black bar with nps.gov title, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior and the arrowhead

History & Culture Home

Search
History & Culture
Search nps.gov
History and Culture title graphic
 

Built To Last: Ten Enduring Landmarks of Baltimore’s Central Business District

 

Peale Museum1. Peale Museum
225 North Holliday Street
(1814-6, Robert Cary Long, Sr.; 1930, John Henry Scarff, architects)

Designed as Rembrandt Peale's Baltimore Museum, the three-story brick structure originally housed exhibits of art and scientific curiosities (including a mastodon skeleton). It also served as a lecture hall and the residence of Peale and his immediate family until financial difficulties forced Peale to vacate the site in 1829. Remodeled in 1830, the building served as Baltimore's City Hall until the completion of the present City Hall in 1878, at which time the building was then converted for use as the city's "Colored" School No. 1. From 1889 to 1930, the building served as municipal offices and, later, as a paint factory. Public outcry against the proposed demolition of the building led the city to rehabilitate the property in 1930 for use as the Municipal Museum of the City of Baltimore (later called the Peale Museum). It has been unoccupied since 1997. For more information download the Peale Museum.PDF file. (211 KB)

Next Site