Mount Vernon, Baltimore: Difference between revisions

▲The Baltimore City Planning Commission defines the neighborhood as being bound by [[Eager Street]] to the North, The [[Jones Falls Expressway]] (JFX) to the east, [[Franklin Street (Baltimore)|Franklin Street]] to the South, and [[Eutaw Street]] to the West. The Commission also considers the northern section to be the ''Midtown-Belvedere'' neighborhood after the Belvidere estate of [[John Eager Howard]], the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] patriot. The [[Inner Harbor]] is about half a mile south of Centre Street.

▲[[Image:Mt Vernon UMC.png|150px|right|thumb|Mt Vernon Place UMC]]

▲Although mainly residential, Mount Vernon-Belvedere is home to a mix of institutions, including the [[Peabody Conservatory]] of the [[Johns Hopkins University]], [[Walters Art Museum]], [[University of Baltimore]], [[Maryland Historical Society]], [[Contemporary Museum Baltimore|Contemporary Museum]], [[Maryland Institute College of Art]], [[Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall]], [[Baltimore School for the Arts]], [[Lyric Opera House]], [[Center Stage (theater)|Center Stage]], [[Enoch Pratt Free Library|Enoch Pratt Free Library Central Branch]], Spotlighters Theatre, the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute, and the [[Peabody Bookshop and Beer Stube]] (demolished 1997).

▲During the 1970s, Mount Vernon began to form into a [[gay village]] for Baltimore with the establishment of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore (GLCCB) in 1977, now known as the [[Pride Center of Maryland]].<ref name="glccb.org">{{cite web | url = http://www.glccb.org/about-us/our-history | title = Our History | work = The GLCCB | publisher = The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland | access-date = 12 April 2018}}</ref> [[LGBT]] milestones included the first [[Pride parade]] in 1975, and the creation of the GLCCB Health Clinic in 1980.<ref name="glccb.org"/>

▲The centerpiece of the Mount Vernon neighborhood, the cruciform arrangement of parks surrounding the Washington monument, represent one of the nation's first examples of city planning for the express purpose of highlighting a monument. The Washington Monument was completed in 1829 to a design by [[Robert Mills (architect)|Robert Mills]], and in 1831 the Howard family was granted permission to lay out the surrounding parks.<ref name="mht_ihp"/> The parks are now lined by stately homes. The parks, which have survived almost intact, are considered to be the finest existing urban landscapes by the Beaux-Arts architectural firm of [[Carrere & Hastings]], who also designed the New York Public Library, portions of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and the residence that houses the Frick Collection. Elsewhere in the neighborhood are many older apartment buildings and three- and four-story [[Terraced house|rowhouses]]; most of the latter were originally single-family dwellings. Though many have been broken up into multiple apartments, a growing number are being restored back to single family use. The historic beaux-arts [[Belvedere Hotel]], opened in 1903, was converted to condominiums in 1991.<ref name="mht_ihp">{{cite web|url=https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-63.pdf |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Mt. Vernon Place Historic District |date=February 1972|access-date=2016-03-01 |first=Mrs. Preston | last = Parish|publisher=Maryland Historical Trust}}</ref>

▲On the northeast corner of Washington's monument sits the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church. Conceived as a cathedral of Methodism, it was built on the site of the Charles Howard mansion – the house in which [[Francis Scott Key]] died. In 2021, the church's owners sought planning permission to subdivide the building, separating the church from the adjacent Asbury House. <ref>{{cite web |title=Judge reverses Planning Commission decision granting subdivision of Mount Vernon church |url=https://baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/judge-reverses-planning-commission-decision-granting-subdivision-of-mount-vernon-church/ |website=Baltimore Fishbowl |date=20 August 2021 |access-date=21 August 2021}}</ref> The southeast corner from the monument is occupied entirely by buildings comprising the Peabody Institute, and the southwest corner includes three buildings forming the Walters Art Museum.

▲[[The Stafford Apartments|The Stafford Hotel]], built in Mount Vernon in 1894, now serves as an apartment building for students at Johns Hopkins University.<ref name="jhu.edu">{{cite news|url=http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2004/19jul04/19vernon.html|title=Mt. Vernon: 96 Apts, Peabody View|first=Greg | last = Rienzi|date=July 19, 2004|work=The Gazette|publisher=Johns Hopkins University}}</ref>

▲The old Mount Vernon Hotel, built in 1847, was the mansion home of U.S. Congressman [[William Albert|William Julian Albert]] (1816–1879) where he entertained Abraham Lincoln. Later the house was converted into a hotel (1867) and was where Oscar Wilde stayed as part of his 1882 lecture tour of America. The building is extant at 702 Cathedral Street, in the district.<ref name="balto5">{{cite web | url=http://www.oscarwildeinamerica.org/lectures-1882/january/0126-baltimore.html | title=Oscar Wilde's 1882 Lecture Tour of America | work = Oscar Wilde in America | publisher = John Cooper | date = 2013 }}</ref>

▲A portion of the neighborhood, mainly to the west and south of the Washington Monument, was designated a [[National Historic Landmark District]] on November 11, 1971, for the significance in architecture and landscape planning.<ref name="nris"/><ref name="mht_ihp"/> It is included within the [[Baltimore National Heritage Area]].<ref name="balto1">{{cite web | url=http://www.baltimorecity.gov/Portals/0/agencies/heritage/public%20downloads/neighborhoods_heritageareas.pdf | title=Baltimore National Heritage Area Map | publisher=City of Baltimore | date = June 2010 | access-date=March 11, 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522024255/http://www.baltimorecity.gov/Portals/0/agencies/heritage/public%20downloads/neighborhoods_heritageareas.pdf | archive-date=May 22, 2013 }}</ref>