Monument City » War Memorial Plaza

Police Memorial (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:21:14 +0000

Location

E Baltimore Street & S President Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 25.51″ N 76° 36′ 20.80″ W

History

In 1972, Mayor William Donald Schaefer presented the Women’s Civic League, a local community service organization, with the idea of renovating the former residence of Baltimore’s second mayor, Thorowgood Smith. The house, built around 1794, is located next to the historic Phoenix Shot Tower directly behind the Police Memorial. Now known as Shot Tower Park, the small tract of land across the street from Police Headquarters contains one of the largest installations in honor of fallen officers in the United States. The memorial contains three statues, a large panel of inscribed names and various dedication plaques. Unveiled in 1978, the monuments face City Hall and War Memorial Plaza, adding to the dignified appearance of the downtown location.

Notes

Donald Pomerleau was Police Commissioner during the memorial’s construction. Pomerleau was hired by the International Association of Chiefs of Police in 1965, and sent to Baltimore to examine the city’s law enforcement system during the peek of the civil rights movement. He found the police force to be as corrupt and antiquated as any in the country. He spent the next fifteen years integrating officers and correcting the mistakes of his predecessors. Pomerleau retired from the force in 1981, three years after the memorial’s completion.

Nearby

Links

On Flickr & Panoramio
Baltimore Police Memorial Fund

War Memorial Building (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:36:03 +0000

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Location

N Gay Street & E Fayette Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 26.85″ N 76° 36′ 31.96″ W

History

Construction on the War Memorial Building at 101 North Gay Street began in 1921, and was completed four years later. The massive monument to Maryland’s soldiers that died in World War I is the work of Laurence Hall Fowler, a local architect who’s design won a competition held by officials for the commission. Directly across from Baltimore’s City Hall, the lot was chosen as part of the 1910 Olmstead plan to focus the city’s more important buildings into a civic plaza. Flanking the Neoclassical edifice are two aquatic war horse sculptures created by by Edmond R. Amateis that are said to depict “the might of America crossing the sea to come to the aid of the Allies.” Made of Indiana limestone, the horses, when viewed up-close, display fossils of marine organisms. Along the sides and back of the building are German cannons confiscated during WWI. In 1977, the memorial was rededicated to honor the state’s lost from both World Wars, the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Notes

Inside the building is an impressive banquet hall occupying the top floor. With high ceilings and room for hundreds of people, the vast open space is used for various events. Usually occupied by veteran’s groups and city or state politicians (the memorial is owned jointly between Baltimore and Maryland), the location has recently been used for fashion shows and movie sets. A gigantic mural depicting the “sacrifice to patriotism”, painted by Charm City artist R. McGill Mackall, covers the back wall. Throughout the auditorium are the names of the 1752 Maryland fatalities of WWI.

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Links

Baltimore City Fire Fighter’s Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:06:20 +0000

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Location

N Gay Street & E Lexington Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 29.05″ N 76° 36′ 33.06″ W

History

This monument dates from 1990 and is by artist Tylden Streett, who taught for a time at the Maryland Institute College of Art and was also responsible for the statue of Capt. John O’Donnell in Canton Square. The monument is dedicated to all members of the Baltimore City Fire Department, past, present and future. Erected by the Baltimore City Fire Fighter’s Monument Committee, the statue cost some $150,000, much of which was raised by private donations.

Notes

The statue stands at the north-east corner of War Memorial Plaza, outside of the plaza proper. A sister memorial to Baltimore City’s police lies just to the east across the terminus of the highway, within view of the Shot Tower.

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Links

Negro Heroes of the U.S. Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:30:58 +0000

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Location

War Memorial Plaza – Holliday Street, Between E Lexington Street & E Fayette Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 27.21″ N 76° 36′ 36.05″ W

History

Dedicated on May 30, 1972, this monument to African-American servicemen slain in the protection of their country is by artist James E. Lewis. Paid for by an anonymous donor, it stands on the west end of War Memorial Plaza, facing the magnificent War Memorial Building with its aquatic horse statues. Behind the statues rises Baltimore’s City Hall. This monument is sometimes also referred to as the Negro Soldier. The statue was originally installed on the north side of the Battle Monument, but opponents argued it would detract from the importance of that memorial, and it was moved to it’s current location.

Notes

On January 17, 2009, President-Elect Barack Obama came to War Memorial Plaza to deliver a well-attended speech in which he referenced Baltimore and Maryland’s historic role in the formation of the United States. The Negro Heroes statue stands on the former site of the Holliday Street Theatre, a famous playhouse where Junius and John Wilkes Booth once performed.

Nearby

Links

On Panoramio & Flickr
A close-up of the dedication plaque from the Engineer’s Guide to Baltimore
Entry for this monument on HMDB
Smithsonian entry