturer, Mencken grew from roaming the alleys and vacant lots with gangs of West Baltimore boys to become one of the youngest reporters at the Baltimore Herald, launching a career in journalism and writing that endured for nearly 50 years.

We’ll ride along the streets that Mencken knew best as we discover the site of Little Joe’s Bike Shop where Mencken learned to ride a bicycle in the 1890s, imagine the fine meals Mencken enjoyed with friends at Marconi’s on Cathedral Street, stop by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s home in Bolton Hill and stop by the Poe House, just around the corner from Mencken’s birthplace on Lexington Street. Our tour ends with a chance to tour the H.L. Mencken House and enjoy light refreshments.

This tour is presented in partnership with the Friends of the H.L. Mencken House and proceeds help to support their ongoing efforts to restore and re-open the H.L. Mencken House. Learn more about events around West Baltimore neighborhoods from the Friends of West Baltimore Squares.

Photo: Mencken House at the West Baltimore Squares Photo Walk

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Will Cocks Photography

Thanks to everyone who joined us last month for our West Baltimore Squares Photowalk & Tour organized in partnership with the  Baltimore Sun’s DarkRoom. Photographers, locals and first-time visitors to Sowebo all had the chance to photograph local landmarks from Hollins Market to Franklin Square with a stop at the H.L. Mencken House on Union Square – where Will Cocks caught this nice shot of Mencken’s cigar box. Find more featured images from the photowalk at the Baltimore Sun DarkRoom blog.

Explore West Baltimore Squares with a Photo Walk & Tour on May 27

Union Square Park, 2011 Baltimore Heritage Awards Celebration Join Baltimore Heritage and the Baltimore Sun for our first photo walk and tour at the Sowebohemian Festival on Sunday, May 27! The utterly unique Sowebo Arts & Music Festival is a can’t miss neighborhood event in Hollins Market with music, dancing, great food, artwork, antiques and more. Of course, the festival alone offers a feast of photo opportunities for any photographer but it is also a great excuse for us to go out and explore the historic parks and neighborhoods of southwest Baltimore.

West Baltimore Squares Photo Walk & Tour

Sunday, May 27, 3:00 to 4:30pm
Meet at the west end of Hollins Market (South Carrollton Avenue and Hollins Street)
RSVP online today! Free.
Free street parking available in the surrounding area. Off-street parking available at the UM BioPark Garage (West Baltimore and Poppleton Streets). Transit – Take the free Charm City Circulator Orange Route to the Hollins Market stop at Arlington Street.

H.L. Mencken in his garden, July 28, 1955. Courtesy the Maryland Historical Society, B737(5)D.

Bring along your camera for a quick afternoon walk to see a few of West Baltimore unique parks and landmarks. Starting from the handsome brick Hollins Market, designed by Baltimore City Hall architect George Frederick, we’ll explore the Italianate rowhouses around Union Square and stop in at H.L. Mencken’s backyard. From Union Square, we’ll cross Baltimore street (one of the oldest commercial main streets in the city), check out historic Franklin Square, and take a look inside the grand Gothic Revival sanctuary at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. We’ll be joined by a Baltimore Sun photographer who’ll offer professional advice on getting the most out of your photos.

The Friends of West Baltimore Squares will also be raffling off a few chances to enter Baltimore City Parks Photo Competition for free! Even if you don’t win, you can enter the competition for $20 for adults and $10 for under 18.

Civil War 150: West Baltimore’s Civil War History by Bike — Rescheduled

Many people know that President Street Station has its roots in the Civil War, but few know that Civil War history can be found throughout the city, including many sites in West Baltimore. In fact, West Baltimore neighborhoods served a central role in the conflict– housing Union troops on their south to fight, caring for injured soldiers, and witnessing the many ways in which the conflict on the battlefield came home to the city 150 years ago. As the home to the B&O Railroad, West Baltimore supported the movement of troops by train (a key advantage for the Union) and protected the city from invasion by Confederate troops through a ring of camps, hospitals and fortifications in Carroll Park, on Baltimore Street, in Lafayette Square and more.

West Baltimore’s Civil War History by Bike

Update: Due to today’s rainy and snowy weather, we have rescheduled our tour to Saturday, November 5, 10:00 am. Please contact Eli Pousson at pousson@baltimoreheritage.org or 301-204-3337 with any questions or concerns.

October 29, 2011, 10:00 am to 11:30 am
$10 for members & non-members, RSVP today!

This 90-minute bicycle tour starts and ends at the Mt. Clare Museum House rolling past rowhouses, parks, stables, and shops, scores of historic places grand and modest, where people lived and worked during the Civil War and its aftermath. We’ll learn about Confederate spies at Waverly Terrace in Franklin Square, take a look at the historic artifacts we recently dug up from the site of Lafayette Barracks, and trace the lives of immigrant workers who built the trains, bridges, and more that the Union military depended on at the Irish Shrine at Lemmon Street and the B&O Railroad Roundhouse. Please join us as we pedal through the history of the Civil War in West Baltimore and commemorate this nation-shaping event of 150 years ago.

Thanks to the support of Free Fall Baltimore at the end of the tour participants are welcome to take a free tour of the Mt. Clare Museum House. Mount Clare is a 1760 colonial Georgian home built by Charles Carroll and Maryland’s oldest house museum.

Connect with the Friends of West Baltimore Squares to learn more about heritage and community greening programs in West Baltimore neighborhoods!