As you continue along Lancaster St., you’ll see why this area has been primed for a building explosion for years. Sitting right on the harbor and a stone’s throw from downtown and Fells Point, all these buildings mix residential and commercial for terrific city living. Looming ahead of you is the unmistakable Legg Mason Tower, a 24-story, 660,000-square-foot glass and steel edifice. Just before you reach the Legg Mason Tower, check out the Lebanese Taverna, on the corner of Lancaster St. and S. President St., for some terrific Lebanese food.
Follow S. President St. as it picks up where Lancaster St. ends and moves to the right of the Legg Mason Tower. More new buildings flank the road, including the Spinnaker Bay luxury apartments, which also house several ground-floor businesses, including acclaimed Italian restaurant Cinghiale, noted for its terrific food and extensive wine list. Straight ahead is a cobblestone traffic circle with the arresting 40-foot-tall Katyn Massacre Memorial (dedicated in 2000) in the middle, strikingly designed to commemorate the massacre of 22,000 Polish prisoners by the Soviet Union in WWII. Every spoke of this traffic wheel offers more of something—down International Dr., to the left, for example, is the new Four Seasons Hotel. Down Aliceanna St. to the left, you’ll find more easy access to the harbor, with more restaurants, shopping, a new Marriott hotel, and a marina. On the right after Spinnaker Bay is a fitness center and a seven-screen Landmark movie theater. While a movie theater might not seem such an essential part of urban living, its presence definitely filled a void downtown. One thing that is essential to urban living is access to groceries; one block east of where you are on S. President St., to the right on Fleet St., is Whole Foods Market. Beyond the circle on S. President St., on your left, is one of the finest Irish pubs around, James Joyce.
Continue moving north along S. President St. to #601, the President Street Station, just before you reach Fleet St. While everything to the immediate south is virtually brand spanking new, this little old building survives for at least one very important reason: the first casualties of the Civil War occurred here, on April 19, 1861. Eventually, more than 600,000 Americans died in the Civil War, but the first 16 perished in the blocks near the station, where a Southern-sympathizing mob attacked a Massachusetts regiment sent through President Street Station on the way to defend Washington, D.C. When the clash was over, 5 soldiers and at least 11 civilians lay dead. Baltimorean Catherine Smith wrote of the event at the time, “[There] was one battle from the President Street Depot … A good deal of blood was spilled on both sides.” (For more on this battle and its aftermath, see Walk 11: Civil War Trail.) Even without this attendant history, the President Street Station holds an important place in American history: built in 1849, it remains the country’s oldest major city railroad terminal. Go inside to check it out; the station today is home to the Baltimore Civil War Museum, now reopened after closure due to city budget cuts and run now by the Maryland Historical Society (MHS). This is a wonderful arrangement, as not only has the building remained open, but also its displays and the stories it can tell relating to slavery, abolitionism, railroading, and the Civil War are far-reaching due to the MHS’s extensive collections.
Continue north on S. President St. to the extraordinary brick building on your left, just before Eastern Ave. This 1912 still-functioning pumping station was once the home of the fascinating Public Works Museum. When it operated, it was apparently the only public works museum in the world: a massive museum dedicated to sewers, water treatment, and the maze of plumbing operations that exist under the city streets, including a rare 1780s wooden drain pipe. But, like the City Life Museums, Public Works became a victim of shrinking city budgets; hopefully, it will be resurrected when times are more flush.
Continue walking north along S. President St. To the left at E. Falls Ave. and Eastern Ave. is Columbus Park, complete with a series of Italian flags and a beautiful statue of Christopher Columbus, the youngest of the three monuments to Columbus in Baltimore (after Herring Park’s 1792 statue and Druid Hill’s 1892 memorial).
Continue north along S. President St. for another couple of blocks and cross S. President at E. Pratt St. to the first building on the corner, at 830 E. Pratt. This is the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, which opened in 2005. This is a wonderful addition to Baltimore’s museum scene and an overdue nod to the essential role African Americans have played in the shaping of Maryland and the United States. The museum is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution and is the largest African American museum on the East Coast. The experience begins even before you walk through the door; the building itself is an arresting presence, with bold colors and intersecting lines and angles. Inside, the museum tells the story of centuries of African American experience in Maryland with an incredible collection of artifacts, rare books, art, music, and many other items.
After visiting the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, cross S. President St. again at E. Pratt St. and take an immediate right so that you’re paralleling the canal of the Jones Falls. (If you haven’t eaten yet, consider Miss Shirley’s Café on the corner, a Baltimore institution that has garnered some national attention.) This is a lovely spot: To the north you’ll see the prominent Shot Tower and the bell tower of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church (see Walk 10: Little Italy & Jonestown/Old Town); to the east is the Carroll Museum and Little Italy; to the south your eye will follow the ribbon of the Jones Falls, the city’s original dividing line, as it spills into the harbor. To the west is downtown, with its tall buildings and general vibe of commerce and bustle.
Continue north for another block along S. President St. to the Port Discovery Children’s Museum. If you don’t have little ones with you and thus have little interest in entering the Children’s Museum, at least take a few moments to admire the lovely brick building that houses it. This is the Fish Market building, built in 1907. This area originally housed one of the city’s main markets, established in 1787, along with Fells Point and Lexington Markets. But the area was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1904, and the Fish Market building represents the first stabs at rebuilding. Look for two nearby markers: the 1904 Fire Remembrance marker on the outside of the west wall of the building and the Centre Market commission marker, commemorating the rebuilding of the area after the fire. Both sit near the Booth Fountain, donated by businessman Alfred Booth in 1906 to mark the rapid reconstruction of Baltimore’s downtown.
Behind the Port Discovery Children’s Museum is Power Plant Live!. To go there, use the Water St. entrance, to the left of the museum if you are facing the entrance. This area has become one of the city’s hot spots for entertainment and nightlife, with restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and Rams Head Live, which hosts many national touring acts. From May through October, Power Plant Live! offers free public music in the plaza.
At 608 Water St., in the old Chocolate Factory building, you can check out Baltimore’s newest museum as of January 2012: the National Pinball Museum. Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like: the history and cultural impact of pinball, plus the opportunity to try your hand on some machines. More than 100, both new and vintage, are on display.
You are just a couple of blocks north of the Inner Harbor and Baltimore’s tourist mecca. It’s easy to retrace your steps to where you began this walk, but there are a thousand other options here. For another walk, see “Connecting the Walks,” opposite page.
CONNECTING THE WALKS
Several walks are very close by. Walk 11: Civil War