Howard Park P.S. 218 - Baltimore MD - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES REGISTRATION FORM

Howard Park P.S. 218 at 4801 Liberty Heights Avenue in Baltimore City, Maryland is an early twentieth century brick school building located in the intact historic west Baltimore neighborhood of Howard Park.

Situated on a 2.78 acre lot at the intersection of Liberty Heights, Howard Park, and Woodbine Avenues, this school is one of the remaining physical and visual anchors of this early twentieth century residential neighborhood that developed along Liberty Heights Avenue, one of the main western thoroughfares from Baltimore County into Baltimore city. The building footprint occupies the northeastern two-thirds of the property, with grass and sparse landscaping to the east, and a large concrete parking lot to the southwest.

The entire polygonal lot is enclosed by a chain-link fence. Two residential lots in the northwestern corner of the site complete the block. P.S. #218 was built in three phases over a period of fifty years. The earliest school building was constructed in 1908 and enlarged in 1913, in a vernacular Neo-classical style. In 1936, the building was again enlarged with a two-story, nine-classroom vernacular Art Deco addition to the southwest. Finally, in 1957, the school was expanded once again with a modern addition to the northwest.

Both the 1908/1913 and 1936 sections of the school are built of brick and accented with limestone details, visually uniting the construction phases. The school's building phases are as distinguished, both stylistically and materially, on the interior as they are on the exterior. The original 1908/13 school retains its large classrooms that typically feature decorative metal ceilings, built-in wood cabinets and maple hardwood floors. The changing attitudes of school design of the 1920s and 30s is reflected in the sanitary glazed brick surfaces and plainly detailed classrooms of the 1936 addition.

A 1957 addition stands to the west of the historic building. The impact of the addition on the integrity of the historic resource is minimal as the addition is connected to the 1936 building by a single narrow corridor off a secondary elevation. Other than this connection point, the historic resource is freestanding and independent of the addition.

Street address: 4801 Liberty Heights Avenue Baltimore, MD United States 21207 County / Borough / Parish: Baltimore (Independent City) Year listed: 2000 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1925-1949, 1900-1924 Historic function: Education Current function: Social, Vacant/Not In Use Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/10/2021 Don.Morfe visited it 05/16/2021 Searcher28 visited it

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