Alex. Brown & Sons Building

Last updated
Alex. Brown & Sons Building
AlexBrownBuilding.JPG
Alex. Brown building on Baltimore Street in Baltimore, Maryland
Alex. Brown & Sons Building
Location135 East Baltimore St., Baltimore, Maryland
Coordinates 39°17′22″N76°36′45″W / 39.28944°N 76.61250°W / 39.28944; -76.61250 Coordinates: 39°17′22″N76°36′45″W / 39.28944°N 76.61250°W / 39.28944; -76.61250
Area0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
Built1901 (1901)
ArchitectParker & Thomas; Fuller, Geo, A. & Co.
Architectural styleGeorgian, Revial
NRHP reference No. 82001581 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 2, 1982
Designated BCL1975

The Alex. Brown & Sons building is a historical structure located at 135 East Baltimore Street in Baltimore, Maryland. During the 20th century it served as the corporate headquarters for the banking firm Alex. Brown & Sons, the oldest in the United States when it was purchased by Bankers Trust in 1997. The two-story building, completed in 1901 and designed by the partnership of J. Harleston Parker and Douglas H. Thomas. Jr., survived the 1904 Baltimore fire. The building was modified on the Calvert Street side and in the interior by the firm Beecher, Friz, and Gregg in 1905. [2] [3]

The building was sold to Chevy Chase Bank in 1997. A plaque on the side of the building states:

A thorough historical renovation of the building was completed in 1996 when it was reopened as a traditional retail bank branch. The beautiful stained glass dome, probably the work of Baltimore artist Gustave Baumstark (who studied under both Louis C. Tiffany and John LaFarge) was cleaned and refurbished. The marble columns and the plaster moldings of the great banking hall were restored to their original designs. During the renovation the original teller line was reconstructed. Even such details as the design and placement of the freestanding furniture now in existence in the bank branch were designed to mimic the original furniture.

The Alex. Brown & Sons Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. [1]

It was reported in May 2021 that the building has been leased for the set of the Disney-FX film pilot The Spook Who Sat by the Door, based on the novel of the same name. [4]

Related Research Articles

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (BBH) is the oldest and one of the largest private investment banks in the United States. In 1931, the merger of Brown Brothers & Co. and Harriman Brothers & Co. formed the current BBH.

Peale Museum Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, US

The Peale Museum, officially the Municipal Museum of the City of Baltimore, was a museum of paintings and natural history, located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It occupied the first building in the Western Hemisphere to be designed and built specifically as a museum. The museum was imagined by American artist and inventor Rembrandt Peale (1778–1860) and designed by architect Robert Cary Long, Sr. Much later, it functioned separately as Baltimore City's historical museum while the original structure was being rebuilt, restored, and renovated in 1930–1931, and then was merged with other historic sites, houses and museums in the early 1980s under the expansive efforts of a new executive director, with the name of the Baltimore City Life Museums and a broader mission in conjunction with the other historical locations/sites/structures in Baltimore.

Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower

Emerson Tower is a 15-story, 88 m (289 ft) clock tower erected in 1907–1911 at 21 South Eutaw Street, at the northeast corner of Eutaw and West Lombard Streets in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. It was the tallest building in the city from 1911 to 1923, until supplanted by the Citizens National Bank building at the southeast corner of Light and Redwood (German) Streets. It was designed by local architect Joseph Evans Sperry (1854-1930) for Isaac Edward Emerson (1859-1931), who invented the Bromo-Seltzer headache remedy.

President Street Station United States historic place

The President Street Station in Baltimore, Maryland, is a former train station and railroad terminal. Built in 1849 and opened in February 1850, the station saw some of the earliest bloodshed of the American Civil War (1861-1865), and was an important rail link during the conflict. Today, it is the oldest surviving big-city railroad terminal in the United States. A preservation campaign and renovation project completed in 1997 enabled the station to be operated as the Baltimore Civil War Museum for several years. The museum is temporarily closed as of early 2021.

Mount Royal Station

The Mount Royal Station and Trainshed was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's third train station in Baltimore, Maryland, at the north end of the Baltimore Belt Line's Howard Street tunnel in the fashionable Bolton Hill neighborhood. It was the first railroad station in the world to have electrified passenger trains when it opened on September 1, 1896, serving the B&O's famed Royal Blue line. Following its closure as a railroad station in 1961, it became part of the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in an acclaimed adaptation preserving the building's original architectural features. The building is now used for MICA art studios.

Carroll Mansion United States historic place

The Carroll Mansion is a historic building and museum located in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Bank of America Building (Baltimore)

The Bank of America Building, also known as 10 Light Street and formerly as the Baltimore Trust Company Building, is a 34-story, 155.15 m (509.0 ft) skyscraper located at the corner of East Baltimore and Light Streets in downtown Baltimore, Maryland.

Baltimore City Hall

Baltimore City Hall is the official seat of government of the City of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland. The City Hall houses the offices of the Mayor and those of the City Council of Baltimore. The building also hosts the city Comptroller, some various city departments, agencies and boards/commissions along with the historic chambers of the Baltimore City Council. Situated on a city block bounded by East Lexington Street on the north, Guilford Avenue on the west, East Fayette Street on the south and North Holliday Street with City Hall Plaza and the War Memorial Plaza to the east, the six-story structure was designed by the then 22-year-old new architect, George Aloysius Frederick (1842–1924) in the Second Empire style, a Baroque revival, with prominent Mansard roofs with richly-framed dormers, and two floors of a repeating Serlian window motif over an urbanely rusticated basement.

His Lordships Kindness United States historic place

His Lordship's Kindness, also known as Poplar Hill, is a historic plantation estate on Woodyard Road east of Clinton, Maryland. It was built in the 1780s for Prince George's County planter Robert Darnall. The five-part Georgian mansion retains a number of subsidiary buildings including a slave's hospital and a dovecote. The property is now operated as a museum by a local nonprofit preservation group. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

First Unitarian Church (Baltimore, Maryland) United States historic place

The First Unitarian Church is a historic church and congregation at 12 West Franklin Street in Baltimore, Maryland. Dedicated in 1818, it was the first building erected for Unitarians in the United States. The church is a domed cube with a stucco exterior. The church, originally called the "First Independent Church of Baltimore", is the oldest building continuously used by a Unitarian congregation. The name was changed in 1935 to "The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore " following the merger with the former Second Universalist Church at East Lanvale Street and Guilford Avenue in midtown Baltimore. The American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America (established 1866) representing the two strains of Unitarian Universalism beliefs and philosophies merged as a national denomination named the Unitarian Universalist Association in May 1961.

College of Medicine of Maryland United States historic place

The College of Medicine of Maryland, or also known since 1959 as Davidge Hall, is a historic domed structure in Baltimore, Maryland. It has been in continuous use for medical education since 1813, the oldest such structure in the United States. A wide pediment stands in front of a low, domed drum structure, which housed the anatomical theater. A circular chemistry hall was housed on the lower level under the anatomical theater.

Riversdale (Riverdale Park, Maryland) United States historic place

Riversdale, is a five-part, large-scale late Georgian mansion with superior Federal interior, built between 1801 and 1807. Also known as Baltimore House, Calvert Mansion or Riversdale Mansion, it is located at 4811 Riverdale Road in Riverdale Park, Maryland, and is open to the public as a museum.

Widehall United States historic place

Widehall is a historic and architecturally significant house in Chestertown, Kent County, Maryland. Built by Thomas Smyth III, 1769–1770, it is a contributing property in the Chestertown Historic District.

Hippodrome Theatre (Baltimore) United States historic place

The Hippodrome Theatre is a theater in Baltimore, Maryland.

Johnston Building (Baltimore, Maryland) United States historic place

Johnston Building was a historic wholesale building located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States designed by Jackson C. Gott. It is a five-story loft building constructed in 1880. The cast iron façade reflected the influence of the Queen Anne style. It housed wholesale companies dealing in tobacco, hats, shoes, clothing, and home and office furnishings, including Samuel Hecht, Jr. & Sons. It was demolished in 2002.

The Garrett Building United States historic place

The Garrett Building is a historic office building located at 233-239 Redwood Street, Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is a 13-story, limestone faced skyscraper which combines the Commercial style with Renaissance Revival detailing. It was designed and built in 1913 by the Baltimore architects J.B. Noel Wyatt and William G. Nolting for the Garrett and Sons investment banking company, a leading Baltimore financial institution offering a wide variety of services in several cities.

Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company United States historic place

Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company is a historic bank building in Baltimore, designed by the Baltimore architectural firm of Wyatt and Sperry and constructed in 1885. It has a brick-with-stone-ornamentation Romanesque Revival structure, with deeply set windows, round-arch window openings, squat columns with foliated capitals, steeply pitched broad plane roofs, and straight-topped window groups. The interior features a large banking room with a balcony, Corinthian columns and ornate wall plaster work.

Mother Seton House United States historic place

Mother Seton House is a historic home located on the grounds of St. Mary’s Seminary at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is a 2+12-story red brick house, similar to other small homes built in the early 19th century for the predominantly French community nearby. It was built in 1808 as the home of Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774–1821), the first American-born woman beatified and canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. In the 1960s it was restored to its original appearance through the efforts of a committee, which continues to operate the home as a museum. Mother Seton House is located adjacent to the St. Mary's Seminary Chapel.

Mount Vernon Mill No. 1 United States historic place

Mount Vernon Mill No. 1 is a historic cotton mill complex located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It was constructed between 1873 and 1918 and consists of four buildings situated along Jones Falls. The complex consists of three closely associated 19th century buildings and a 20th-century warehouse. There is a large, three-story brick Mill Building (1873); a two-story, brick, "L"-shaped Picker House (1873); a two-story, brick Store House ; and a later, reinforced-concrete warehouse (1918). It served as headquarters for Mount Vernon-Woodberry Mills, one of the world's largest producers of cotton duck.

Franklin Square Historic District (Baltimore, Maryland) United States historic place

Franklin Square Historic District is a national historic district in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is a 19th-century rowhouse neighborhood developed along a strict grid street pattern. A one square block, two and a half acre public park, Franklin Square, is a focal point for the area and the most elaborate rowhousing surrounds the square. The district contains approximately 1,300 buildings of which approximately 1,250 contribute to the significance of the historic district.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System  (#82001581)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Dorsey, John & Dilts, James D., Guide to Baltimore Architecture (1997) p. 151-2. Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Maryland ISBN   0-87033-477-8
  3. Stuart R. Keys, III (April 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Alex Brown Building" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  4. Simmons, Melody (May 19, 2021). "FX to film 'The Spook Who Sat By The Door' in downtown Baltimore". Baltimore Business Journal . Retrieved May 24, 2021 via WBAL-TV.