Mount Washington, Baltimore
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Mount Washington is an area of northwest
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
. It is a designated city historic district and divided into two sections: South Road/Sulgrave to the southeast and Dixon's Hill (or Dixon Hill) to the north. The Mount Washington Historic District was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1990 with a boundary increase in 2001, with five contributing buildings and four contributing structures.


Description

Historically, Mount Washington was a small area. However, residents and businesses of many other nearby neighborhoods in the 21209 ZIP code and a small portion of the 21215 ZIP code (west of Pimlico Road) around the neighborhood refer to their location as Mount Washington. Though mostly within the Baltimore city limits, but mixed with some of these areas within
Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland. The county is part of the Central Maryland region of the state. Baltimore County partly surrounds but does not include the independent city ...
as Pikesville. The Mount Washington neighborhood is served by the Mount Washington Improvement Association, which, though not speaking on behalf of all the neighborhood's residents, wields significant political clout in Baltimore. Mount Washington is mostly residential, though it has two small commercial areas: *Mount Washington Village, off the west side of the
Jones Falls Expressway Interstate 83 (I-83) is an Interstate Highway located in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Maryland; its northern ...
near the Kelly Avenue bridge, containing several restaurants and stores, as well as the
Baltimore Light Rail The Baltimore Light RailLink (formerly Baltimore Light Rail, also known simply as the "Light Rail") is a light rail system serving Baltimore, Maryland, United States, and its northern and southern suburbs. It is operated by the Maryland Transi ...
's Mount Washington Station. *Mount Washington Mill, a refurbished
textile mill Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...
now housing stores, shops and offices, off the east side of the
Jones Falls Expressway Interstate 83 (I-83) is an Interstate Highway located in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Maryland; its northern ...
near the Kelly Avenue bridge, commonly referred to as Historic Mount Washington. These two areas were at one time viewed as a single area, but since the construction of
Interstate 83 Interstate 83 (I-83) is an Interstate Highway located in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland; its ...
these areas have been separated, and travel over a longer distance is required between them.


History

In 1854, George Gelbach and Elias Heiner purchased 314 acres near Washingtonville, a mill village. Though the original homes were designed as summer houses, Gelbach envisioned that Mount Washington would eventually become a suburb of Baltimore. Building picked up after the Civil War, with developers, such as John Graham (a resident of Mount Washington) developing small groups of houses around the South Road section. The northern section of the area, what became Dixon's Hill, was the result of Thomas Dixon purchasing 20 acres from Gelbach in 1855 and developed in the 1860s. Mount Washington is considered by some to be Baltimore's first suburb. It was part of Baltimore County until it was annexed in 1914. Prior to the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, racially restrictive covenants were used in Baltimore to exclude African-Americans and other minorities. A 1921 advertisement in the
Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publish ...
described Mount Washington as a racially "restricted community".


Major roads in Mount Washington

Some of the main roads that run through the Mount Washington area are: Immediate: *
Interstate 83 Interstate 83 (I-83) is an Interstate Highway located in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland; its ...
, also known as the
Jones Falls Expressway Interstate 83 (I-83) is an Interstate Highway located in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Maryland; its northern ...
(JFX) * Falls Road * Kelly Avenue *Greely Road * Smith Avenue Extended: * Greenspring Avenue * Cross Country Boulevard * Pimlico Road * Northern Parkway * Lake Avenue Other communities near Mount Washington include: * Village of Cross Keys (south) * Cheswolde (west) *
Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...
(west) * Rodgers Forge (east) * Ruxton (north)


Public transportation

Mount Washington is well known for its public transportation operated by the
Maryland Transit Administration The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is a state-operated mass transit administration in Maryland, and is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). The MTA operates a comprehensive transit system throughout the Washington†...
. This, most notably, includes the Central Light Rail line. It has a stop in historic Mount Washington Village. Light Rail service operates to downtown Baltimore, Hunt Valley, and BWI Airport every 10–15 minutes at most times. MTA also operates three public bus lines in Mount Washington Village, all of which originate at the Reisterstown Plaza Metro Subway Station. These are: Route 27, which operates to areas including Hampden,
Downtown Baltimore Downtown Baltimore is the central business district of the Baltimore, city of Baltimore traditionally bounded by Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Baltimore), Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the west, List of streets in Baltimore#F, Frank ...
, and the
Cherry Hill Cherry Hill often refers to: * Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a township in Camden County, New Jersey * Cherry Hill, Prince William County, Virginia, a census-designated place Cherry Hill may also refer to: Places Canada * Cherry Hill, Nova Scotia, a ...
area, Route 58, which terminates at a loop in Mt. Washington after serving the Fallstaff area, and Route 60, which also serves Fallstaff and continues north to Greenspring Station and
Stevenson University Stevenson University is a private university in Baltimore County, Maryland with two campuses, one in Stevenson, Maryland, Stevenson and one in Owings Mills, Maryland, Owings Mills. The university enrolls approximately 3,615 undergraduate and g ...
.


Schools

The zoned local public schools are The Mount Washington School and Northwestern High School, although most of the children in the community who pursue their education in the Baltimore City public school system do so at either of the
magnet schools In education in the United States, the U.S. education system, magnet schools are State school, public schools with Specialized school, specialized Course (education), courses or Curriculum, curricula. Normally, a student will attend an elementary ...
,
City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
or Poly. Most of the upper-middle-class families send their children to some of the many private schools in the area.


Athletics

The neighborhood has been the home of the Mount Washington Lacrosse Club since its establishment in 1904. Mount Washington dominated the sport at the club and collegiate level for much of the 20th century. Since 1999, Mount Washington has shared its home field, Norris Field on Kelly Avenue, with the all-girls
Bryn Mawr School Bryn Mawr School, founded in 1885 as the first college-preparatory school for girls in the United States, is an independent, nonsectarian all-girls school for grades PK-12, with a coed preschool. Bryn Mawr School is located in the Roland Pa ...
.Jamie Stiehm
Traditions survive in sale of men's club; Bryn Mawr to share lacrosse fields, facilities
''The Baltimore Sun'', May 31, 1999, retrieved May 28, 2010.
Mount Washington is also home of Meadowbrook Swim Club, established in 1930, which has hosted many famous swimmers in the 1930s and 1940s and is now a venue rented by of the most prestigious swimming clubs in the world, the
North Baltimore Aquatic Club The North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) is a swim club based in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1968, it continues to offer training for young swimmers. It is best known for developing a dozen Olympic Games, Olympic swimmers, six of who ...
or NBAC for short. The NBAC is a team of many Olympic swimmers including Michael Phelps, Chase Kalisz, Katie Hoff, Patrick Kennedy, Theresa Andrews, Anita Nall, Beth Botsford, Whitney Metzler, and Allison Schmitt. NBAC is also home to Paralympians Ian Silverman, Jessica Long and Becca Meyers.


Notable residents and natives

* Elizabeth Turner Graham (1837-1920), Civil War relief activist, women's movement organizer, philanthropist * Charles L. Bennett, astrophysicist * Duke Cameron, heart surgeon *
Katie Hoff Kathryn Elise Hoff (born June 3, 1989) is a former American competitive swimming (sport), swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Hoff was known for the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley events. She represented the Uni ...
, Olympic swimmer * Doug Turnbull (1903–1906), National Lacrosse Hall of Fame inducteeDouglas C. Turnbull Jr., 91, All-American lacrosse player
''The Baltimore Sun'', April 13, 1993.


References


External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore Neighborhoods in Baltimore Northern Baltimore