Wandering Baltimore
A colonial port town turned modern city, Baltimore is full interesting neighborhoods waiting for you to explore.
Baltimore, Maryland, is a city of neighborhoods and I visited a few myself over a couple of days in early April. The weather did not cooperate, of course, turning to pouring rain my first day and bitter cold my second.
A crazy map of Baltimore’s neighborhoods, which is even more crazy than New York City’s.
My two-day plan to visit Baltimore started with a need to get out of town and a want to go to the National Aquarium. With the cold and wet weather, the aquarium was a perfect choice. I went out exploring after until it started to down pour. I gave up then. The next day was bright and sunny, yet bitter cold and windy. I went downtown and somehow found free parking. Explored a bit until I couldn’t feel my hands and then decided to drive through some cemeteries where I can stay warm in my car. The downside of the afternoon was my non-refundable Maryland Zoo tickets. The animals were hiding, except for the bears and penguins. They seemed happy. Now for some exploration:
The U.S.S. Constellation, constructed in 1854, was the last sail-only warship built in the United States. Today, it is a museum ship, part of the Historic Ships in Baltimore.
The Inner Harbor of Baltimore under moody skies. The building with the glass ceiling on the far right is the National Aquarium, where I started my visit. The really ugly skyscraper is the World Trade Center of Baltimore. It has quite an unfortunate design.
The Lightship Chesapeake was a ship that acted like a lighthouse. It was replaced in the 1960s by a fixed light tower at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
I love the fact that the city of Baltimore reused the Pratt Street Power Plant instead of tearing it down, but did they have to allow the Hard Rock Cafe to put one of their guitars up there?
Now for an actual lighthouse, but also moved. The Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse is the oldest of the screw-pile Chesapeake Bay lighthouses, built in 1855. It was moved to solid ground in a pedestrian area of Baltimore harbor from a rocky knoll out in the harbor at the mouth of the Patapsco River. Why a screw pile? There wasn’t any land suitable enough to build a traditional lighthouse on there and someone needed to live at the lighthouse to tend to the light. So, they made a platform for the lighthouse keeper and his family to live on. Unfortunately, very few screw-pile lighthouses remain outside of the Chesapeake Bay area.
Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, all safe and sound.
A former sewage pumping station, now a museum? Fancy building regardless.
Mr. Trash Wheel uses renewable energy to collect trash from a river before it enters the Baltimore Harbor and dumps it in a dumpster. Fun and neat.
As I head from the Inner Harbor neighborhood of Baltimore towards Fells Point, the architecture greatly changes. I pass by a lot of repurposed warehouses. I’m really impressed by Baltimore’s use of repurposed buildings. Instead of bulldozing historic buildings, they kept them and reused them for the modern uses. There were a lot of gyms in this area, though.
I just really like the side of this old warehouse.
Soon the old houses start to appear.
Fell’s Point was founded in 1730 as an independent shipbuilding community and still feels like a seafaring town. It joined with Baltimore Town in 1773, now called Baltimore. The area survived a great fire in 1904 that gutted downtown Baltimore and work to preserve the 19th and early 20th century homes (with a couple of exceptions) and commercial buildings creates a different feeling here than the rest of the city. A special note to visitors, the neighborhood as the most bars and restaurants per block than any other neighborhood in the city and they all look charming.
A few 20th century row houses, but I find them delightful. They are also on a cobblestone street, also delightful.
Delightful brick row houses on a cobblestone street, plus cornices. I love cornices, especially when they are painted.
Another feature of this neighborhood is the corner entry doors, framed by fancy wooden frames. These are common features for businesses you don’t find much anymore, even on older buildings.
I wandered down the quite side streets as well. There were a few weird stares coming my way, but it was worth it being able to see some of these old homes.
This pub overlooks the harbor and boasts that it has been around since 1771. The building doesn’t look that old, but of course they could have moved shop. I do love the style. It reminds me of a good old Victorian/Edwardian British pub.
When I searched what Fell’s Point was before visiting, this view was what came up. I was sold just from this. I love the old tracks in the cobblestones. I unfortunately didn’t have a chance to explore further than this.
The Robert Long House, was built in 1765, making it the oldest standing house in Fell’s Point and in Baltimore as a whole. The house was originally a two-story row house built near the port. The third floor and dormers were added later.
Fell’s Point is dominated by the Broadway Market. Most of the restaurants and bars encircle the marketplace. The north market building used to be much taller, but it was damaged and reopened in 2019. Several businesses are inside. The outdoor market (pictured) smells like fish.
The Star-Spangled Banner House in the pouring rain, located in the Jonestown/Old Town neighborhoods. It was in this house where that Mary Young Pickersgill sewed that giant flag that flew over Fort McHenry that Francis Scott Key saw when he wrote the Star-Spangled Banner.
Now to Downtown, where I saw Baltimore City Hall, which was undergoing renovations, so here is its dome.
Some neat buildings. I really love the old advertisements on the brick building on the left.
The Baltimore Battle Monument, with the Circuit Court of Baltimore City behind, complete with random steam.
Now for day two and a visit to the Mount Vernon neighborhood. The crown jewel is the first Washington Memorial to be built in the United States, finished in 1829.
The Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church overlooks the Washington Memorial.
Across the street from the church. Mount Vernon is one of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods.
Down the hill a bit from the memorial, I found this cool building. It’s got this faux Romanesque thing going on.
Just south of the Mount Vernon neighborhood in Downtown is the first cathedral in the United States, the Baltimore Basilica. Started in 1806 and with the first mass in 1821, the cathedral was opened in Catholic friendly Maryland for a reason. Being Catholic in America in the 19th century was not a popular thing, but Maryland was founded as a religious tolerant colony, versus the Puritan northern colonies.
I also visited quite a few cemeteries while waiting for my timed entry for the Maryland Zoo. Here are a few photos from those visits.
New Cathedral Cemetery was my favorite cemetery I visited that morning. While it is still a very active cemetery, the hill in the center of the cemetery is full of old tombstones and mausoleums.
My type of cemetery, old and crowded.
One of the coolest things about cemeteries is finds like this one. Thomas White Logan, at the age of 14, assisted his father at the Battle of McHenry against the British during the War of 1812. He also served during the Black Hawk War in the early 1830s. I wish tombstones today told us about the people buried below.
While I also visited two National Cemeteries, Loudon Park Cemetery is the other cemetery I am going to feature in this post. Loudon Park also featured old tombs, but also grand mausoleums, like this one.
Loudon Park Cemetery also has a hill chock full of old tombstones, some of them really fancy.
Even with the poor weather, I still had a good time in Baltimore. The downtown area and Fells Point was a great place to wander, and the cemeteries were great. Although, I do need to go back for I did not see one important place that was still mostly closed due to Covid, Fort McHenry!
Check out my next update where I visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina!
or
Check out the rest of my Wandering series!
Like this:
Like Loading...
Check these out!
