The Architecture of Baltimore: An Illustrated History

by Mary Ellen Hayward (Editor), Richard Hubbard Howland (Foreword), Frank R. Shivers Jr. (Editor)

Winner of The 2004 Baltimore Book Festival Mayor's Award of Literary Excellence for Non-Fiction and a 2005 Heritage Book Award given by the Maryland Historical Trust From its trademark row houses to Benjamin Henry Latrobe's landmark Cathedral (now Basilica) of the Assumption, Baltimore architecture can rightly claim to be as eclectic, exciting, and inspiring as that of any American city. Many of its important buildings figure prominently in the oeuvres of leading American Latrobe, Robert Mills, Maximilien Godefroy, Richard Upjohn, Stanford White, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe among them. Yet Baltimore's distinctive urban environment also owes much to the achievements of local talents, including Robert Cary Long Sr. and Jr., John Rudolph Niernsee and James Crawford Neilson, E. Francis Baldwin and Josias Pennington, Laurence Hall Fowler, Alexander Cochran―not to mention generations of skilled craftsmen and builders. Baltimore's architecture rewards close study, and in The Architecture of Baltimore contributors and editors Mary Ellen Hayward and Frank R. Shivers, Jr., have brought together an impressive group of scholars, writers, and critics to provide a fresh account of the city's architectural history. The narrative begins by looking at eighteenth-century Georgian buildings that reflect the grandeur of the style, goes on to the prosperous port city's Federal-period achievements, including many country houses with their delicate details, then proceeds to Baltimore's monumental contributions to early nineteenth-century American neoclassical design. Romantic stylings follow, with excursions into the Greek and Gothic Revivals, and the popular Italianate-mode for town and country houses, the soaring spires of churches, and the classical dignity of public spaces like the Peabody Library. Later in the nineteenth century a picturesque eclecticism produced such monuments as the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Mount Royal Station, as well as intriguing changes to the city's versatile row houses. Contributors discuss the evolution of industrial buildings and the growth of the city's architectural profession. The Architecture of Baltimore also addresses the arrival of modernism in Charm City, examines the origins and challenges of historic preservation, and assesses the Baltimore renaissance of the period 1955-2000, which saw the construction of Charles Center, Harborplace, and the sports complex at Camden Yards. Here at last we have a comprehensive guide to Baltimore's architectural heritage―lost and still-standing alike. Illustrated with nearly 600 photographs, architectural plans, maps, and details, this impressive work of scholarship also offers an engaging narrative of the history of Baltimore itself―its men and women of all stations, its taste and traditional preferences, its good choices and lamentable ones, and its built environment as a social and cultural chronicle.

Genres: History, Architecture

416 pages, Hardcover

First published May 26, 2004

Reviews

[Mallory · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not for the casual reader! There is immense architectural detail within each chapter. Baltimore’s development is covered from 1752 to 2000. The pictures, designs, and drawings of buildings are plentiful. The writing, however, is often very technical and not suited for the lay person. I did not read this whole book. I skipped over a good bit of most of the chapters. What I did read were the intros to each section, which focused on the history of the period being covered and were very good. But I skimmed or skipped the weighty architectural details that seemed to be written more for the historian or student of architecture. I did feel enlightened when I finished this book and more aware of local history and its importance. I also look forward to my next visit to the city, as I’ll pay much greater attention to the buildings downtown.

Favorite quotes: “The whistle and bell of a locomotive mean far more than the undisturbed trill of a singing bird. The rumble of a freight car is prosperity’s favorite music. The rush and din of whirling machinery are the melody that thrills a business man’s soul. That thing which produces is of more importance than that which adorns.” – Baltimore Mayor James H. Preston, 1913

“The problem of how to keep traditional towns alive, without destroying what makes life worth living in them, remains. There is no easy answer, no grand, sweeping solution. But to love one’s own town, and to learn everything one can about its history and what gives it its individuality, is at least a step in the right direction.” – Mark Girouard, architectural historian