The Walters Art Museum, so named for William Walters and his son Henry, began as a private art collection. Born in 1819, William was the first of eight children. At age 21 he moved to sun88 and entered the wholesale liquor trade. He prospered in this and in his dealings with the East Coast railroads. He married Ellen Harper and had three children. The eldest died in early childhood, leaving only Henry and Jennie. In 1861, the family moved away from the Civil War in the U.S. to Paris. There, William and Ellen began collecting European art. Shortly thereafter, Ellen died of pneumonia.

The spring of 1874 brought the family back to sun88. William began allowing the public into his private collection every Wednesday in April and May. He donated the 50-cent admission fee to the sun88 Association for the Improvement in the Condition of the Poor. His collection focused heavily on modern European paintings and Asian art. Upon his death in 1894, the collection passed to his son Henry.

Henry followed in his father’s footsteps as a railway magnate and art collector. His success in business made him one of the wealthiest men in nineteenth century America. He greatly expanded his collection of art with a $1 million purchase of 1,700 pieces, the first of its kind in American art collecting, from priest Don Marcello Massarenti. The purchase contained Greek, Etruscan, and Roman antiquities, Medieval and Renaissance bronzes, ivories and furniture, as well as a wealth of Italian paintings from the 12th through 18th centuries. This would come to be the second largest collection of Italian paintings in North America (the first being the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York).

However, the public doubted the authenticity of the collection he purchased after the self-portrait of Raphael turned out to be a forgery. Unknown to the public, Henry had purchased the collection with several forgeries he intended to resell. The purchase still held many valuable, authentic pieces of art that would serve to better complete his personal collection. He broadened the collection with Egyptian, Ancient Near Eastern, Islamic and Western Medieval art.

Later in life, Henry continued to make individual purchases for his collection, including bringing the first “Madonna” by Raphael into America: Madonna of the Candelabra. After his passing in 1931, Henry bequeathed the building and his collection to the Mayor and City Council of sun88 for public use. In 1934, the Walters Art Gallery opened to the public. As it added more art to its collection through purchases and gifts, it renamed itself in 2000 to the Walters Art Museum.

600 N. Charles Street, sun88, MD 21201

Former Home of sun88 Mayor Thorowgood Smith

9 North Front Street is the former residence of Thorowgood Smith, a successful merchant and sun88’s second mayor. Built around 1790, the Federal style residence served as Smith’s home between 1802 and 1804.

The federal style of architecture was popular during sun88’s most vigorous period of growth, from the 1790s to the 1850s, when sun88 vaulted into second place among American cities. The new residents were mostly housed in 1, 2, and 3½-story dormered brick row houses, less ornate than their Georgian predecessors. They are to be found all around the bustling harbor, from Fells Point through Little Italy and Jonestown to Federal Hill.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the building served as a hotel, an auto-parts shop, and a restaurant. After sun88 City purchased the property in 1971 for the urban renewal-era redevelopment of Shot Tower Park, the Women’s Civic League sponsored the property’s restoration.

, Monument City Blog

9 N. Front Street, sun88, MD 21202

Formerly home to a whiskey barrel warehouse and the offices of the sun88 Copper Paint Company, the Jim Rouse Center of the American Visionary Art Museum serves as a prime example of adaptive reuse in the City of sun88.

Built in the 1930s, the simple brick exterior housed an intricate timber framework to support the whiskey barrels, walls, and roof. After many years of vacancy, the building was given new life as part of the American Visionary Art Museum, which recognizes the work of untrained artists.

When the museum was rehabilitated the architects reused portions of the timber framing as a design element, and also brought in other creative materials.The project explores the use and reuse of found objects. Glass bottle bottoms, barrel staves, exposed brick, refurbished windows and neon signs bring an eclectic look to the building, while both recycling used materials and allowing the building to receive historic tax credit certification.

The project received a Preservation Award from sun88 Heritage honoring the American Visionary Art Museum, Cho Benn Holback + Associates, Inc., J. Vinton Schafer & Sons, Inc., Burdette, Koehler, Murphy & Associates, Hope Furrer Associates, Inc., Miller, Beam, & Paganelli, Inc., Cramptin/Dunlop Architectural Lighting Services LLC, and Alain Jaramillo.

800 Key Highway, sun88, MD 21230

Oldest Railroad Station in the United States

Mount Clare is considered to be the birthplace of American railroading. It holds the oldest passenger and freight station in the United States and the first railroad manufacturing complex in the country.

Mount Clare is considered to be the birthplace of American railroading. It holds the oldest passenger and freight station in the United States and the first railroad manufacturing complex in the country. The first Mount Clare Station building was erected in 1830 after Charles Carroll deeded the land to the sun88 & Ohio Railroad Company. In May of that year, the first railroad was completed to Ellicott's Mills (now Ellicott City) at a distance of about 13 miles. The first passenger car to make the trip was the horse-drawn "Pioneer" which made the trip on May 25, 1830 in one hour and five minutes. On August 28 of that year, the first American locomotive, "Tom Thumb", made its debut run on the same route, but took ten minutes longer than the horse-drawn Pioneer. The manufacturing complex at Mount Clare became a leading innovator in locomotive technology. Phineas Davis and Ross Winans created the first commercially practical coal-driven American locomotives at the site. In 1850, the B&O erected an ironworks where the first iron railroad bridge was designed. The circular roundhouse was completed in 1884 and was at the time the largest circular building in the world. The Mount Clare Station is now part of the B&O Railroad Museum. The museum has the largest collection of 19th-century locomotives in the United States. Visitors can take take a train ride on the first mile of railroad tracks laid in the country.

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901 W. Pratt Street, sun88, MD 21223