Merchants' Exchange Building (Baltimore)

Last updated
Merchants Exchange Building Baltimore Old Custom House.jpg
Merchants' Exchange Building, Baltimore c.1901
Merchants' Exchange Building (Baltimore)
Alternative namesBaltimore Custom House, Old Custom House
General information
Architectural style"Greco-Roman" (American Neoclassical)
Coordinates 39°17′19″N76°36′32″W / 39.2886°N 76.6088°W / 39.2886; -76.6088
Year(s) built1815–1820
Demolished1901–1902
Cost$200,000
Technical details
Size1,275,610 ft3
Design and construction
Architect(s) Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Maximilian Godefroy

The Baltimore Exchange Building, also known as the first Baltimore Custom House, the Merchants' Exchange Building, and the Baltimore Government Building was a structure in Maryland, United States that housed an eclectic array of commercial enterprises and government offices during the 19th century. The Merchants' Exchange Building site was bounded by Water Street, Gay Street, and Lombard Street.

Contents

Construction

"U.S. Bank - Exchange - Custom House" from Picture of Baltimore (1832) by John H. B. Latrobe via Johns Hopkins Digital Library Exchange Building - Picture of Baltimore (1832) JBH Latrobe via Johns Hopkins Digital Library 02.jpg
"U.S. Bank - Exchange - Custom House" from Picture of Baltimore (1832) by John H. B. Latrobe via Johns Hopkins Digital Library

The H-shaped Exchange Building was designed by Benjamin Latrobe and Maximilian Godefroy, [1] and constructed under the supervision of Jacob Small beginning in 1815. [2] The U.S. government paid for the erection of the custom-house wing in 1817. [3] The building opened to the public in 1820. [2]

1830s and 1840s

The Irish comedic actor Tyrone Power visited Baltimore in the 1830s and described the building as a handsome failure: [4]

The Merchants' Hall (usually called the Merchants Exchange) built by private subscription, has been a great failure with regard to the value of the stock. It is a noble building and of grand dimensions; the front being 255 feet by a depth of 140, having four stories, including the ground floor. The great hall, where the merchants daily assemble, is 86 by 53 feet, and lighted from the dome, whose summit is 90 feet from the floor. The sides of the hall are supported by columns of marble; each being a single block. An excellent newsroom, custom-house, and other public offices, adjoin. It was only built ten years since, at an expence of 200,000 dollars; but the original subscribers have sunk most of their money, from that part of the build ing which was constructed for letting out to shopkeepers and lawyers being unoccupied.

An 1845 advertisement marketing the hotel within the building promised "large and airy" rooms, and that it was "located convenient to all the PRINCIPAL STEAMBOAT LANDINGS and RAILROAD DEPOTS." [5]

Property of the federal government

In its day it was "the most important structure in Baltimore," even hosting the offices of Baltimore City Hall for a time. [6] The federal government acquired most (but not all) of the building with purchases in 1853 and 1857. [3] Before the American Civil War there was a hotel on the Gay Street side. [4] In 1884 a newspaper reporter interviewed an old American slave trader named Jack Campbell, and asked if he knew of any surviving remnants of the slave trade in the United States, and Campbell replied, "More than you'd think...Go into any Southern hotel that was built before the war and ask them to let you go down into the cellars. See if you don't find these old cells where the servants of travelers were shut up at night. The Baltimore Custom House was once a hotel, and there are more than two dozen cells under it now." [7]

Exchange Place, Baltimore, 1855 (Cator Collection via Digital Maryland) Digital Maryland Cator Collection Exchange Place, Baltimore, 1855.jpg
Exchange Place, Baltimore, 1855 (Cator Collection via Digital Maryland)

Funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln's body lay under the dome on April 21, 1865, during his multi-day funeral procession from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Illinois. [8] According to a history of U.S. federal buildings, the dome was "decorated with paintings of the Maryland coat of arms and seals, and representations of commerce and the 'Dignity of the United States,' and supported by 12 Ionic marble columns, quarried, cut, and polished in Italy." [3]

Post office building

Circa 1869, a directory of Baltimore described the Merchants' Exchange, located on Second and Gay Streets, and Exchange Place, as "a large and elegant structure...The whole is surmounted by an immense dome, the apex of which is 115 feet above the street. In the reading room, newspapers from all parts of the world may be found." Part of the building housed the post office, and the customs office occupied the south wing, at Gay and Lombard. [9] Circa 1874, the building hosted the offices of the U.S. customs collector, U.S. surveyor, and the U.S. internal revenue office. [10]

Demolition

At the turn of the century, it was "heated by hot water, open grates, and stoves. The number of rooms occupied is fifty-eight, assigned principally to the customs service, pension office, subtreasury, civil service, and Light-House Board." [3] The building was demolished in 1901 or 1902, and replaced with the new Customs House. [1] [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City Hall, Dublin</span> 18th-century civic building in Dublin, Ireland

The City Hall, Dublin, originally the Royal Exchange, is a civic building in Dublin, Ireland. It was built between 1769 and 1779, to the designs of architect Thomas Cooley, and is a notable example of 18th-century architecture in the city. Originally used by the merchants of the city, it is today the formal seat of Dublin City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">55 Wall Street</span> Building in Manhattan, New York

55 Wall Street, formerly the National City Bank Building, is an eight-story building on Wall Street between William and Hanover streets in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. The lowest three stories were completed in either 1841 or 1842 as the four-story Merchants' Exchange and designed by Isaiah Rogers in the Greek Revival style. Between 1907 and 1910, McKim, Mead & White removed the original fourth story and added five floors to create the present building. The facade and part of the interior are New York City designated landmarks, and the building is listed on both the New York State Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as a National Historic Landmark. It is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, listed on the NRHP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School Street</span> Street in Boston, Massachusetts, United States

School Street is a short but significant street in the center of Boston, Massachusetts. It is so named for being the site of the first public school in the United States. The school operated at various addresses on the street from 1704 to 1844.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Proctor Kane</span> American politician (1817–1878)

George Proctor Kane was an American politician and policeman. He is best known for his role as Marshal of Police during the Baltimore riot of 1861 and his subsequent imprisonment at Fort McHenry and Fort Warren without the benefit of habeas corpus. His position as Marshal of Police and his southern sympathies were two of many factors in Abraham Lincoln's decision in February 1861 to pass through Baltimore surreptitiously on his way to Washington to be inaugurated, in order to avoid a possible assassination attempt. Despite his politics, Kane was instrumental in providing protection and an escort for Mary Todd Lincoln on her arrival in Baltimore in February 1861 on her way to the inauguration of her husband, who had preceded her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clifton Park, Baltimore</span> United States historic place

Clifton Park is a public urban park and national historic district located between the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello and Waverly neighborhoods to the west and the Belair-Edison, Lauraville, Hamilton communities to the north in the northeast section of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is roughly bordered by Erdman Avenue to the northeast, Sinclair Lane to the south, Harford Road to the northwest and Belair Road to the southeast. The eighteen-hole Clifton Park Golf Course, which is the site of the annual Clifton Park Golf Tournament, occupies the north side of the park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore City Circuit Courthouses</span> Building in Baltimore City, United States of America

The Baltimore City Circuit Courthouses are state judicial facilities located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. They face each other in the 100 block of North Calvert Street, between East Lexington Street on the north and East Fayette Street on the south across from the Battle Monument Square (1815-1822), which held the original site of the first colonial era courthouse for Baltimore County and Town, after moving the Baltimore County seat in 1767 to the burgeoning port town on the Patapsco River established in 1729-1730.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore City Hall</span> Official seat of government of Baltimore, Maryland, US

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Unitarian Church (Baltimore, Maryland)</span> United States historic place

The First Unitarian Church is a historic church and congregation at 12 West Franklin Street in Mount Vernon, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riversdale (Riverdale Park, Maryland)</span> Historic house in Maryland, United States

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.

The Baltimore bank riot of 1835 took place in Baltimore, the major port city of Maryland. It was a violent reaction to the failure of the Bank of Maryland in 1834. Thousands of citizens had lost millions of dollars in savings. The riot, which lasted from 6 to 9 August, attacked the homes and property of a number of former directors of the bank, who had been accused of financial misconduct and fraud, as well as the federal district courthouse located on Battle Monument Square. The Baltimore bank riot was one of the most violent and destructive events of civic unrest in any American city prior to the Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maximilian Godefroy</span> French-American architect

J. Maximilian M. Godefroy was a French-American architect. Godefroy was born in France and educated as a geographical/civil engineer. During the French Revolution he fought briefly on the Royalist side. Later, as an anti-Bonaparte activist, he was imprisoned in the fortress of Bellegarde and Château d'If then released about 1805 and allowed to come to the United States, settling in Baltimore, Maryland, where he became an instructor in drawing, art and military science at St. Mary's College, the Sulpician Seminary. By 1808, Godefroy had married Eliza Crawford Anderson, editor of her own periodical, the Observer and the niece of a wealthy Baltimore merchant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Custom House (Baltimore)</span> United States historic place

U.S. Custom House is a historic custom house building located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is a granite, steel-frame structure measuring 252 feet 8 inches (77.01 m) by 139 feet 6 inches (42.52 m). It is an exceptionally distinguished example of Beaux Arts architecture and was built from 1903 through late 1907 from plans by Hornblower and Marshall, a Washington, D.C. firm. The ceiling of the Call Room, located in the pavilion, was painted by Francis Davis Millet (1846–1912). It served as Baltimore's Custom House until 1953. Since that time various Federal agencies have occupied the building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bartlett-Hayward Company</span> Former American metalworking company

Bartlett-Hayward Company was an American metalworking company with large foundry, fabrication, and construction business lines, located in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in the 1830s, it was independent until 1925 and since 1927 was owned by Koppers, of which it remained a division long afterward.

African Academy, the first permanent school in Baltimore, Maryland for African Americans. It was located at 112–116 Sharp Street, between Lombard and Pratt.

Rev. Hope Hull was an American minister. He was considered the founder of the Methodist Church in the U.S. state of Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slave markets and slave jails in the United States</span>

Slave markets and slave jails in the United States were places used for the slave trade in the United States from the founding in 1776 until the total abolition of slavery in 1865. Slave pens, also known as slave jails, were used to temporarily hold enslaved people until they were sold, or to hold fugitive slaves, and sometimes even to "board" slaves while traveling. Slave markets were any place where sellers and buyers gathered to make deals. Some of these buildings had dedicated slave jails, others were negro marts to showcase the slaves offered for sale, and still others were general auction or market houses where a wide variety of business was conducted, of which "negro trading" was just one part.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Kephart</span> American slave trader (1811–1888)

George Kephart was a 19th-century American slave trader, land owner, farmer, and philanthropist. A native of Maryland, he was an agent of the interstate trading firm Franklin & Armfield early in his career, and later occupied, owned, and finally leased out that company's infamous slave jail in Alexandria. In 1862, Henry Wilson of Massachusetts mentioned Kephart by name in a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate as one of the traders who had "polluted the capital of the nation with this brutalizing traffic" of selling people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Hotel (Washington, D.C.)</span> Historic building (1850–1935)

The Metropolitan Hotel at Pennsylvania Avenue and Sixth Street NW in Washington, D.C. was a major hotel of the capital city of the United States from 1863 to 1933. Built in 1850 by the heirs of Jesse Brown, the Metropolitan was "brick with marble veneer, originally five stories, approx[imately] twenty bays." In its day it was home "to many distinguished congressmen and visitors." The Metropolitan had a reputation as the hotel of politicians from the Southern states.

References

  1. 1 2 "Representation of the Merchants Exchange, Baltimore, Maryland". Maryland Center for History and Culture. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  2. 1 2 Jackson, Joseph (1924). "Development of American Architecture: VII, South of Mason Dixon's Line". Building: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Building Industry. Builders' Exchange and Employers' Association. pp. 17–19 via Google Books.
  3. 1 2 3 4 A history of public buildings under the control of the Treasury Department. pp. 258–259. hdl:2027/nyp.33433065919171 . Retrieved 2023-09-11 via HathiTrust.
  4. 1 2 "Baltimore as seen by visitors, 1783-1860". HathiTrust. pp. 125 (Power), 170 (hotel). hdl:2027/uc1.c106078721 . Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  5. "Exchange Hotel, Exchange Place, Baltimore". Advertiser and Register. 1845-01-10. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  6. Brugger, Robert J. (1996-09-25). Maryland, A Middle Temperament: 1634-1980. JHU Press. p. 188. ISBN   978-0-8018-5465-1.
  7. "The Last of His Kind: Talk with an Old Slave-Seller Who Lags Superfluous on the Stage". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 1884-05-24. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-09-11 via Newspapers.com.
  8. Picone, Louis L. (2020-02-04). The President Is Dead!: The Extraordinary Stories of Presidential Deaths, Final Days, Burials, and Beyond (Updated ed.). Simon and Schuster. p. 119. ISBN   978-1-5107-5454-6.
  9. A guide to the book of Baltimore : its public buildings, places of amusement, commercial, benevolent, and religious institutions ... with a map of the city. ... 1869. hdl:2027/osu.32435012300935 . Retrieved 2023-09-11 via HathiTrust.
  10. "Strangers' hand guide to Baltimore city". HathiTrust. 1874. pp. 7–13. hdl:2027/loc.ark:/13960/t25b0js27 . Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  11. Fazio, Michael W.; Snadon, Patrick A. (2006-06-19). The Domestic Architecture of Benjamin Henry Latrobe. JHU Press. p. 580. ISBN   978-0-8018-8104-6.