Cathedral Hill Historic District - Baltimore MD - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The GPS coordinates, address and photos are the YWCA building on 126-128 West Franklin Street. The building is now the Women’s Leadership School.

From the National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form:

"The Cathedral Hill Historic District is significant to Baltimore for it contains several of the most important 19th century religious and institutional structures built in Baltimore, as well as the heart of the city’s elite retail district of the early to mid 20th century. The architectural quality of the District is epitomized by the nationally recognized Basilica of the Assumption, the First Unitarian Church, the Franklin Street Presbyterian Church, and Old St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Partly in response to the elegance and quality of these buildings and the prestigious residential neighborhood which grew around them, fraternal orders and social organizations erected large, well-designed headquarters buildings in the Cathedral Hill District. These included the Masonic order in 1867, the YMCA in 1873, and a second YMCA building in 1907, the International Order of Odd Fellows in 1891, and the YWCA in 1915. The 200-500 blocks of North Charles Street included in the District developed from a wealthy residential neighborhood in the mid-19th century to the most elegant retail district by the early 20th century. The previously established sophistication in architectural design, the "carriage trade" clientele, and the upsurge in building in the aftermath of the 1904 fire in the Baltimore business district produced an almost continuous line of stone and brick façades on Charles Street which led to its being described as the "rue de la Paix" or "Fifth Avenue" of Baltimore. With few intrusions, the Cathedral Hill District retains the character of a unique mixed neighborhood of churches, institutions, and commercial buildings. In the area of religion, the Basilica of the Assumption is nationally significant in its own right as the first Roman Catholic cathedral erected in the United States. The First Unitarian Church is similarly important as the first structure built for a Unitarian group in America. On a local level, the Old St. Paul’s Church symbolizes the oldest Episcopal parish in Baltimore, established in 1692. The Odd Fellows Hall was the national headquarters of the social and fraternal order from 1891 until the mid-20th century. The Women’s Industrial Exchange on North Charles Street is significant in both the social/humanitarian field and in architecture, founded to aid destitute women after the Civil War and occupying since 1899 a mid-19th century rowhouse with few alterations."

Street address: 126-128 W. Franklin Street Baltimore, MD United States 21201 County / Borough / Parish: Baltimore (Independent City) Year listed: 1987 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1925-1949, 1900-1924, 1875-1899, 1850-1874, 1825-1849, 1800-1824, 1750-1799 Historic function: Commerce/Trade,Domestic,Religion,Social Current function: Commerce/Trade, Religion, Social Privately owned?: yes 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   08/30/2021 Don.Morfe visited it 06/28/2020 Searcher28 visited it

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