Wayne's Guide to Walks, Talks, and Tours of Baltimore
In honor of Veterans Day, can you locate this
World War I memorial?
Can you name the Baltimore sculptor who
created this memorial to Marylanders
who served in the Great War?
(Answers are at the end of the site)
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Welcome to my website which begins its 19th year of listing walks, talks, tours, and books
that relate to Baltimore's history and architecture. Founded in 1730, Baltimore has played a major
role in the history of our region, state, and nation. The site is updated monthly, and I am always amazed how many events there are to post. I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve
the site. Feel free to email: wayne.schaumburg@gmail.com.
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Forthcoming Baltimore History Talks & Classes
Here is a list of my talks in December and January. (All programs are FREE unless there is a $)
Monday, December 9th, 10:30 a.m. at Cockeysville Senior Center: BALTIMORE: "FIRST" IN THE NATION
Thursday, December 12th, 7 p.m. Heritage Society of Essex and Middle River: CHRISTMAS IN OLD
BALTIMORE
Sunday, December 15th, 2 p.m. at the Historical Society of Baltimore County CHRISTMAS IN OLD
BALTIMORE
Thursday, December 19th, 10 a.m. at Victory Villa Senior Center: CHRISTMAS IN OLD BALTIMORE
(Please note the change in date from Dec. 12th to Dec. 19th)
Monday, January 13th, 1030 a.m. at Cockeysville Senior Center: FROM MEETING HOUSE TO
CATHEDRAL: BALTIMORE'S 18TH CENTURY RELIGOUS LANDMARKS
Wednesday, January 15th, 10:45 a.m. at Overlea / Fullerton Senior Center: BALTIMORE'S AFRICAN
AMERICAN HERITAGE
Wednesday, January 29th, 10:30 a.m. at Parkville Senior Center: BALTIMORE: "FIRST" IN THE NATION
Green Mount Cemetery Walking Tours:
The next set of walking tours for historic Green Mount Cemetery will take place on four Saturday mornings in the Spring of
2020. Opened in 1839, Green Mount is an early example of an urban-rural cemetery, that is, a cemetery with a park-like
setting located close to the countryside. Green Mount is the final resting place of Johns Hopkins, Enoch Pratt, William
and Henry Walters, Mary Elizabeth Garrett, Betsy Patterson, Arunah Abell, Albert Ritchie, Harriett Lane Johnston, William
Henry Rinehart, John H. B. Latrobe, A. Aubrey Bodine, John Wilkes Booth, Walter Lord, many other famous Marylanders.
The two-hour walking tours begin at 9:30 a.m. from the main gate located at Greenmount Avenue and East Oliver Street.
The cost is $20 per person. The tours are led by Baltimore historian and educator Wayne R. Schaumburg. To receive the
tour information sheet in March, email your POSTAL ADDRESS to wayne.schaumburg@gmail.com.
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NEW BOOKS AND ARTICLES ON BALTIMORE HISTORY AND
ARCHITECTURE FOR 2019:
Ida Jones, Baltimore Civil Rights Leader Victorine Adams
Shelly Howell, Dining Down Memory Lane, A Collection of Classic Baltimore Restaurants and Their Recipes
(See Jacques Kelly's column in the Sun from January 12th)
Joshua Cutler, Mobtown Massacre, Alexander Henson and the Baltimore Newspaper War of 1812
John McGrain, Old Maryland Mills, A Portfolio (available through the Historical Society of Balto. County)
-- See Fred Rasmussen's "Recollections" in the Sun from April 5th)
James Cabezas, Eyes of Justice, A Career Crime Fighter Battles Corruption...and Blindness, A Memoir
Dennis Wilson, Baltimore's Historic Oakenshawe: From Colonial Land Grant to Streetcar Suburb (See
Jacques Kelly's article in the Sun from March 16th)
Kevin Cowheard, When the Crowd Didn't Roar, How Baseball's Strangest Game Ever, Gave a Broken
City Hope
T. Ridgeway Trimble, St Michael's Roman Catholic Church Baltimore, Maryland, Marriages 1852-1888
(This is St Michael's located on Lombard St at Wolfe St., founded as a Catholic Church for German immigrants.
However, also included are records for other ethnic groups: Polish, Czech, English and Irish.)
Lance Humphries and Roberta Mayer, "Gilding an Antebellum Baltimore Townhouse, The Lost Mansion
of John Work Garrett and Mary Elizabeth Garrett," Nineteenth Century, The
Magazine of the Victorian Society in America, Spring, 2019, pp.14-23.
Sonia Purnell, A Woman of No Importance, The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win
World War II (Virginia Hall from Baltimore)
Gary Helton, Images of America, Baltimore Radio and Television
Dennis Halpin, A Brotherhood of Liberty, Black Reconstruction and Its Legacies in Baltimore,
1856-1920 (Rev Harvey Johnson of Union Baptist Church on Druid Hill Ave)
Bill Barry, "All We Do Is Talk Steel," Oral Histories of Sparrows Point
Chris Forment, Saving Washington: The Forgotten Story of the Maryland 400 and The Battle
of Brooklyn (Tells the story of the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776 and the connection to
Baltimore. Chris Ferment was interviewed by Sheila Kast on WYPR, August 14th--
https://www.wypr.org/post/saving-washington-maryland-400
Charles Duff, The North Atlantic Cities
P. Nicole King, Kate Drabinski, Joshua Clark Davis, eds., Baltimore Revisited: Stories of Inequality, and
Resistance In a U.S. City
Betsy McMillion and Edward Johnson, Patapsco Valley State Park (See "Recollections" column by Fred
Rasmussen from the August 30th Baltimore Sun, page 3, for more)
John Clark Mayden, Baltimore Lives: The Portraits of John Clark Mayden
Suzanne Loudermilk and Kit Pollard, Lost Restaurants of Baltimore
The B&O Railroad Historical Society, B&O In Baltimore (includes over 400 photos of history in Baltimore)
(See Jacques Kelly's article from the November 30th Sun, page 3)
Bernard McKenna, The Baltimore Black Sox, A Negro Leagues History 1913-1936 (available early 2020)
Christopher Hall, Abandoned Baltimore, Northside.
Arthur Bloom, Edwin Forrest, A Biography and Performance History (Forrest was a leading American actor
in the 19th century. "Forrest toured Baltimore virtually every year of his
professional life, playing at both the Holliday Street and Front Street theatres.
His appearances are referenced on 40 pages of the book.")
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Wayne's Guide to Baltimore's Best Christmas Gardens for 2019
There are many holiday traditions in Baltimore, but few are as popular as the display of "Christmas
gardens" at this time of year. A German-American tradition, "There is no more traditional Baltimore
Christmas aroma than the scent of balsam fir intermixed with the imitation smoke spewing from an
O-gauge steam locomotive," according to Sun columnist Jacques Kelly.
"It was Baltimore that coined the name 'Christmas garden.' In other places, people have train layouts or
train platforms that appear at this time of the year. 'Christmas gardens' invariably start small and expand.
They soon envelope entire living rooms or basements of those who are succumbed to their charms."
The most popular "gardens" are a combination of trains and imaginative miniature scenes that surround
them. Some of the best "Christmas gardens" in the Baltimore area began at local firehouses. Today this
tradition continues at several locations in and around the Baltimore area.
Below is a list of my 14 favorite Baltimore area "gardens" in alphabetical order. Year in and year out,
they are the best in my humble opinion. Please note that they are all free unless designated by "$."
Donations, of course, are always welcome!
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Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department, 5200 Southwestern Boulevard Baltimore, MD. 26th Annual Old-Fashioned
Christmas Garden gardens November 24th through January 1st, Weeknights 6:30pm - 8:30pm, Weekends
11am - 8:30pm, Christmas Eve, New Year Eve, and New Year's Day, 1 pm – 6 pm.410-242-6601,
www.arbutusvfd.org.
Baltimore City Fire Department, Engine Company 45 at 2700 Glen Avenue, in Mt. Washington. Continuing a
longtime tradition, the Baltimore City Fire Department presents its 62nd Annual Holiday Train Garden.
Operating every day 9am - 9pm from November 30th through January 5th. 443-984-1529.
This is Baltimore's oldest annual Christmas garden.
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, 901 West Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD. $ Trains are magical during the
holidays! The B&O Railroad Museum’s month-long holiday spectacular is back, and this year we’re diving into
the history of the railroad to deliver festive tidings of joy and giving! Magical Holiday Express 2019: Tidings in
Transit celebrates both the story of the B&O and the spirit of giving by festively highlighting the four major
regions along the railroad’s original route and raising donations for four wonderful charities along the way!
So, join us each week as we journey from Ohio to West Virginia, West Virginia to western Maryland, and western
Maryland to Baltimore enjoying local treats and traditions — because no matter where you’re from, the B&O
Railroad Museum should always feel like home! Be sure to check out their website for all the details!
December 2 through 31, Monday through Saturday 10am - 4pm. Sunday, 11am - 4pm. Closed on Christmas
Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. 410-752-2490, www.borail.org
Dundalk Patapsco Neck Historical Society, 4 Center Place, Dundalk, MD. The 19th annual train garden has
trains running on four different levels. Modeling Maryland from Ocean City to our hometown of Dundalk, with
over 150 action scenes, including a huge circus and an expanded zoo. Open November 30th through the
January 5th. Monday-Friday 3-7 pm. Saturday-Sunday, 1-8 pm. Call 410-284-2331 for more information.
dundalktraingarden.blogspot.com
Fire Museum of Maryland, 1301 York Road, Lutherville, MD. See 42 antique fire engines and a 1950s “O” Scale
Train Garden. The Underground Subway, Light Rail system plus the Bromo Seltzer Tower, Gwynn Oaks
Amusement Park, the Baltimore Zoo, the Viaduct, Baltimore neighborhoods, and a car dealership on fire are
featured. Be sure to check out the historic photos of Baltimore area train gardens. Open November 30th,
December 7th, 14th, 21st, and 27th- 30th 10am - 4pm. 410-321-7500,
Glenwood Community Center, 2400 Route 97, Cooksville, MD. Our Holiday Train Garden, done by train
enthusiast Dennis Moore features four continuously operating trains. Visitors of all ages delight in the buttons
to activate accessories or sounds. December 2nd through January 3rd. Open during center operating hours,
Monday through Saturday 7am -9pm, Sundays 9am - 6pm. 410-313-4840.
Highlandtown Holiday Train Garden, Engine Company 41, 520 South Conkling Street, just south of Eastern
Avenue. For our 11th year, we have replicas of the Southeast Anchor Library and the Mimi DiPietro Skating
Rink, Bump and Go Trolleys, and also an entire platform featuring old industrial Highlandtown . November 30,
December 1, 7-8, 14, 15, 20 through January 1, except Christmas Day, 11am - 5pm.
www.highlandtowntraingarden.com. This is one of my favorite train gardens each year because it portrays
life in Baltimore especially Highlandtown.
Ellicott City Fire Company #2 Train Garden, 4150 Montgomery Road, Ellicott City, MD. 22nd Annual Train Garden.
A 24 x 10 foot display that largely fills a glass-walled room. In all there are eight trains, including a circus train,
an Amtrak passenger train and a long freight train that course along various tracks, on various levels. Open
November 30th through January 2nd. Hours are Saturday and Sunday 11am - 8:30pm, Wednesday through
Friday 6:30 - 8:30pm; December 23rd 11a.m. – 8:30 p.m.; Christmas Eve 11 a.m – 5 p.m. Closed Christmas Day
. 410-313-2036. www.ellicottcityvfa.com. Year in and year out, this is the best crafted garden I see -- great
attention to detail. Not to be missed!
Jacksonville Senior Center, 3605A Sweet Air Road, Phoenix, MD. This year's Jacksonville Train Garden
continues its Baltimore theme. New features include Pimlico Preakness Race, Preakness Balloon Festival,
Jerusalem Mill Village, Ladew Gardens, 1960 Hochschild Kohn/Hutzler's Stores, Baltimore KiteFest, and
Artscape. These are in addition to the Inner Harbor with New Year’s fireworks, a holiday boat parade, the Flag
House, Fort McHenry, the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, City-Poly football game, Disney on Ice, the Baltimore
Street Car Museum, Domino Sugar plant, and much more. December 9th through 29th. Weekdays 10am - 3pm,
Weekends 11am - 4pm. 410-887-8208, www.jaxsc.com. This is one fantastic train garden. Do not miss this
one. Be prepared to stand in line, but it’s absolutely worth the wait!!!!
Jarrettsville Volunteer Fire Company, 3825 Federal Hill Road, Jarrettsville, MD. 38th annual Train Garden open
from November 29th through January 12th. Open Fridays 6:30pm - 9pm, Saturdays and Sundays 1pm - 9pm.
Also December 23rd, 26th and 30th 6:30-9pm, and New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day 1- 9pm. Closed
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 410-692-7890, www.jarrettsvillevfc.com.
Marley Station Mall, 7900 Governor Ritchie Highway, Glen Burnie, MD. Holiday Train Garden. A tradition in
Glen Burnie for 23 years. Created by the Emmanuel Lutheran Church, this legendary display features a number
of multi-level scenes featuring 16 trains and many landscapes, with a number of interactive elements. The
garden runs from November 23rd through December 31. Monday to Saturday, 10am - 9pm, Sundays,
noon - 6pm. 410-766-2033.
Scottish Rite Temple, 3800 North Charles Street. 6th Annual train garden with HO and O scale trains running
on a 44' X 12' platform. Scenes include Baltimore and Ocean City. December 7, 9am - Noon. December 26
through 27, 10am - 2pm.
The Shops at Kenilworth, 800 Kenilworth Drive, Towson, MD. A spectacular holiday tradition – The 31st
annual Christmas Train Garden featuring ninety-eight feet of action packed model trains, animations and
lots of your favorite characters! The display contains nine different trains running simultaneously. Every
year the Train Group who designs, produces and constructs the Garden adds new and exciting features for
all to enjoy. November 22nd through January 2nd, Monday through Saturday 10am - 8pm, Sundays
11am - 7pm. 410-321-1909. www.theshopsatkenilworth.com. This garden is a winner year in and year out!
Wise Avenue Volunteer Fire Department, 214 Wise Avenue, Dundalk, MD. 39th Holiday Train Display. This
year's layout which is over 1000 sq. ft. in size, 5 levels, 13 trains & 2 trolleys on their own loops. Twelve
trains are O Gauge and one train is a Lionel Standard gauge train in a scene looking back 100 years to show
what it may have looked like back then. About 250 different animated items bring the display to life which
includes our famous operating highways. Watch animated Orioles & Ravens games and see our giant
amusement park which includes our famous roller coaster. November 30th through January 5th.
Weeknights 6pm - 9pm, Weekends Noon - 9pm. 410-288-0710, www.wavfc.com. This is probably the most
popular train garden in the Baltimore area. Please note there is a $1.00 donation to enter.
Also, to avoid long lines, go during weeknights!
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OTHER EVENTS IN DECEMBER:
Saturday, December 7th, 10 am. - 2 p.m. Baltimore Heritage -- Open House: Christmas at G. Krug and
Son Ironworks. Would you like to see a blacksmith at work? How about walk through a historic ironworks
shop and see all the old-timey implements? Well, this is your chance. We will be giving blacksmithing
demonstrations and tours of our building and historic items. Plus members of the Krug family will be
on-hand. The event is FREE and open to the public. G Krug and Son is located at 415 W. Saratoga Street
Founded in 1810, it is the oldest "blacksmith" business in Baltimore.
Sunday, December 8th, Noon - 4:30 p.m. 34th Annual Union Square Cookie Tour of Historic Homes $
The famous Cookie Tour began in 1985. It started out as a fall house tour, where residents greeted scores
of visitors from all over the Washington-Baltimore region. Now the tour welcomes nearly 500 guests to the
neighborhood every year, with the added bonus of home-made cookies! The park and the homes are
decorated to celebrate the season. We offer you a special afternoon to stroll through our National Register
of Historic Places district, and through the many fine 19th century homes opened for your pleasure. Also
open on this year's tour is the recently restored H. L. Mencken house at 1524 Hollins Street. Tour tickets
can be purchased in advance online, or on the day of the tour at 1401 Hollins Street.
Wednesday, December 11th, Maryland Historical Society, 201 W. Monument Street $ New Exhibit --
The Hutzler Experience: How a Small Dry Goods Store Became a Maryland Institution. Hutzler’s
department store was a Maryland icon for more than a century. Starting as a small dry goods store on
Baltimore’s Howard Street in 1858, Hutzler’s grew into a Maryland dynasty that dazzled and delighted for
generations. In total, Hutzler’s operated 10 stores in Maryland, including its downtown flagship store
known as the “Palace,” and its first expansion store in Towson that opened in 1952. The family-run
business was thoughtful and innovative, instilling pride and affection from patrons and employees alike.
Hutzler’s was more than a store. It was an experience. The exhibition will recall what was an all-day
experience for customers, displaying products, ephemera, employee uniforms and handbooks, drawings,
video from behind-the-scenes at Hutzler’s, and items from the iconic Towson “Tea Room.” A highlight of
the exhibition will be a reimagined window display, like the Hutzler’s on Howard Street, which will change
with the seasons. The Hutzler’s Experience will be on view through December 2020.
Saturday, December 14th, Noon - 3 p.m. Hampden Historic Church Open House Tour. The tour is FREE
and open to the public. Explore Hampden's history and learn about the congregations and organizations
located in the buildings today. Begin at St. Mary's Outreach Center Hampden, located at 3900 Roland
Avenue. Churches on this self-guided tour include St. Marys Episcopal Church, St. Thomas Aquinas
Church, Grace-Hampden Methodist Church, St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Hampden Presbyterian Church,
Hampden United Methodist Church, and Hampden Baptist Church. The tour is sponsored by the Greater
Hampden Heritage Alliance.
Sunday, December 15th, 2-4 p.m. at the Historical Society of Baltimore County, located at 9811 Van Buren
Lane in Cockeysville. $ Baltimore historian and educator Wayne R. Schaumburg will present an illustrated
program on "Christmas In Old Baltimore." The talk will focus on some of the great holiday traditions from
the 1950s and 60s. Tickets can be purchased in advance or on the day of the program. Seating is limited.
For more information, call 410-666-1878.
Thursday, December 19th, 5-6 p.m. at the Enoch Pratt Central Library, 400 Cathedral Street. Reading A
Renovation: A Tour of Pratt's Updated Central Library With Lead Architect Sandra Vicchio. $ After three years
of construction, the $115 million renovation project at the Pratt Central Library is complete and the work is
stunning. Join Baltimore Heritage as we get to tour the library and learn about its restoration. In 1882, Enoch
Pratt gave a whopping $1 million gift to Baltimore City to launch the nation’s first free library system, proclaiming,
“My library shall be for all, rich and poor without distinction of race or color.” Today, the 1933 Central Library
serves more than half a million people each year and with the newly completed whole-building restoration
campaign, will now do so in gorgeously restored spaces. Carpenters removed dropped ceilings to reveal
fabulous stenciling, artists restored decorative molding that was damaged in prior renovations, and lighting
experts created new lighting that is historically appropriate and makes the rooms feel light and airy. Whether
you last visited the Central Library a week ago or a decade ago, we hope you can join us and Ms. Vicchio to
learn about (and gawk at) our newly restored piece of civic pride. For more information and reservations,
call 410-332-9992 or email: info@baltimoreheritage.org.
Tuesday, December 24th, 10 a.m. at Green Mount Cemetery (1501 Greenmount Avenue) for the commemoration
of the passing of philanthropist Johns Hopkins on December 24, 1873. The ceremony will be followed by a
reception at, and tours of the Clifton Mansion, which served as Johns Hopkins summer residence. Clifton is
located at 2701 St Lo Drive in the park. The entire event is FREE and open to the public. (At the cemetery,
enter the main gate located at Greenmount Ave and East Oliver Street. Drive straight ahead to the top of the
hill and park.) For more information call 410-366-8533.
Friday, December 27th, 11 a.m. to noon. Baltimore Heritage tour: Up Into the Clockworks at the Bromo Seltzer
Tower $ Always one for flamboyance, Captain Isaac Emerson came back from a trip to Italy and decided he
wanted to build a new factory in downtown Baltimore and that it should look like Florence’s fabulous town hall,
the Palazzo Vecchio. Completed in 1911, the tower’s four clocks each measure 24 feet across, a foot more
London’s Big Ben, and the tower itself was the tallest building in Baltimore at the time. Emerson, the man who
became wealthy from his invention of Bromo Seltzer and gave us the slogan “if you keep late hours for society’s
sake, Bromo Seltzer will cure that headache,” was quite proud. Our tour through the building will include a trip
up the ships stairs into the clockworks at the top to look at the tick-tock operation in process and peer out the
translucent windows. We’ll also stop in at the museum room that holds the world’s largest collection ephemera
from Captain Emerson, Bromo Seltzer, and Maryland Glass. And along the way, we’ll get a taste of the newest
art that comes from the Tower’s artists: it is now home to dozens of local art studios. If you’ve wondered what
goes on in the Bromo Seltzer Tower and how the imposing clocks actually work, now’s your chance! For more
information and reservations, call 410-332-9992 or email: info@baltimoreheritage.org. The Bromo Seltzer Arts
Tower is located at 21 S. Eutaw Street near Lombard St.
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ON-GOING EVENTS:
Through May 24, 2020 at Goucher College's Sanford Unger Athenaeum (library) Level 4: "Paul Henderson:
Photographs From the Civil Rights Era." This Maryland Historical Society traveling exhibit will be at Goucher
through May, 2020. Public viewing hours are from Monday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. during
normal library hours. The exhibit is FREE and open to the public. As the Afro-American Newspaper's first
photographer and later a free-lance photographer, Paul Henderson captured life in Baltimore during the
1940s to 1960s. While Henderson’s collection includes over 7,000 photographs, the exhibit at Goucher will
feature a selection of images that visually documents the African American community and subjects including
NAACP activities, protests, Morgan State University, athletic events, businesses, church groups, and
everyday life in Baltimore during the Civil Rights era.
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FALL SEMESTER CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES
ON BALTIMORE HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE: $
Community College of Baltimore County -- Lunch & Learn Programs 443-840-4700
Theodore R. McKeldin: Maryland's Mr. Republican, Friday, December 16th 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. at the
Hunt Valley Campus, Instructor: William Thompson. Lunch to follow at Blue Stone
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ANSWERS TO THE PHOTO QUIZ:
1. Over the main entrance of the Fifth Regiment Armory located at 219 29th Division Street
near the intersection of Howard and Dolphin Streets
Known as "To the Glory of Maryland," this bronze relief was dedicated on Armistice Day,
November 11, 1925. It was designed to fit the space over the entrance to the armory and
commemorates the role played by Maryland's 5th Regiment in World War I. This large
relief features men of the 5th Regiment that was part of the 29th Division. Soaring above
the men is Victory leading them into battle. Above the relief is the phrase TO THE GLORY
OF MARYLAND. Below is the inscription 1917 THESE MEN OF THE FIFTH REGIMENT DIED
IN THE WORLD WAR and under that are 3 panels with the names of 116 men who were
lost in the conflict.
2. Baltimore sculptor Hans Schuler spent over a year designing the memorial. An 1899
graduate of the first class of MICA's Rinehart School of Sculpture, he later served as the
director of MICA from 1925-1951. Schuler's work can be found all over the city of
Baltimore as well as in area cemeteries. His public monuments include: Johns Hopkins,
Martin Luther, Casimir Pulaski, Sam Smith, and Sidney Lanier. In 1956, his art studio on
Lafayette Avenue became the Schuler School of Fine Arts founded by his son Hans
Schuler, Jr. The school continues to the present day.
.