Mount Vernon is a neighborhood of

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, located immediately north of the city's downtown district. Designated a city Cultural District, it is one of the oldest neighborhoods originally home to the city's wealthiest and most fashionable families. The name derives from

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

, the home of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

, given the original Washington Monument, a massive pillar commenced in 1815 to commemorate the first president of the United States, is the defining feature of the neighborhood.

Overview

The Baltimore City Planning Commission defines the neighborhood as being bound by Eager Street to the North, The

Jones Falls Expressway Interstate 83 (I-83) is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Maryland; its northern terminus is at I-81 near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mo ...

(JFX, aka Interstate 83) to the east, Franklin Street to the South, and

Eutaw Street Eutaw Street is a major street in Baltimore, Maryland, mostly within the downtown area. Outside of downtown, it is mostly known as Eutaw Place. The south end of Eutaw Street is at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. After this point, the street continue ...

to the West. The commission also considers the northern section to be the Midtown-Belvedere neighborhood after the Belvidere estate of

John Eager Howard John Eager Howard (June 4, 1752October 12, 1827) was an American soldier and politician from Maryland. He was elected as governor of the state in 1788, and served three one-year terms. He also was elected to the Continental Congress, the Cong ...

, the Revolutionary War patriot. The

Inner Harbor The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. It was described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as "the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world". Th ...

is about half a mile south of Centre Street. Being close to downtown, Mount Vernon is well-served by public transit. Many area major bus routes head through the neighborhood on their way to the financial district including the Purple Line of Charm City Circulator which runs through Mt. Vernon northbound on Charles Street and southbound on St. Paul Street. The Light Rail line runs along

Howard Street Howard Street may refer to: * Howard Street (Baltimore), a major street in Downtown Baltimore, Maryland **Howard Street Tunnel fire, a disaster that struck the freight railroad tunnel under Baltimore's Howard Street in 2001 *Howard Street (Sheffiel ...

on the west edge of the neighborhood, and the Metro Subway runs beneath Eutaw Street a block west of that; both have stations within easy walking distance of the neighborhood.

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...

, served by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

and

MARC Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

commuter rail, is also one block to the north past Mount Royal Avenue and over the JFX. Although mainly residential, Mount Vernon-Belvedere is home to a mix of institutions, including the

Peabody Conservatory The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869), ...

of the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

University of Baltimore The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt's schools and colleges provide education in business, law, public affairs, and the applied arts and sc ...

, Maryland Historical Society, The Contemporary,

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a Private university, private art school, art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of t ...

Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall The Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, often referred to simply as the Meyerhoff, is a music venue that opened September 16, 1982, at 1212 Cathedral Street in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The main auditorium ...

Baltimore School for the Arts The Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) is a public performing arts high school located in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland, United States and is part of the Baltimore City Public Schools system. Established in 1979, The Baltimore School for the ...

Lyric Opera House The Lyric Performing Arts Center is a music venue in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, located close to the University of Baltimore law school. The building was modeled after the Concertgebouw concert hall in Amsterdam, and it was inaugurate ...

, Center Stage, Enoch Pratt Free Library Central Branch, Spotlighters Theatre, the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute, and the Peabody Bookshop and Beer Stube (demolished 1997). In the decades after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the neighborhood has also become home to many professional service providers, including medical and legal offices, publishing firms, architectural firms, insurance and financial institutions, and fund managers. Art galleries, retail stores, hotels, and bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) also populate the neighborhood, and Mount Vernon has a rich nightlife, with a variety of restaurants, cafes, and bars located along N Charles Street and throughout the neighborhood. During the 1970s, Mount Vernon began to form into a

gay village A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establis ...

for Baltimore with the establishment of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore (GLCCB) in 1977, now known as the Pride Center of Maryland.

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

milestones included the first Pride parade in 1975, and the creation of the GLCCB Health Clinic in 1980.

Architectural history

The centerpiece of the Mount Vernon neighborhood, the cruciform arrangement of parks surrounding the Washington monument, represents one of the nation's first examples of city planning for the express purpose of highlighting a monument. The

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and th ...

was completed in 1829 to a design by Robert Mills, and in 1831 the Howard family was granted permission to lay out the surrounding parks which eventually were lined by stately homes. The parks, which have survived almost intact, are considered to be the finest existing urban landscapes by the Beaux-Arts architectural firm of Carrere & Hastings, who also designed the New York Public Library, portions of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and the residence that houses the Frick Collection. Elsewhere in the neighborhood are many older apartment buildings and three and four-story row houses which were originally single-family dwellings, though many have been broken up into multiple apartments a growing number are being restored back to single family use. The historic beaux-arts Belvedere Hotel, opened in 1903, was converted to condominiums in 1991. See included map of district at page 24 of PDF document. On the northeast corner of Washington's monument sits the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church. Conceived as a cathedral of Methodism, it was built on the site of the Charles Howard mansion – the house in which Francis Scott Key died. In 2021, the church's owners sought planning permission to subdivide the building, separating the church from the adjacent Asbury House. The southeast corner from the monument is occupied entirely by buildings comprising the Peabody Institute, and the southwest corner includes three buildings forming the

. The Stafford Hotel, built in Mount Vernon in 1894, now serves as an apartment building primarily for students at

- Peabody. The old Mount Vernon Hotel, built in 1847, was the mansion home of U.S. Congressman

William Julian Albert William Julian Albert (August 4, 1816 – March 29, 1879) was a U.S. Congressman from the fifth district of Maryland, serving from 1873 to 1875. Early life William Julian Albert was born on August 4, 1816, in Baltimore, Maryland to a family ...

(1816–1879) where he entertained

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. Later the house was converted into a hotel (1867) and was where Oscar Wilde stayed as part of his 1882 lecture tour of America. The building is extant at 702 Cathedral Street, in the district. The Mount Vernon Place Historic District, a defined portion of the neighborhood, about 1.5 to 2 blocks north, south, east, and west of the Washington Monument, was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

and further designated as a

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

on November 11, 1971, for its significance in architecture and landscape planning. Selected parcels with the National Historic Landmark District have been designated Baltimore City Landmarks, including: *Washington Monument and Mount Vernon Place (defined as the city square of the monument and the cruciform-shaped area of parks radiating north, south, east and west) *

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

, 1-21 E. Mount Vernon Place * Thomas-Jencks-Gladding House, 1 W. Mount Vernon Place * George Howard House, 8 E. Madison Street The National Historic Landmark District also includes: * Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House, individually NRHP-listed * Stafford Hotel The Mount Vernon neighborhood also includes: * First Unitarian Church, NRHP-listed, NHL, BCL The entire Mount Vernon neighborhood, with eastern boundary defined as Jones Falls Expressway (Interstate 83) is included within the

Baltimore National Heritage Area Baltimore National Heritage Area is a federally designated National Heritage Area encompassing portions of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The designated area includes the central portion of the city, waterfront, inner neighborhoods and portions of the ...

, which was established in 2009.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 4,520 people living in the neighborhood. The racial makeup of Mount Vernon was 55.3%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 33.4%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.2% Native American, 7.4% Asian, 1.2% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.3% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

or Latino of any race were 3.1% of the population. 60.4% of the population were employed, 3.5% were unemployed, and 36.0% were not in the labor force, a reflection in part of the student population. The median household income was $21,225. About 15.2% of families and 26.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

. 5.6% of occupied housing units were owner-occupied. 10.2% of housing units were

vacant Within the context of building construction and building codes, "occupancy" refers to the use, or intended use, of a building, or portion of a building, for the shelter or support of persons, animals or property. A closely related meaning is t ...

Education

Public schools are operated by the Baltimore City Public School System. This includes the

on Cathedral Avenue. In 2010

Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women (BLSYW, pronounced "Bliss") is a public charter middle and high school for girls in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the first public all girls' secondary school in the city that had both middle ...

(BLSYW), a charter secondary school for girls, moved into its permanent campus, the former headquarters of the Greater Baltimore

Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

(YWCA) in Mount Vernon. The BLSYW was the first newly established public school in that area in three decades.

References

External links