Historic Sites
Pennsylvania Avenue is the center of Old West Baltimore’s commercial and entertainment, but West Baltimore’s schools, churches, social clubs, community and recreation centers, and various historic sites form a backdrop for the area’s performative practices. A few of these sites are listed here. The avenues to the east of Pennsylvania Avenue provided substantial homes to professionals and this area of West Baltimore is largely intact. Many of these homes are still owned by the same families who lived there years ago. Historic churches and schools can still be found along Madison Avenue., McCulloh, Druid Hill Avenue. and North Avenue. The area west of Pennsylvania Avenue hasn’t fared as well - development and general urban blight are more apparent in this area - but several substantial and beautiful old buildings (particularly churches) can be found here, too.
West of the Avenue
Fremont Street
The area west of Pennsylvania Avenue hosts a large number of historic sites. Fremont St. and Edmonson Avenue. are principle thorough fares where former and current sties can be found. Macedonia Baptist Church was organized by members of Union Baptist (see below) in 1874. The church has occupied this beautiful building at Lafayette and Fremont since 1925. The Spirit of Truth Church of God in Christ is located directly across from the Fremont St. Arabber stable at the corner of Pitcher and Fremont. This building was the first suburban branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library erected in 1883. It was refurbished by the church in 1974. The site of Lafayette Market is just up the street from the Spirit of Truth Church.
East of the Avenue
Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church
1206 Etting St. (off Druid Hill)
The Sharp Street Church is on Etting Street, just off of Druid Hill Avenue. It was established in 1787 as the first African American Methodist congregation in Baltimore City. The congregation moved to its current site on Etting Street in 1898. This building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the Department of the Interior and is also listed as a Historic Landmarks in Baltimore City.
Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church
Union Baptist Church
1219 Druid Hill Avenue
Union Baptist has enormous significance for in the civil rights movement beginning in 1892 with its withdrawal from the Maryland Baptist Union Association because of racial discrimination. In 1897, Rev. Dr. Harvey Johnson, who was pastor for 50 years, organized the Colored Baptist Convention. Johnson, a friend of W.E.B. DuBois, was instrumental in the establishment of the Niagara Movement, the precursor of the NAACP. Johnson also filed a lawsuit to gain equal pay for black teachers and to make it possible for black lawyers to practice in the state of Maryland. Union Baptist Church
Rev. Vernon Dobson, who recently retired as Johnson’s successor at Union Baptist, says that the existence of African American schools in Baltimore is largely due to Dr. Johnson’s efforts. (Anderson interview, 2005). Rev. Dobson himself has been a major actor in the civil rights movement and Baltimore civic affairs. Rev. Dobson grew up in West Baltimore during its heyday. He attended Booker T. Washington Middle School and Frederick Douglass High School. Listen to Rev. Dobson’s musings on West Baltimore’s heritage.
Bethel AME Church
1300 Druid Hill Avenue
Bethel was founded in 1797 by the Bethel Free African Society. In 1811, Bethel was renamed the African Methodist Bethel Church of Baltimore City and boasted a congregation of over 600 members. It became the first A.M.E. Church to have instrumental music during church services. (The same organ is on display in the Bethel Museum.) In 1910, Bethel moved to its present location on Druid Hill Avenue in West Baltimore. Bethel AME Church
Berea Temple
1901 Madison Avenue
Berea Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church, formerly known as The Third Seventh-day Adventist Church, was officially organized in 1900. Berea Temple was originally located at Druid Hill Avenue and Laurens Street. As the congregation grew in size, Berea moved to Druid Hill and Robert Street in 1912, and later to Harlem Avenue and Dolphin Street in 1922. In 1950, Berea Temple purchased the Madison Avenue Temple from the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation.
Berea Temple
Historic Schools
Perhaps the most historic schools in West Baltimore are the Booker T. Washington Middle School and Frederick Douglass High School. Booker T. Washington Middle School still occupies its original site on McCulloh St. Frederick Douglass High School has moved further out northwest of Old West Baltimore to Gwynns Falls Parkway.
Booker T. Washington Middle School
301 McCulloh Street
Originally an all-white school (Western High School for girls), this building was redesignated Booker T. Washington Junior High School in 1929. Rev. Vernon Dobson describes Booker T. Washington Middle School as “the first school built for blacks,” and says, “there wasn’t any place else [for us] to go.”
Rev. Dobson, an alumnus of both Booker T. Washington and Douglass High School talked about the traditional place that music played in education in the West Baltimore community.
Booker T. Washington still has an active music program. Shelton Goins, who has taught the jazz band since 1993, talked about the positive impact that music can have on the lives of his students. He also spoke of negative impacts from current cuts in music funding.
(Booker T. Washington Jazz Ensemble@ Morgan University)
Frederick Douglass High School
2301 Gwynns Falls Parkway
The original site of Douglass High School is at corner of Carey and Baker, just off of Pennsylvania Avenue. The original building was erected by Baltimore City in 1925 and was moved to its current site in 1954. The opening of Douglass High School was an occasion for enormous pride and celebration for African American people. Many of the country’s most prominent artists, lawyers, and politicians are alumni.
Douglass’s performing arts programs are famous for their quality. The Cab Calloway Music and Careers, Arts and Humanities Academy has a well-deserved reputation for quality education with an emphasis on cultural traditions.
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