We are staying in Fell’s Point for the fourth entry in our Baltimore Building of the Week series with Dr. John Beihan to take a look at the eight remaining wooden houses on Aliceanna Street, South Ann Street, South Bond Street, South Register Street, and the pair below at 612-614 South Wolfe Street,

Image courtesy Jack Breihan, 2009

Few of Baltimore’s earliest buildings were as grand as Mt. Clare or the Captain Steele House. Most were tiny 1½-story wood clapboard houses with steep roof lines and small dormers. Apprehensive of fire, a  City ordinance of 1799 decreed that all  houses be constructed of brick. About a half-dozen pre-1799 wooden houses survive in Fells Point. This pair on Wolfe Street was once proposed as a museum, but currently it is endangered by inadequate maintenance and lack of a useful function.

For more on wooden houses in Fells Point, be sure to read Stacy Patterson’s article “Early Wooden Houses in Fell’s Point” or see a few of the homes in person following our interactive map.