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Photo credit: Julie Darsie, 03/2003

Federal Hill South Historic District

Inventory No.: B-5092

Date Listed: 12/22/2003

Location: Baltimore, Baltimore City

Category: District

Period/Date of Construction: c. 1830-1945

Architect/Builder: Architects: Jackson Gott, Charles Carson, Anton Pohl, L. I. O'Connor, John S. Gittings (developer)

Resources: 211 (171 contributing, 37 non-contributing)

Description: The Federal Hill South Historic District is generally bounded on the north by the Federal Hill Historic District, on the east by a waterfront redevelopment corridor, on the south by Fort Avenue and Ostend Street, and on the west by Marshall Street and Olive Street. Largely laid out before the 1823 Poppleton Plan, the district has an irregular street grid. Brick rowhouses are the most common building type in this dense neighborhood. Rowhouses are concentrated in the eastern part of the district, where modest two- and three-story houses line the blocks that cap a waterfront ridge. Rowhouses represent a continuum of development from c. 1830 through the early 20th century, and most blocks include a robust mixture of types. Small groups of identical houses and dramatic topographical changes create undulating cornice lines, emphasizing the vertical arrangement of individual houses over the horizontal arrangement of the unified blockfront. The steeples of two substantial c. 1860s Gothic Revival Roman Catholic churches soar above the residential skyline. Commercial buildings, the second most common type, are concentrated in the western part of the district. The linear spine of the neighborhood commercial district runs south from Cross Street Market along primary thoroughfares; Light Street, Charles Street, and Fort Avenue. Small brick commercial buildings that mirror residential types are the most common commercial buildings in the district. Larger commercial buildings dating from the 20th century are also seen on Light and South Charles Streets. A branch library building, a local hospital building, two school buildings, and a police station (constructed in the late 19th and early 20th century) complete the built environment of the commercial section. The Federal Hill South Historic District, largely intact, represents an urban industrial neighborhood. A specifically Baltimorean assortment of features characterize alterations in the district. Formstone-fronted rowhouses with window displays of religious and sporting iconography also sit cheek-by-jowl with rowhouses with restored facades and roof decks. Changes to commercial buildings, such as updated storefronts, are typical of the property type. Alterations in the district indicate continuous building use and neighborhood vitality. While individual buildings have been altered, these changes have not affected the integrity of the district as a whole. All-important building massing, form, and rhythm of the streetscapes remain legible to represent the historic district's identity as an urban industrial neighborhood.

Significance: The Federal Hill South Historic District is significant on a local level for its association with Baltimore's immigrant settlement patterns. Located at the heart of Baltimore's industrial waterfront, Federal Hill South stands to represent its working class, immigrant population and their successful economic and social strategies. Characterized by dense streetscapes lined with modest rowhouses and commercial structures, the Federal Hill South Historic District mirrors the robust diversity of Baltimore's working class during the period of neighborhood development, c. 1830-1945. The district derives additional significance for its cohesive collection of residential, commercial, and ecclesiastical buildings representing the broad range of architectural forms and expressions typical of the city's urban industrial neighborhoods. First settled by a largely German immigrant population in the 1830s, Federal Hill South continued to support an increasingly heterogeneous population through the end of World War II, when the aftermath of wartime booms and postwar out-migration changed the social and cultural character of the district.

District Resources (211) (171 contributing, 37 non-contributing)

From associated listing in National Register nomination form. C = Contributing, NC = non-contributing, blank = not evaluated.

Address	Status	Resource Name and MIHP (if any)
1100 Battery Avenue	C
1101-1103 Battery Avenue	C
1102-1104 Battery Avenue	C
1105-1107 Battery Avenue	C
1106-1108 Battery Avenue	C
1109-1111 Battery Avenue	C
1110-1116 Battery Avenue	C
1113-1115 Battery Avenue	C
1117-1123 Battery Avenue	C
1118-1124 Battery Avenue	C
1125 Battery Avenue	C
1126-1132 Battery Avenue	C
1127 Battery Avenue	C
1129 Battery Avenue	C
1131 Battery Avenue	C
1133 Battery Avenue	C
1134-1140 Battery Avenue	C
1135-1137 Battery Avenue	C
1142 Battery Avenue	C
1144-1460 Battery Avenue (even)	C
1139-1459 Battery Avenue (odd)	C
37-137 Birckhead Street (even and odd)	C
1105 S. Charles Street	C
1108 S. Charles Street	C
1114 S. Charles Street	C
1115-1117 S. Charles Street	C
1116 S. Charles Street	C
1118-1120 S. Charles Street	C
1122 S. Charles Street	C
1123 S. Charles Street	C
1124 S. Charles Street	C
1125 S. Charles Street	C
1126 S. Charles Street	C
1127 S. Charles Street	C
1128-1130 S. Charles Street	C
1129 S. Charles Street	C
1131 S. Charles Street	C
1132 S. Charles Street	C
1133 S. Charles Street	C
1134 S. Charles Street	C
1135-1137 S. Charles Street	C
1136 S. Charles Street	C
1138 S. Charles Street	C
1204-1206 S. Charles Street	C
1100-1106, 1110-1112, 1140-1201, 1208-1238 S. Charles Street (even)	C
1101-1103, 1113, 1119-1121, 1139-1203, 1205-1209, 1215-1237 S. Charles Street (odd)	C
100-446 E. Clement Street (even and odd)	C
1420-1454 Covington Street (even)	C
43 E. Cross Street	C
45 E. Cross Street	C
47 E. Cross Street	C
103 E. Cross Street	C
105-107 E. Cross Street	C
109 E. Cross Street	C
111 E. Cross Street	C
113-115 E. Cross Street	C
117-119 E. Cross Street	C
121 E. Cross Street	C
123-125 E. Cross Street	C
127-129 E. Cross Street	C
131 E. Cross Street	C
137 E. Cross Street	C
139-143 E. Cross Street	C
201-203 E. Cross Street	C
205 E. Cross Street	C
207-209 E. Cross Street	C
213 E. Cross Street	C
215 E. Cross Street	C
217 E. Cross Street	C
219 E. Cross Street	C
221-223 E. Cross Street	C
301 E. Cross Street	C
303 E. Cross Street	C
305-307 E. Cross Street	C
309 E. Cross Street	C
311 E. Cross Street	C
313 E. Cross Street	C
315 E. Cross Street	C
317-319 E. Cross Street	C
401-407 E. Cross Street	C
409-413 E. Cross Street	C
415 E. Cross Street	C
417 E. Cross Street	C
1, 15, 35-41, 49-101, 145-199, 225-339 E. Cross Street (odd)	C
1115 Durst Street (Avenue)	C
1100 block Durst Street (even and odd)	C
1200 block Durst Street (even and odd)	C
1300 block Durst Street (even and odd)	C
1400 block Durst Street (even and odd)	C
400-421 Folsom Street (even and odd)	C
36-454 E. Fort Avenue (even)	C
100-198, 202-220, 224-446 Gittings Street (even)	C
101-447 Gittings Street (odd)	C
1127-1129 Hall Alley	C
1200 block Hall Street (Alley) (even and odd)	C
1300 block Hall Street (Alley) (even and odd)	C
1400 block Hall Street (Alley) (even and odd)	C
1411-1454 Henry Street (even and odd)	C
1245-1253 Knox Court (odd)	C
1101 Light Street	C
1102 Light Street	C
1103 Light Street	C
1104-1106 Light Street	C
1114 Light Street	C
1116 Light Street	C
1117 Light Street	C
1119-1121 Light Streeet	C
1123 Light Street	C
1125 Light Street	C
1127-1131 Light Street	C
1130 Light Street	C
1133-1135 Light Street	C
1137 Light Street	C
1251 Light Street	C	B-1389 -- Enoch Pratt Free Library, Light Street Branch
1427 Light Street	C	B-5181 -- School 33 (Armistead Public School No. 33) (Map Only)
1105-1115 Light Street (118, 120, & 122 Weber Street)	C	B-5188 -- Mayer's Department Store, site (Epstein's Department Store)
1110-1112, 1132-1212, 1230-1236, 1242-1308, 1312-1434, 1438-1458 Light Street (even)	C
1139-1197, 1201-1209, 1213-1235, 1261-1425, 1429-1459 Light Street (odd)	C
1210-1446 Marshall Street (even and odd)	C
28 E. Ostend Street	C	B-4289 -- Southern District Police Station
2-8 W. Ostend Street (even)	C
30-134 E. Ostend Street (even)	C
39-139 E. Ostend Street (odd)	C
1214-1233 Patapsco Street (even and odd)	C
1100-1102 Riverside Avenue	C
1104-1114 Riverside Avenue	C
1109 Riverside Avenue	C
1111-1113 Riverside Avenue	C
1115-1117 Riverside Avenue	C
1116-1118 Riverside Avenue	C
1119 Riverside Avenue	C
1120-1122 Riverside Avenue	C
1124-1126 Riverside Avenue	C
1128-1130 Riverside Avenue	C
1129 Riverside Avenue	C
1131 Riverside Avenue	C
1132-1142 Riverside Avenue	C
1133-1135 Riverside Avenue	C
1137-1143 Riverside Avenue	C
1144-1458 Riverside Avenue (even)	C
1101-1107, 1121-1125, 1145-1457 Riverside Avenue (odd)	C
401-425 Sanders Street (even and odd)	C
1202-1240 Wall Street (even)	C
1201-1209 and 1213-1239 Wall Street (odd)	C
6 E. West Street	C
8-12 E. West Street	C
106-112 E. West Street	C	B-5081 -- Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church Complex
108 E. West Street	C	B-3485 -- Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church
110 E. West Street	C	B-3486 -- Holy Cross Parish Office
112 E. West Street	C	B-3487 -- Allen Center for Senior Citizen
302 E. West Street	C
14-104, 114-300, 304-312 E. West Street (even)	C
1-313 E. West Street (odd)	C
1100 William Street	C
1102-1106 William Street	C
1107-1109 William Street	C
1111-1113 William Street	C
1114-1120 William Street	C
1115-1117 William Street	C
1119 William Street	C
1121 William Street	C
1122-1124 William Street	C
1123 William Street	C
1125 William Street	C
1127 William Street	C
1129 William Street	C
1131-1133 William Street	C
1135-1137 William Street	C
1139 William Street	C
1108-1112, 1126-1230, 1238-1248, 1252-1478 William Street (even)	C
1101-1103, 1143-1479 William Street (odd)	C
1107-1109 S. Charles Street	NC
1111 S. Charles Street	NC
1211-1213 S. Charles Street	NC
3-11 E. Cross Street	NC
13 E. Cross Street	NC
17-19 E. Cross Street	NC
21 E. Cross Street	NC
23 E. Cross Street	NC
25 E. Cross Street	NC
27 E. Cross Street	NC
29-31 E. Cross Street	NC
33 E. Cross Street	NC
133-135 E. Cross Street	NC
311 E. Cross Street	NC
124-130 E. Fort Avenue	NC
200 Gittings Street	NC
1100 Light Street	NC
1108 Light Street	NC
1118-1122 Light Street	NC
1124-1128 Light Street	NC
1211 Light Street	NC
1214-1228 Light Street	NC
1237-1259 Light Street	NC
1238-1240 Light Street	NC
1310 Light Street	NC
1436 Light Street	NC
1127 Riverside Avenue	NC
1211 Wall Street	NC
128-136 Weber Street	NC
E. West Street	NC
14 E. West Street	NC
200 E. West Street	NC
205 E. West Street	NC
1105 William Street	NC
1232-1236 William Street	NC
1250 William Street	NC
1401 William Street	NC
1100 block Hall Street (Alley) (even and odd)
5 Kaufman Court
124-126 Weber Street		B-3504 -- Alley Houses