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Photo credit: MHT Files, n.d.

Upper Fells Point Historic District

Inventory No.: B-5123

Date Listed: 12/20/2007

Location: Baltimore, Baltimore City

Category: District

Period/Date of Construction: c. 1845-c. 1930

Resources: 494 (462 contributing, 32 non-contributing)

Description: The Upper Fells Point Historic District comprises the 18 1/2 blocks lying between the Fells Point National Register Historic District (to the south) and the Butcher's Hill National Register Historic District (to the north and east). The heart of the district is a three-block-long section of Broadway, running north of Gough Street to East Baltimore Street, as well as the surviving blocks to its east and west. This primarily residential section of the city developed at the height of the Greek Revival period in Baltimore, between about 1845 and 1855. Elaborate three-story, three-bay-wide townhouses face Broadway and much of Baltimore Street, while builders erected much more modest housing on the east-west side streets, Lombard and Gough, and the north-south streets, Ann, Wolfe, Washington, Chester, and Collington, in the same decade. These same builders put up even smaller two-story houses on the district's alley streets--Bethel, Regester, Durham, Chapel, Castle, Duncan, and Madeira--for the many Irish and German immigrants flocking to the area. The Greek Revival town mansions, while having brick facades today, originally were often painted cream or gray, or covered with light-painted stucco. Common characteristics include the very low-pitched gable roof, often almost hidden behind a simple modillion cornice; finely executed splayed brick window lintels and marble sills; a distinctly Greek-style doorway enframement; and wide marble steps leading to the entrance. A few have free-standing porticoes, and others have round-arched door enframements resting on Doric pilasters. The district also contains several examples of Greek-style cast iron window lintels. The more modest, working-class homes also follow design influences of contemporary high-style Greek Revival townhouses, with their low-pitched roofs and tiny attic windows. Instead of the steeply pitched dormered roof of the formerly popular Federal-influenced styles, now the roof was raised to include a low attic story, lit by two small attic windows at both front and back. This configuration offered families two extra bedrooms in the attic, lit by low windows instead of one garret space lit by dormer windows. Windows were usually 6/6 sash. Since the house was only two bays wide, the front door opened directly into the parlor. A narrow, enclosed, tightly winding staircase was located on the side of the house opposite the entrance, along the partition wall that separated the front and rear parlors. Most of these six-room houses, which usually measured 13' to 14' wide and often had one-story back buildings housing the kitchen, were outfitted with fireplaces in each of the four main rooms, all of which came equipped with Doric mantels. Because early house lots in Fells Point were laid out back to back, without rear service alleys, the only street entrance to the back yard is through the arched sallyport located in the center of each pair. Most of the groups of working-class houses in the district have sallyports. Corner houses often were three bays wide rather than two, at 17' or 18' wide, with two-story rear additions, so that the building could serve as both a corner store and living space for one or two families. By the mid to late 1850s, the Italianate style was also to be seen in the Upper Fells Point Historic District. The long row that extends from 400 to 434 S. Patterson Park Avenue is a fine example of a long early Italianate-style row, with three-story, three-bay wide houses constructed by German immigrant builder Frederick Burger in 1884. The paired two-story Italianate houses in the next block north, set back from the street with front yards and porches, represent an early experiment with the kind of semi-suburban porch-front houses built much later in new neighborhoods like Peabody Heights (Charles Village). These houses were built in 1877-78 by George and Joseph C. Donohue. Many Italianate homes appeared west of Patterson Park, constructed in the late 1860s and 1870s. These are only two bays wide, and constructed for the less affluent market During this period, groups of two-bay wide Italianate houses with simple modillion cornices appeared throughout the district, in either two-story or three-story varieties. In fact, these Italianate houses are among the first built in the city. Generally the style is associated with the 1880s when whole neighborhoods of two-story houses were built near factories or near the working waterfront. A common problem regarding historical integrity of the gable-roofed, Greek-Revival-style structures in the Upper Fells Point Historic District derives from the fact that many had Italianate-style cornices added to their facades in the 1870s, 80s, and 90s. Only three examples survive in the district of Second Empire-period mansard roofs that were often added to Greek Revival-style houses in the later 1860s. The four churches in the district were built between 1853 and 1859. Of the two built for German immigrants, one is in the Greek Revival style, the other in a Lombardic Italianate style. There is also a simple vernacular Gothic style former Episcopal church and a Lombardic style Baptist church.

Significance: The Upper Fells Point Historic District is significant for it cohesive collection of residential, commercial, institutional, and ecclesiastical buildings reflecting the variety of building types and architectural styles from the 1840s through the turn of the 20th century, and for the pattern of its development, which is characteristic of Baltimore neighborhoods during the period. It derives additional significance for its association with the history of immigration in Baltimore. The neighborhood initially developed in the 1840s and 1850s to provide housing for a large influx of German and Irish immigrants, whose arrival in Baltimore in these two decades exactly corresponds to larger national patterns. Both groups settled initially in Fells Point, where their ships docked, but gradually made their way north to newly developing areas along upper Broadway. Here they built German-language churches and schools that helped shape the community for years to come. The German Catholic Church in the neighborhood, St. Michael's, and its associated Convent of Notre Dame, are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of the rowhouses were built by local German immigrant builders, often with financing provided by the German churches or German-affiliated building and loan associations.

District Resources (494) (462 contributing, 32 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)
4 S. Ann Street	C
5-21 S. Ann Street	C
6 S. Ann Street	C
8 S. Ann Street	C
10 S. Ann Street	C
12-14 S. Ann Street	C
16-18 S. Ann Street	C
20-22 S. Ann Street	C
23-25 S. Ann Street	C
24 S. Ann Street	C
29-35 S. Ann Street	C
101-105 S. Ann Street	C
104 S. Ann Street	C
106-120 S. Ann Street	C
107-109 S. Ann Street	C
111-113 S. Ann Street	C
115 S. Ann Street	C
117-119 S. Ann Street	C
121 S. Ann Street	C
123-125 S. Ann Street	C
127 S. Ann Street	C
129 S. Ann Street	C
140 S. Ann Street	C
201-203; 217-219 S. Ann Street	C
202 S. Ann Street	C
204-206 S. Ann Street	C
205-215; 221-223 S. Ann Street	C
208-212 S. Ann Street	C
216-228 S. Ann Street	C
225-229 S. Ann Street	C
230-244 S. Ann Street	C
231-237 S. Ann Street	C
239-245 S. Ann Street	C
246 S. Ann Street	C
247-249 S. Ann Street	C
248 S. Ann Street	C
250-254 S. Ann Street	C
251 S. Ann Street	C	B-5156 -- Fells Point Corner Theatre
255-257 S. Ann Street	C
259 S. Ann Street	C
1623 E. Baltimore Street	C
1625 E. Baltimore Street	C
1627 E. Baltimore Street	C
1629 E. Baltimore Street	C
1643 E. Baltimore Street	C
1645 E. Baltimore Street	C
1701 E. Baltimore Street	C
1703 E. Baltimore Street	C
1709 E. Baltimore Street	C
1715-1717 E. Baltimore Street	C
1719-1721 E. Baltimore Street	C
1725-1727 E. Baltimore Street	C
1729-1731 E. Baltimore Street	C
1733-1735 E. Baltimore Street	C
1737 E. Baltimore Street	C
1739 E. Baltimore Street	C
1801 E. Baltimore Street	C
1803 E. Baltimore Street	C
1805-1807 E. Baltimore Street	C
1809-1811 E. Baltimore Street	C
1813-1815 E. Baltimore Street	C
1817 E. Baltimore Street	C
1831 E. Baltimore Street	C
1833-1835 E. Baltimore Street	C
2102-2104 Bank Street	C
2103-2107 Bank Street	C
2106-2108 Bank Street	C
2109-2123 Bank Street	C
2110-2114 Bank Street	C
2116-2126 Bank Street	C
2128 Bank Street	C
2201 Bank Street	C
2203-2215 Bank Street	C
2217-2227 Bank Street	C
2220-2228 E. Bank Street	C
2229-2235 Bank Street	C
2230-2244 E. Bank Street	C
2239 Bank Street	C
2246 E. Bank Street	C
203-213; 227 S. Bethel Street	C	B-4736 -- Alley Houses
S.Broadway	C	former Broadway Savings Bank
4 S. Broadway	C
5-9 S. Broadway	C
6 S. Broadway	C
8 S. Broadway	C
10 S. Broadway	C
11 S. Broadway	C
13 S. Broadway	C
14 S. Broadway	C
15 S. Broadway	C
16 S. Broadway	C
17 S. Broadway	C
18 S. Broadway	C
19 S. Broadway	C
20-24 S. Broadway	C
21 S. Broadway	C
23 S. Broadway	C
25 S. Broadway	C
26 S. Broadway	C
28-32 S. Broadway	C
101 S. Broadway	C
103 S. Broadway	C
105 S. Broadway	C
107 S. Broadway	C
109 S. Broadway	C
111 S. Broadway	C
113 S. Broadway	C
114 S. Broadway	C
116 S. Broadway	C
117 S. Broadway	C
118-128 S. Broadway	C
119 S. Broadway	C
121-123 S. Broadway	C
127 and 131 S. Broadway	C
129 S. Broadway	C
201-205 S. Broadway	C
207 S. Broadway	C
208 S. Broadway	C	Holy Cross Polish National parish
209 S. Broadway	C
211 S. Broadway	C	Broadway Methodist Church
216 S. Broadway	C
219 S. Broadway	C
221 S. Broadway	C
223 S. Broadway	C
223 S. Broadway	C
224 S. Broadway	C
225 S. Broadway	C
225-227 S. Broadway	C
226-228 S. Broadway	C
227 S. Broadway	C
229 S. Broadway	C
230 S. Broadway	C
231 S. Broadway	C
232 S. Broadway	C
233 S. Broadway	C
234 S. Broadway	C
235-237 S. Broadway	C
236-240 S. Broadway	C
239-245 S. Broadway	C
242 S. Broadway	C
244 S. Broadway	C
251 S. Broadway	C
2210-2214 Canary Court	C	B-4831 -- Alley Houses
2211-2221 Canary Court	C	B-4830 -- Alley Houses
202-204 S. Castle Street	C
203 S. Castle Street	C
205-217 S. Castle Street	C
206-212 S. Castle Street	C
214 S. Castle Street	C
216 S. Castle Street	C
218 S. Castle Street	C
219-221 S. Castle Street	C
220-222 S. Castle Street	C
223-235 S. Castle Street	C
224-234 S. Castle Street	C
236-250 S. Castle Street	C
237 S. Castle Street	C
239 and 249 S. Castle Street	C
247 S. Castle Street	C
102-132 S. Chapel Street	C	B-4771 -- Alley Houses
205-245 S. Chapel Street	C	B-4772 -- Alley Houses
212-244 S. Chapel Street	C	B-4773 -- Alley Houses
246 S. Chapel Street	C
201-217 S. Chester Street	C
202 S. Chester Street	C
204 S. Chester Street	C
206 S. Chester Street	C
208-222 S. Chester Street	C
219-221 S. Chester Street	C
223-225 S. Chester Street	C
224 S. Chester Street	C
226 S. Chester Street	C
227 S. Chester Street	C
228-234 S. Chester Street	C
229-239 S. Chester Street	C
238 S. Chester Street	C
240 S. Chester Street	C
241 S. Chester Street	C
242-244 S. Chester Street	C
243 S. Chester Street	C
245 S. Chester Street	C
247 S. Chester Street	C
301 S. Chester Street	C
303-307 S. Chester Street	C
309-323 S. Chester Street	C
325 S. Chester Street	C
327 S. Chester Street	C
329 S. Chester Street	C
331-335 S. Chester Street	C
337-345 S. Chester Street	C
401-403 S. Chester Street	C
413 S. Chester Street	C
423-427 S. Chester Street	C
429-437 S. Chester Street	C
439 S. Chester Street	C
2215-2223 Choptank Court	C	B-4836 -- Alley Houses
210 S. Colington Avenue	C
200 S. Collington Avenue	C
202 S. Collington Avenue	C
204 S. Collington Avenue	C
206-208 S. Collington Avenue	C
209-213 S. Collington Avenue	C
212 S. Collington Avenue	C
214 S. Collington Avenue	C
215-217 S. Collington Avenue	C
216-218 S. Collington Avenue	C
219 S. Collington Avenue	C
220-226 S. Collington Avenue	C
221-231 S. Collington Avenue	C
228-234 S. Collington Avenue	C
233-239 S. Collington Avenue	C
236 S. Collington Avenue	C
238 S. Collington Avenue	C
240-242 S. Collington Avenue	C
244-246 S. Collington Avenue	C
248 S. Collington Avenue	C
250 S. Collington Avenue	C
300-302 S. Collington Avenue	C
303 S. Collington Avenue	C
304-306 S. Collington Avenue	C
305 S. Collington Avenue	C
307-311; 315-323 S. Collington Avenue	C
308 S. Collington Avenue	C
310-322 S. Collington Avenue	C
324-336 S. Collington Avenue	C
328-332; 336-340 S. Collington Avenue	C
334 S. Collington Avenue	C
402 S. Collington Avenue	C
403-413 S. Collington Avenue	C
404-408 S. Collington Avenue	C
410 S. Collington Avenue	C
412-414 S. Collington Avenue	C
415-419 S. Collington Avenue	C
209-239 S. Duncan Street	C	B-4804 -- Alley Houses
212-268 S. Duncan Street	C	B-4805 -- Alley Houses
219-227 S. Duncan Street	C
302-328 S. Duncan Street	C	B-4807 -- Alley Houses
303-327 S. Duncan Street	C	B-4806 -- Alley Houses
407-419 S. Duncan Street	C	B-4808 -- Alley Houses
410-420 S. Duncan Street	C	B-4808 -- Alley Houses
421-423 S. Duncan Street	C
6-30 S. Durham Street	C	B-4757 -- Alley Houses
102-136 S. Durham Street	C	B-4759 -- Alley Houses
103-133 S. Durham Street	C	B-4758 -- Alley Houses
202-212 S. Durham Street	C
203-257 S. Durham Street	C	B-4760 -- Alley Houses
222-224 S. Durham Street	C
232-248 S. Durham Street	C
258 S. Durham Street	C
2104-2106 Eastern Avenue	C
2108 Eastern Avenue	C
2110 Eastern Avenue	C
2112-2114 Eastern Avenue	C
2200 Eastern Avenue	C
2202-2208 Eastern Avenue	C
2210-2214 Eastern Avenue	C
2216-2224 Eastern Avenue	C
2226 Eastern Avenue	C
2228-2234 Eastern Avenue	C
2238 Eastern Avenue	C
1616-1618 Gough Street	C
1722 Gough Street	C
1724 Gough Street	C
1726 Gough Street	C
1728-1732 Gough Street	C
1734 Gough Street	C
1800 Gough Street	C
1802 Gough Street	C
1804-1816 Gough Street	C
1818 Gough Street	C
1820 Gough Street	C
1822-1824 Gough Street	C
1826-1828; 1832-1836 Gough Street	C
1830 Gough Street	C
1838 Gough Street	C
1840 Gough Street	C
1920 S. Gough Street	C
1922 S. Gough Street	C
1924 S. Gough Street	C
1926 S. Gough Street	C
2002-2018 Gough Street	C
2020 Gough Street	C
2022 Gough Street	C
2024-2026 Gough Street	C
2044 Gough Street	C
2103-2109 Gough Street	C
2104 Gough Street	C
2106-2110 Gough Street	C
2111 Gough Street	C
2200 Gough Street	C
2201 Gough Street	C
2202-2216 Gough Street	C
2203-2209 Gough Street	C
2211-2221 Gough Street	C
2218-2222 Gough Street	C
2223 Gough Street	C
2225-2233 Gough Street	C
1634 E. Lombard Street	C
1703 E. Lombard Street	C
1721 E. Lombard Street	C
1723 E. Lombard Street	C
1727-1745 E. Lombard Street	C
1738-1746 E. Lombard Street	C
1748-1750 E. Lombard Street	C
1752 E. Lombard Street	C
1802-1804 E. Lombard Street	C
1806-1808 E. Lombard Street	C
1807-1811; 1817-1819 E. Lombard Street	C
1810-1816; 1820-1828 E. Lombard Street	C
1813 E. Lombard Street	C
1815 E. Lombard Street	C
1818 E. Lombard Street	C
1823-1841 E. Lombard Street	C
1900-1920 E. Lombard Street	C	B-4208 -- St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church Complex (St. Michael's Boys School)
1913 E. Lombard Street	C
1915-1919 E. Lombard Street	C
1921 E. Lombard Street	C
1801 (formerly 1801-1805) E. Lombard Street	C
201-245 S. Madeira Street	C	B-4826 -- Alley Houses
206-240 S. Madeira Street	C	B-4827 -- Alley Houses
302-322 S. Madeira Street	C	B-4829 -- Alley Houses
303-327 S. Madeira Street	C	B-4828 -- Alley Houses
403-427 S. Madeira Street	C	B-4832 -- Alley Houses
404-420 S. Madeira Street	C	B-4833 -- Alley Houses
332 S. Patterson Park	C
226 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
228 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
230-232 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
234 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
236 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
312 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
314 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
316 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
318-320 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
322-324 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
326-328 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
330 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
334-346 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
400-434 S. Patterson Park Avenue	C
2210-2218 Portugal Street	C	B-4835 -- Alley Houses
2211-2221 Portugal Street	C	B-4834 -- Alley Houses
1627 E. Pratt Street	C
1629 E. Pratt Street	C
1631 E. Pratt Street	C
1633 E. Pratt Street	C
1635 E. Pratt Street	C
1637 E. Pratt Street	C
1639-1641 E. Pratt Street	C
1644 E. Pratt Street	C
1646 E. Pratt Street	C
1648 E. Pratt Street	C
1650-1654 E. Pratt Street	C
1706; 1710-1718 and 1722 E. Pratt Street	C
1708 E. Pratt Street	C
1720 E. Pratt Street	C
1724 E. Pratt Street	C
1729 E. Pratt Street	C
1731-1737 E. Pratt Street	C
1739 E. Pratt Street	C
1741 E. Pratt Street	C
1743-1747 E. Pratt Street	C
1749 E. Pratt Street	C
1751 E. Pratt Street	C
1800-1802 E. Pratt Street	C
1804 E. Pratt Street	C
1805 E. Pratt Street	C
1806-1816 E. Pratt Street	C
1807-1811 E. Pratt Street	C
1813 E. Pratt Street	C
1815-1817 E. Pratt Street	C
1818 E. Pratt Street	C
1819-1823 E. Pratt Street	C
1820-1830 E. Pratt Street	C
1831 E. Pratt Street	C
1832-1834 E. Pratt Street	C
1900 E. Pratt Street	C
1901 E. Pratt Street	C
1902-1914 E. Pratt Street	C
1903 E. Pratt Street	C
1905 E. Pratt Street	C
1907-1913 E. Pratt Street	C
1915-1917 E. Pratt Street	C
1836 E. Pratt Street (corner of Wolfe Street)	C
1838 E. Pratt Street (corner of Wolfe Street)	C
E. Pratt Street (west of 1727 E. Pratt Street)	C
100 S. Regester Street	C
102-128 S. Regester Street	C	B-4747 -- Alley Houses
105-121 S. Regester Street	C	B-4746 -- Alley Houses
202; 206-210 S. Regester Street	C
203-217 S. Regester Street	C
204 S. Regester Street	C
212 S. Regester Street	C
214-220 S. Regester Street	C
219 S. Regester Street	C
221 S. Regester Street	C
222 S. Regester Street	C
223 S. Regester Street	C
225-227 S. Regester Street	C
226-228 S. Regester Street	C
229-231 S. Regester Street	C
SE corner of S. Wolfe Street and E. Lombard Street (1901 E. Lombard Street)	C	B-5161-1?? -- Convent of Notre Dame
SW corner of Broadway and E. Pratt Street	C	former Trinity Episcopal Church
SW corner of Gough Street and S. Patterson Avenue	C	Faith Reformed Church
200 S. Washington Street	C
202-204 S. Washington Street	C
203-205 S. Washington Street	C
206 S. Washington Street	C
207 S. Washington Street	C
208 S. Washington Street	C
209 S. Washington Street	C
210-212 S. Washington Street	C
211-221 S. Washington Street	C
214-216 S. Washington Street	C
218 S. Washington Street	C
220 S. Washington Street	C
223 S. Washington Street	C
224-226 S. Washington Street	C
225-229 S. Washington Street	C
228 S. Washington Street	C
230-234 S. Washington Street	C
231 S. Washington Street	C
233-235 S. Washington Street	C
236-246 S. Washington Street	C
247-251 S. Washington Street	C
248 S. Washington Street	C
250 S. Washington Street	C
253 S. Washington Street	C
10 S. Wolfe Street	C
16 S. Wolfe Street	C
18 S. Wolfe Street	C
100-112 S. Wolfe Street	C
105-111 S. Wolfe Street	C
113-117 S. Wolfe Street	C
114-120 S. Wolfe Street	C
119-129 S. Wolfe Street	C
122-124 S. Wolfe Street	C
126-128 S. Wolfe Street	C
202 S. Wolfe Street	C
204-206 S. Wolfe Street	C
205-209 S. Wolfe Street	C
208-210 S. Wolfe Street	C
211 S. Wolfe Street	C
212-218 S. Wolfe Street	C
215 S. Wolfe Street	C
217-219 S. Wolfe Street	C
220 S. Wolfe Street	C
221-223 S. Wolfe Street	C
222 S. Wolfe Street	C
224 S. Wolfe Street	C
225 S. Wolfe Street	C
226 S. Wolfe Street	C
228 S, Wolfe Street	C
229 S. Wolfe Street	C
230-236 S. Wolfe Street	C
231 S. Wolfe Street	C
233 S. Wolfe Street	C
235-241 S. Wolfe Street	C
238 S. Wolfe Street	C
240-242 S. Wolfe Street	C
243 S. Wolfe Street	C
244-246 S. Wolfe Street	C
248 S. Wolfe Street	C
27 S. Ann Street	NC
37 S. Ann Street	NC
256 S. Ann Street	NC
12 S. Broadway	NC
100 S. Broadway	NC	Apex Theater
112 S. Broadway	NC
218-220 S. Broadway	NC
222 S. Broadway	NC
246-250 S. Broadway	NC
246 S. Chester Street	NC
405-407 S. Chester Street	NC
409-411 S. Chester Street	NC
213-215 S. Durham Street	NC	B-4760 -- Alley Houses
230 S. Durham Street	NC
239 S. Durham Street	NC	B-4760 -- Alley Houses
254-256 S. Durham Street	NC
2236 Eastern Avenue	NC	Benson's Market
1700 Gough Street	NC
Gough Street (west of Regester)	NC	U.S. Post Office, Patterson Station
1622-1630 E. Lombard Street	NC
1632 E. Lombard Street	NC
1709-1713 E. Lombard Street	NC
NE corner of Duncan Street and Eastern Avenue	NC	Roman A. Kaminski Fire Station
NW corner of Eastern Avenue and Patterson Park Avenue	NC	Chesapeake Bank and the Southeastern District Community Policing Office
242 S. Patterson Park Avenue	NC	Headquarters of SECO Head Start at Patterson Park
1727 E. Pratt Street	NC
SW corner of Broadway and E. Lombard Street	NC
West side of Regester Street, North of Gough Street	NC	BG&E Broadway Substation
213 S. Wolfe Street	NC
227 S. Wolfe Street	NC
245 S. Wolfe Street	NC	General Wolfe Elementary School
250 S. Wolfe Street	NC