Category Archives: Fells Point

Behind the Scenes Tour: The French Connection, December 10

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In 1781, French and U.S. troops under Rochambeau and Washington trekked 650 miles from Newport, Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia for what became the final major conflict of the Revolutionary War.  A new National Heritage trail, the Washington-Rochambeau-Revolutionary-Route (or W3R for short), is in the making to commemorate this historic event.  Please join us and our partner, the Fell’s Point Preservation Society, for a talk by Dr. Robert Selig, trail consultant for the National Park Service, on the trail and its history, including the contributions of Baltimore and Maryland.

Tour Information

December 10, 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Fell’s Point Visitor’s Center, 1724 Thames Street, 21231
$10 per person
RSVP for the tour today!

In 1781, General Jean-Baptiste de Rochambeau, America’s great ally in the Revolutionary War, embarked with his contingent of French troops from Newport to confront the British at Yorktown.  General Washington and U.S. forces joined him at White Plains, New York.  When they arrived in Maryland, troops from Baltimore and elsewhere boarded boats to sail down the Chesapeake Bay and rendezvous at Yorktown.  The American victory at Yorktown was decisive:  it resulted in a surrender by British General Cornwallis and forced the British to negotiate peace.  To commemorate the historic march and battle, Congress recently designated the new W3R National Historic Trail to tell the story of the Allied forces in the Revolutionary War, their journey to Yorktown, and what they learned about the colonies they passed through.  Maryland, in particular, played a critically important role and has many sites and stories associated with this journey.  Please join us for a talk by Dr. Robert Selig, the National Park Service’s consultant on the trail, to learn about new information gleaned from French, German and American sources both here and abroad.  Please linger a little after the talk for a tour of the Robert Long House, Baltimore’s oldest residence (ca. 1765) and currently home to the Preservation Society, and in the spirit of the season and Baltimore hospitality, share a glass of eggnog made from an 18th century recipe.  We also invite you to stay in Fell’s Point for dinner, with a 10% discount at the seafood restaurant John Steven around the corner.

Civil War 150: Slavery and Historic Places in Baltimore

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In recognition of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, Baltimore Heritage is sponsoring a two-part program to explore sites in Baltimore with important ties to slavery and to learn about what historic sites around the country are doing to tell the story of slavery in America. The first part of the program is a walking tour of FrederickDouglass’s Fell’s Point, led by historian Louis Fields. The second part will be a talk by Ms. Nell Ziehl of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, on interpretation of slavery at historic sites nationally. Both are free, and I hope you can join us.

Frederick Douglass’s Fell’s Point Walking Tour

Saturday, October 1, 2011, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Free, RSVP
RSVP is required.  Expect confirmation with additional details.

Slavery and Historic Sites

Ms. Nell Ziehl, National Trust for Historic Preservation

Thursday, October 6, 2011, 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Ebenezer Church, 20 West Montgomery Street, Baltimore 21230
Free, RSVP not required

Frederick Douglass is quoted as saying that knowledge is the pathway from slavery to freedom, and he certainly grabbed a good dose of it as a youngster in Fell’s Point. It was here that he learned to read and write, and from here that he escaped to freedom. In a two hour walking tour, local historian Louis Fields will lead us through Fell’s Point as experienced and shaped by Frederick Douglass in the years leading up to the Civil War and immediately after it. Mr. Fields was a driving force behind the creation of the plaques and monuments to Frederick Douglass that are now located throughout the area.

In the second part of our Civil War commemoration series, Ms. Nell Ziehl will lead a discussion on how sites owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation across the country preserve and interpret slavery. The interpretation and presentation of history involving slavery has evolved quickly over the last several years, with richer information and more accurate accounts in the forefront. The National Trust owns several sites with strong ties to slavery and the Civil War and has been a leader in this movement, and Ms. Ziehl will share some of the challenges and successes in this ongoing endeavor. Please join us for either or both of these free events.

These events are made possible by Free Fall Baltimore and its sponsors: Susquehanna Bank and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds, The Abell Foundation, William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, American Trading and Production Corporation (Atapco) and Baltimore Community Foundation. Thanks also to Free Fall media sponsors: The AFRO-American Newspapers, The Baltimore Sun, The City Paper, The Urbanite, The Jewish Times, , Maryland Public Television, WBAL-TV, WJZ-TV, WBFF/Fox45-TV, CW/Baltimore-TV, WMAR-TV, WUTB-TV, WYPR Radio, WEAA Radio, WWMX Radio , Radio One: Magic 95.9; Spirit 1400; WOLB; 92Q, and CityPeek.

Young Preservationist Happy Hour in Fell’s Point on September 29

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Baltimore’s Young Preservationist Happy Hour is headed down to southeast Baltimore (finally!) on Thursday, September 29. Fell’s Point has been a vibrant historic neighborhood for nearly 300 years and we’re sure that it has had its share of great bars since the early 1700s. Located in a building dating from 1858, One-Eyed Mike’s on Bond Street still has an 1860s hand-carved back bar and the original tin ceiling. Their Thursday happy hour includes specials on draft beer, call cocktails and wine by the glass through 7:00 pm. We’ll be enjoying the start of fall out on the back patio, which Baltimore City Paper declared the place for Baltimore’s Best Outdoor Dining.

Young Preservationist Happy Hour in Fell’s Point

One-Eyed Mike’s, 708 South Bond Street
Thursday, September 29, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
RSVP today!

This month’s Happy Hour is co-hosted by the Preservation Society– the historic preservation nonprofit for Fell’s Point and Federal Hill. Among other things, the Preservation Society is at the heart of why Fell’s Point is a great neighborhood and not an interstate highway, so be sure to check the box to learn more about their work and upcoming programs. If this is your first Baltimore Heritage event, we’ll give you a free membership with discounts on tours and a subscription to our quarterly newsletter. Please RSVP for a chance to win pair of Behind the Scenes Tour tickets.

Behind the Scenes Tour of Bars and Brothels of Fell’s Point

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Eighteenth-century visitor John David declared Fell’s Point “a place remarkable for its commerce of various kinds, for here ships land their cargoes and their crews wait not even for the twilight to fly to the polluted arms of the harlot.” Please join us and architectural historian Ms. Sherri Marsh Johns on a short walking tour of some of the notorious bars and brothels (and other possibly more reputable places) of historic Fell’s Point.

Tour Information

Date: Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Time: 5:30 to 6:30 PM (or a tad later)
Place: Meet in front of 1629-31 Aliceanna Street, about ½ block west of Broadway
This is the old Captain’s Hotel. Park at meters on the street.
Cost: $10
Registration: Click Here to Register.
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Baltimore Building of the Week: Italianate Conversions

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Finishing up our series on Italianate rowhouses is this week’s post focuses on Italianate conversions in older neighborhoods such as Federal Hill and Fells Point,

Image courtesy Jack Breihan

The Italianate style, with its consistent cornice line, made for uniform and stately rows of identical houses. In older federal and Greek Revival style rowhouse neighborhoods, however, it had the opposite effect. The imposing cornices reminiscent of the palaces of the Renaissance – and the full-height top storey beneath them – proved so popular that Baltimoreans either tore down their old dormered or Greek Revival rowhouses or converted them to the Italianate style. The result is a romantic jumble of differing rooflines that lends a peculiar charm to older neighborhoods like Fells Point and Federal Hill.

Image courtesy Jack Breihan

Baltimore Building of the Week: Fells Point Wooden Houses

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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.

Baltimore Building of the Week: Captain Steele House

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The third entry in our Baltimore Building of the Week series by Dr. John Breihan is on the Captain John Steele House built ca 1788 at 931 Fell Street,

Image courtesy Jack Breihan, 2009

Baltimore’s growth came after the American Revolution. In comparison to Boston or Philadelphia, there are few buildings here in the Georgian style. A notable exception is the Captain Steele House in Fells Point, built just after the Revolution with the dormer windows and high-relief moldings characteristic of English Georgian architecture. It was lovingly restored and adapted for modern living by the Hepner family.

John Steele and his partner, Captain Thomas Lambdin, a resident of 802 S. Ann Street, operated a shipyard in Fells Point. The honorary title “Captain” was awarded to the shipbuilders, such as Lambdin and Steele, even if they did not command a ship.

Baltimore Building of the Week: Robert Long House

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Continuing the Baltimore Building of the Week feature for the second week of our 50th anniversary year at Baltimore Heritage, Dr. John Breihan provides a quick look at the 1765 Robert Long House at 812 S. Ann Street,  

Image courtesy Jack Breihan, 2009

Although last week’s Mount Clare Mansion is older, the Robert Long House in Fells Point is the oldest surviving city house in Baltimore. A symmetrical Georgian row house, its pent roof signals that its builder, the merchant Robert Long, originally came from Philadelphia. Once derelict, the Long House was saved by the Preservation Society of Fells Point and Federal Hill, which has its headquarters there.

The Robert Long House and Garden is open daily for tours at 1:00 PM and 2:30 PM. The Preservation Society also offers a number of great historic walking tours including “Secrets of the Seaport” and the “Authentic Ghostwalk.” All walking tours start at the Fell’s Point Visitor Center, 1732 Thames Street. If you’re interested call 410-675-6750 to reserve your spot.