Baltimore Buildings – A Kilduff’s look
AAA Building Mount Royal Avenue and Cathedral Street
Razed
Built in 1917 : Torn down in 1972.
Started out as a Peerless Auto showroom. Later it housed the offices of the Automobile Club of Maryland offices. We have much more on Mount Royal Avenue and the old car dealerships on the Cars Link.
American Building
Baltimore and South Street ( Southwest corner )
| No longer used by the News American paper , which has long ceased operations, the building is still standing and appears to be in fine condition. |
B & O Building
Charles Street and Baltimore Street
( Northwest Corner )
Still in use – Converted into a hotel.
BBQ Building
Dundalk Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland
The BAR-B-Q Building is still standing , on Dundalk Avenue, just south of Eastern Avenue. The building has since been converted into a used car dealership, but is currently vacant. The “BAR-B-Q” lettering was removed several years ago.
BG&E Building
Lexington Street @ Liberty Street
Building is still standing and I think it was converted into apartments. There is a lot of development is planned for this area along Lexington Street .
Boumi Temple
North Charles Street
Built in 1960
Razed
The Boumi Temple on Charles Street at Wyndhurst seemed to be one of those buildings you always saw and figured would be there forever. Situated on a nice parcel of land, away from downtown in a heavy residential area, the building, which spread over acres and had rooms, ballrooms and meeting rooms all over, looked like something out of the Wizard of Oz. The building was razed in the late 1990’s as Loyola College built a sports complex on the site.
Bromo Tower
The Giant bottle which had been perched on top was removed in 1936, as it had been developing cracks. The building is still in use, minus the giant bottle on top. The tower was built in 1911 and was the tallest building in Baltimore until the 1930’s, towering at 357 feet. The bottle that had been on the top of the building was 51 feet tall, 20 1/2 feet in diameter, and weighed 17 tons. It was designed to revolve at 107 feet a minute, which is about two minutes for a complete rotation, and could be seen for 20 miles, using 596 lights within the bottle and around it. I’m still trying to locate the year the bottle was removed from the top of the building.
Candler Building ( Coca Cola Building )
Also seen called the Chandler Building
Still in use
The Candler Building is one of the survivors in Downtown Baltimore. Also known as the Coca Cola Building for years ( They had their offices here ) , the building was intended to look like the drawing seen below, but for reasons unknown, as built like the postcard to the left. The background on the postcard is off, as the Chandler Building, while a bit to the East of most of Downtown’s buildings, has never stood alone like this card would suggest. The building is still open and appears to be doing quite well today . It was also used for many years as the Social Security Offices, before they moved out to Woodlawn.
In 1945, a man jumped to his death from the top of the building. In 1940, the building was used by the Federal Government and Social Security. Also in 1943, one article mentioned that over 3,000 women worked at the Candler Building, work that consisted of jobs where they would “punch holes in little cards.” The rumor back then was that after the War, they would be moving back to Washington DC, but in later years the move was actually to Woodland, in the Northwest of Baltimore. In later years, 4,300 employees worked out of the building, which was said to have cramped work conditions and required two shifts to cut back on crowding.
Calvert Building
Razed
The Calvert Building, SE corner of St. Paul and Fayette Streets. Built, 1900, to a design of Sperry, York and Sawyer, it was restored after the 1904 fire but later razed in 1971. Talk in 1971 was about using the site of the Calvert Building for a 60 car parking garage. In 1962, there was talk of using the building for Court and City Offices.
Clifton Hall
Druid Hill Avenue ( near Retreat Street )
A building with quite a history from what I understand, an old meeting hall. These days, it sits sadly neglected and boarded up, but it still stands.
1890 – A meeting of residents in the area was mentioned for the hall.
1891 – an ad was found for the Clifton Hall Dancing Academy. Some ads show it on Druid Hill “Extended”.
Another ad offers a church service there.
In 1892, a fire at Clifton Hall caused $50. of damage.
1903 – a meeting of Baltimore Democrats was posted.
1911 , the building and lot were listed for sale in an auction.
Other ads showed a Clifton Hall on Regester Street at Federal (1900)
Another of the same name was listed at Harford Avenue and Jackson St. (1912)
Baltimore City Circuit Court House
Still in use
Years back, there were complaints about the Circuit Court Building in downtown Baltimore City. It was renovated on the inside a few years back, but the air quality inside has been said to be poor. For now though, there is no talk about replacing the structure, which to this day, along with the ” old post office” across the street, continue to serve as Baltimore’s Circuit Courthouses
Baltimore City Hall Building
City Pier Fell’s Point Baltimore
Still standing !
If you remember the Television show ” Homicide “, this was the building of which you were to believe was the Police Headquarters. There was a Baltimore Police door decal on the front doors from the filming days. However, the building has never been used as a police building except perhaps for a police boat to dock at, and has always been listed as the Recreation Pier. At the foot of Broadway, parking in this area is tough, but the old building is still in nice condition ( on the outside ) , although I’ve heard rumors the foundation may have some issues. Currently appears to be used by the City.
UPDATE ! Converted to a luxury Hotel !
Civic Center
Liberty and Fayette Streets
Opened in the early 1960’s. In 1964, there were two
performances at the Civic Center by the Beatles. There’s more on the Civic Center on Kilduff’s Sports Page. The building is actually built on the site of the ” old Congress Hall”, which held a place in history regarding the Country back in 1776. Before this site was selected, there were several locations discussed, including the old Carlin’s Park Site near Park Circle ( Northwest ) , and Druid Hill Park.
While it’s not used for all of these events, when it opened, promoters were presenting all types of uses for the building, including : auto shows, basketball games, circuses, dances, motion pictures, xylophone recitals and zebra shows. . In 1964 , A James Brown Concert ended in three youths being stabbed and one shot. Also in 1964, the Beatles had two performances there. In 1965, Shows were on the schedule for the Rolling Stones and Peter, Paul & Mary. Also in 1965, there was debate about removing the permanent stage, to increase the seating there. In 1970 , the City banned Rock and Soul Artists from performing at the Civic Center. Elvis played there in 1975
( I have no idea where they got the last two, but they are listed in the program for the opening of the Civic Center. ) The building is still used quite often, but every few years, talk comes up for replacing it .
Continental Trust Building
The Mercantile Trust Building was at One South Calvert Street in Baltimore. It was build in 1901 as the Continental Trust Building. Daniel H. Burnham & Co. were the architects. The building was at the hottest point of the 1904 fire and totally consumed. However, the steel frame survived, allowing the existing structure to be rebuilt. By the year 2000 the building was known as One Calvert Plaza. Burham had been the major architect of the “White City” during the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1892. He later designed the Union Station in Washington, DC.
Cyclorama Building
Mount Royal & Maryland Avenue ( Northeast Corner ) 
In 1889, The Cyclorama was listed as the ” White Iron Cyclorama Building ” where you could see a display of the Battle of Gettysburg, a ” Most Impressive Scene “according to the ad. The Building appears to have been a meeting hall of sorts and in 1890 , under ” Amusements ” in the paper , stated “The Battle of Gettysburg ” was being displayed. and housed wild animals in it’s later years, in what was best described as a zoo. The building housed displays of a ” Circus, a stable, and an animal show, and was called the ” home of the Zoo” in several articles.
There was a fire in February 1901,which killed most of the animals ( 300 ) and destroyed the building , with the only surviving animals being ” Big Liz” , an elephant, a camel and two donkeys.
Several animals were lucky as they had been shipped in to nearby Bolton Depot, but had yet to make the final part of the trip to the Cyclorama and were still at the Bolton Depot waiting to be picked up. They included several Sambur Deer from China, a buck and baby deer. Lost in the fire were among others, eight polar Bears, “Wallace” the untameable Lion, Fatima, the dancing bear, Juno the lioness with cubs, ” Cuba” the tiny horse, and ” Jolly” the elephant. ( Actually , Jolly had passed a few months earlier and his stuffed head was still at the Zoo and was destroyed )
After the building was destroyed, there was much talk about what to do with the site, and there was much said about the animals and how the building was a less than enjoyable site to visit back then. The owner of the building wanted to rebuild the Site as a Zoo, but did not appear to get the backing of the people in the area. Reading papers in the following years, the idea of Zoos was not getting the support of people after seeing the animals dying the way they did. In 1905, the site was bought and a large garage was built on same. The area would become one of Baltimore’s more popular car dealer locations. It is now the site of the University of Baltimore Campus.
Fidelity & Deposit Co.
If you look carefully at the facade of this building, you can see the outline of the older Fidelity & Deposit Building. The ” newer ” building was built around the old building.
| Fifth Regiment Armory ( and Convention Hall ) West Hoffman & Howard St. Still in use. This neat old building was used for years for the traveling Circus shows , car shows, etc. The roof caught fire years ago, and has since been replaced with a flat one, but the building stands to this day and looks to be in great condition. The Fifth Regiment Armory was built on the site of the old Bolton Estate. |
Flatiron Building
Circa 1914
Baltimore & Liberty Streets
I believe this building was located around Key Highway, with this picture being circa 1919. Not quite sure the history of the building, or if it stands today, but found it in an old book but thought it was neat. There was also a ” Half Flat Iron ” building in Baltimore at Baltimore and Clay Streets that attracted attention back in 1912. 
Garrett Building
Greyhound Bus Station
Part of Maryland Historical Society Complex
Hansa Haus
Charles Street and Redwood Street
Opened around 1912 for a steamboat line for booking shipping.
Back in 1974, there was talk of tearing down the building.
In the 1980’s , the building was used by W. Bell & Co. , a catalog retailer.
In the 1990’s talks were afloat of making the building into a brewery.
Currently used by a area bank .
Hazazer’s Hall
111 West Franklin Street
Razed
Had been one of the City’s oldest dance halls. Known also as the Maryland Dancing Academy. Also had been used as a Catholic orphanage. Articles about Hazazer’s Hall referenced a marriage at the hall in 1921. In 1926, The word was that the old hall would be torn down for a ” business building ” . Razed in the mid 1920’s, for the building of the new Pratt Library Central Branch.
Industrial Building – “Beehive Building”
Greenmount Avenue and Preston Street
Apartment Building
This building was built as a complex of various businesses being put into the same building, sharing resources and commonly being known back in the 1920’s as the ” Beehive building ” , for all the activity the various small businesses had within the building. Over the years, the building was converted into housing and still stands to this day. There was another building on the City in 1910 which was also known as a “Beehive Building” , the Riddlemoser Building which was located at Hanover and Fayette Streets.
IOOF Building Hall
Druid Hill Avenue
When I first saw this building, I thought it was a old bank. Later, I found out it was an old IOOF Meeting hall, but that’s all I know about it so far. I have yet to find it mentioned in a book or directory.
Keyser Building
Redwood Street
Built in 1905 ( After Baltimore Fire )
Lake Clifton
2801 St Lo Drive , Clifton Park
Lake Montebello Pump House
Thomas & Thompson Building – Baltimore City – Baltimore & Light Street (Planned 1904)
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