Walking Baltimore. Evan Balkan
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at #200 and tore out a rose garden next to his house so that his grown daughter could live in the new construction.
Continue heading west on E. Montgomery to #130, a wooden house surviving from circa 1775, before fire mandates required houses to be built of brick. Almost directly across the street, the 1885 three-story brick-front building at #125 once served as the headquarters of the Watchman Fire Company (it does indeed look like a firehouse). In the days before the city took over firefighting duties, individual insurance companies employed their own firefighting forces, the Watchman being one of them. The company was instituted in 1840 and had an earlier office on Light St. Watchman, like the other insurance fire companies, made a habit of rushing to fires to first check to see if the burning building was associated with their company. If not, they waited for the proper company’s firefighters to show up.
You’ll soon see a still-functioning fire station as you continue west and reach the intersection with Light St. to the left. This station houses Engine Company 2 and was established in 1920.
Cross Light St. and continue on Montgomery. The lovely house at #36, built in 1795, is the first house in Federal Hill to have been built of brick. The doorway is a replica; the original, a magnificent work of art, is now in the Baltimore Museum of Art.
On the right side of the street, #2–12 are 1848 Greek Revival homes. On the left side, #1–11 were built between 1800 and 1810. Around the corner, at 801 S. Charles St., is the Scarborough Faire, built in 1801 and operating today as a B&B.
E. Montgomery turns to W. Montgomery at Charles St. The neighborhood to the west is the historic African American enclave of Sharp-Leadenhall, which traces its beginnings to 1790, when a small group of free blacks settled here. In the 20th century, the city purchased many original homes through eminent domain and demolished most of them. Those remaining were then sold for one dollar to anyone willing to move in and rehab them. The much-heralded program saved quite a few historic homes that still stand today. However, many of Sharp-Leadenhall’s original inhabitants, some with family roots stretching back to the 18th century, were priced out. It’s probably worth your time to poke around this neighborhood, but to stay on the Federal Hill tour, turn left at S. Charles St. If you are in need of some refueling, there are plenty of shops and restaurants between here and Cross St., six blocks south.
Take your second left onto E. Henrietta St. and follow it to the intersection with Light St. Slightly diagonally straight ahead is Warren Ave. Take it. Just ahead on the right is the unique Lee Street Baptist Church, founded in a South Baltimore stable in 1854. (The name of the church today is The Church on Warren Avenue at Federal Hill, more accurately reflecting its current location.) From the outside, you can see the enormous leaded stained glass windows.
Take a left at the next block, William St., named for Otho Holland Williams, a Revolutionary War colonel. On the next block, at the northwest corner of William and E. Churchill St., is the beautiful brick building that once served as the South Baltimore Station of the Methodist Church. This Classical Revival building dates to 1851 and is now a residential building. Here you can take the narrow Churchill one block east, passing more lovely 19th-century row homes. You won’t be surprised to know that this street was originally called Sugar Alley, as its width makes the moniker “alley” more suitable than “street.” Churchill will end at Battery Ave. Look just to the right on Battery, at #896, to see a rather wide-front brick house. This is rare as houses were taxed based on sidewalk frontage. Most wealthy homeowners built up instead of out. Directly in front of this house is Federal Hill Park, with the AVAM down the hill on the other side.
Federal Hill row houses
BACK STORY
In 1608, the famed English explorer John Smith came up the Patapsco and sighted “a great red bank of clay flanking a natural harbor basin.” For the next 180 years, this hill was known as John Smith’s Hill. But then a drunken party of about 4,000 people congregated here in 1788 to celebrate the ratification of the U.S. Constitution by the State of Maryland. The party featured a model sailing ship, the Federalist. Men lugged the ship up the hill (and then it subsequently slid down the hill); this, in combination with the ratification of the federal Constitution, meant that the name of the place thereafter was Federal Hill. In 1795 Captain David Porter erected a marine observatory and signal tower on the hill, a perfect vantage point for spotting incoming ships making their way up the Patapsco. For many years thereafter, Federal Hill was also known as Signal Hill. The observatory ceased operation in 1899. Famously, during the Civil War, Union troops fortified Federal Hill and trained their guns on the city. The site officially became a park in 1880 and has continued to grow in popularity as a place for relaxation and recreation.
CONNECTING THE WALKS
As noted above, Walk 4 intersects at the American Visionary Art Museum, the beginning of this walk.
POINTS OF INTEREST (START TO FINISH)
American Visionary Art Museum avam.org, 800 Key Hwy., 410-244-1900
Sailor’s Union Bethel Methodist Church 454 E. Cross St.
Cross Street Market Cross St. between Light and Charles Sts.
Blue Agave blueagaverestaurant.com, 1032 Light St., 410-576-3938
The Church on Warren Avenue at Federal Hill thechurchonwarrenavenue.com, 113 Warren Ave.
Federal Hill Park Battery Ave. and Warren Ave.
ROUTE SUMMARY
1 Start at the American Visionary Art Museum on Key Hwy.
2 Go behind the museum and turn left onto Covington St.
3 Turn right onto E. Cross St.
4 Go to #1124 Riverside Ave.
5 Return to Cross St. and take a right.
6 Take a right onto Light St.
7 Take a right onto Warren Ave.
8 Take a right onto Henry St.
9 Take a right onto E. Hamburg St.
10 Return to Henry St. and enter Federal Hill Park.
11 Exit Federal Hill Park at E. Montgomery St. and head west.
12 Take a left onto S. Charles St.
13 Take a left onto E. Henrietta St.
14 Cross Light St. to Warren Ave.
15 Take a left onto William St.
16 Take a right onto E. Churchill St. to Battery Ave./Federal Hill Park.
Ravens Stadium from Federal Hill
4 INNER HARBOR PROMENADE: TOURIST MECCA
BOUNDARIES: Eastern Ave., Inner Harbor Promenade, Key Hwy.
DISTANCE: 1.9 miles one way
DIFFICULTY: Easy to moderate
PARKING: Public parking garages in Little Italy near Columbus Park; limited street parking in Harbor East
PUBLIC TRANSIT: Water taxi stops in and around the harbor: at the Aquarium, Harborplace, the Science Center, the Rusty Scupper restaurant, Pier Five, and Harbor East. Metro stop at Shot Tower/Marketplace. Both the Charm City Circulator Green and Orange Routes run near the harbor. MTA buses #s 7, 10, 11, and 30 run along Pratt St. MTA bus #64 runs along Light St.
Baltimore sees some 11 million visitors each year; they are an