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Star Attractions |
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11 Friends Meeting House |
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Built in the 1790’s this merchant home’s most noted resident was Thorowgood Smith, Baltimore’s second mayor, who lived here in 1802 and 1804. Over the years, the house has functioned as a hotel, a restaurant and an auto parts shop. Today, it serves as the headquarters of the Women’s Civic League, which has faithfully restored the exterior to its original beauty. |
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12 Nine North Front Street |
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The last remaining of three shot making towers that pierced the city’s skyline in the 19th century, this shot tower stands 215 feet tall. Built in 1828 using 1.1 million bricks, the tower produced as many as half a million 25 pound bags of gun shot each year and was one of the largest suppliers in the nation. After a group of Baltimore citizens saved the tower from demolition in 1921, the building was preserved and later converted to a museum in 1977. |
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13 Phoenix Shot Tower |
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Established in 1841, St Vincent’s is the oldest Catholic church in continuous use in America’s oldest Archdiocese. As the city’s leading parish in the 1880’s it supported a parochial school and orphanage, a convent and rectory, and a social hall. Today the church continues to play an active role in the community as a leader of the Jonestown Planning Council. |
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14 St. Vincent de Paul Church |
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Erected in honor of the 1,752 Maryland citizens who died during World War I, the memorial building carries each of their names etched in marble on the walls inside. In 1977 the building was rededicated to honor all Marylanders who have fallen in our nations’ battles. Today the building is used by veterans groups, patriotic societies, and for other civic gatherings. |
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15 War Memorial |
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The spiritual home of German speaking Lutherans since 1755, the church was once known as the “German Cathedral of Baltimore.” It still holds German language worship services on a regular basis and remains a gathering place for the city’s German community. The church sanctuary, erected in 1807, is one of the oldest structures in the downtown area. |
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16 Zion Lutheran Church |
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The first building in the Western Hemisphere specifically designed to house a Museum, Peale’s Baltimore Museum opened its doors in 1814. The building functioned as City Hall from 1830 to 1876 and Colored School No. 1 from 1878 to 1889. Baltimore citizens saved the building from demolition in 1930 and the building functioned once again as a museum until 1997. Now, plans are underway to reopen the building as a site for the Baltimore City Historical Society. |
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17 Peale Museum |
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Construction of City Hall began in 1867. Its architecture reflected the latest style from Europe—Second Empire French made popular by Napoleon III. Built almost entirely by local craftsmen using materials from the area, it was completed eight years later in 1875. The building’s dome was designed by Baltimore engineer Wendell Bollman, who also designed the dome for the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. |
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18 City Hall |
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This monument commemorates the soldiers who gave their lives defending Baltimore City from British attackers in the 1814 Battle of North Point, during the War of 1812. The Battle Monument is the nation’s first war memorial, and the first to celebrate the common soldier. It stands 39 ft tall. The image of the monument is used as the official symbol of the City of Baltimore. |
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19 Battle Monument |
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Founded in 1800, the firm Alex. Brown & Sons is the first and oldest continually operating investment bank in the United States. The building was constructed a century after company’s founding in 1901 and claimed to be fireproof. That claim was proven in 1904 when the City’s central business district was ravaged by fire. Today the building houses Chevy Chase bank. |
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20 Alex. Brown Building |
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Constructed in 1781, this is the oldest religious building in Baltimore and one of the few from the 18th century still standing. This meeting was home to famous Quakers, including: Johns Hopkins, founder of the country’s first research university and hospital, Phillip E. Thomas, first president of the B&O Railroad, and Elisha Tyson, founder of the first abolitionist society in the South. |
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