Hollins Market

Hollins Market is a neighborhood in the Sowebo area of Baltimore. It takes its name from the Hollins Market, the oldest public market building still in use in Baltimore City, which is located in the heart of the neighborhood. Like the adjacent neighborhood Pigtown, Hollins Market has long been considered one of Baltimore's most promising neighborhoods because of its proximity to University of Maryland, Baltimore Medical Center, the Interstate 95 business corridor, Camden Yards, Ravens Stadium, the Inner Harbor, and Downtown Baltimore. Major construction projects such as the University of Maryland Biopark and the pending renovation of the Lion Bros. factory have brought increased attention to the neighborhood.Similar to Pigtown, Hollins Market has a diverse mix of UMMC students, blue collar workers, artists, and commuters to Fort George G. Meade. Hollins Market is also home to the Sowebo Arts and Music Festival which draws hundreds of art and music lovers to the neighborhood every Memorial Day Weekend.

Union Square is a neighborhood located in the Sowebo area of Baltimore. It dates to the 1830s and includes a historic district of houses and commerce buildings.

The H. L. Mencken House was the home of Baltimore Sun journalist and author Henry Louis Mencken, who lived here from 1883 until his death in 1956. The Italianate brick row house at 1524 Hollins Street in Baltimore was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985. Mencken wrote of his home: "I have lived in one house in Baltimore for nearly 45 years. It has changed in that time, as I have—but somehow it still remains the same.... It is as much a part of me as my two hands. If I had to leave it I'd be as certainly crippled as if I lost a leg."After his death on January 26, 1956, his home was bequeathed to the University of Maryland. In 1983 the City of Baltimore acquired the H. L. Mencken House from the university, in exchange for the Old Pine Street Station. With period furniture, his restored second-floor office, and backyard gazebo, the H. L. Mencken House opened as part of the City Life Museums and a center for theatrical, literary and musical events. Although the City Life Museums closed in 1997, the landmark still displays a special commemorative plaque about its famous occupant. The organization "Friends of the H. L. Mencken House" led efforts of several groups to redirect and expand the use of it. A $3 million donation from retired naval commander Max Hency in 2018 allowed the organization to begin renovating the house, and it opened to the public in 2019, though only by prior reservation.It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1983.

Sowebo (South West Baltimore) is a community-chosen name for a historic area in the South West of Baltimore City. Sowebo encompasses the neighborhoods of Union Square and Hollins Market, Baltimore. At one point, the area suffered from decades of urban decay but, in recent years, this community has seen increasing gentrification. On its main thoroughfares, West Lombard Street, Hollins Street, West Baltimore Street and South Carey Streets, spacious three-story row houses predominate. Most are pre- and post-Civil War Italianate in style, but there are many examples of Early Victorian Greek Revival and Late Victorian Romanesque Revival [1]. A majority of these homes have ten- to fourteen-foot ceilings, tall distinctive windows, wood floors, and plaster walls. Exteriors are brick and mortar facades with cornices and marble steps. On side streets and alley streets (which are common in Baltimore) a variety of two-story and two-story-with-attic rowhouses are found. An uncommon synergy prevails in Sowebo as residents, both longtime and newly arrived, work together through various committees and forums to enhance the area's quality of life [2]. An annual arts festival, called the Sowebohemian Arts Festival, is held in the streets around Hollins Market on the Sunday afternoon of the Memorial Day weekend. The University of Maryland's BioPark is a recent addition, with portions still under construction. The state-of-the-art facility contrasts greatly with historic Sowebo, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (The Union Square/Hollins Market District [3]), as is the H.L. Mencken house [4], which is located in the neighborhood at 1524 Hollins Street. Photographer Martha Cooper moved back to her hometown of Baltimore in 2006 and bought a home close to Hollins Market from the artist John Ellsberry where she has become the unofficial "community photographer" for Sowebo. She launched her project with $3,300 of state funds granted through the nonprofit housing organization Southwest Visions. The photo project, with or without more funding, could continue for the rest of her working life, she says.[5]

The Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy (VTTMAA) is a public high school located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.

St. Luke's Church, is a historic Episcopal church located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is a Gothic Revival-style church that follows the dictates of the Ecclesiological Society reflecting English medieval building principles. It is composed of a tall nave, flanked by side aisles below a clerestory, and features a crenelated tower with lancet windows. Rose windows exist at the west end of the nave and along the clerestory. It was the largest Episcopal church in Baltimore upon its completion in 1851.St. Luke's Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

New Southwest/Mount Clare is a neighborhood in southwest Baltimore, Maryland.

Franklin Square Historic District is a national historic district in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is a 19th-century rowhouse neighborhood developed along a strict grid street pattern. A one square block, two and a half acre public park, Franklin Square, is a focal point for the area and the most elaborate rowhousing surrounds the square. The district contains approximately 1,300 buildings of which approximately 1,250 contribute to the significance of the historic district.It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Hollins–Roundhouse Historic District (also known as B-5144) is a national historic district in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is a primarily residential area characterized by 19th century rowhouses. The neighborhood is historically significant due to its association with the development of rail transportation in Maryland. Additional historical significance comes from the neighborhood's association with ethnic immigration to Baltimore. During the 1840s and 1850s the area was a center of settlement for Baltimore's German and Irish communities, many of whom immigrated to the United States to work in the rail industry. Later, from the 1880s to the 1920s, the neighborhood became established as the center of Baltimore's Lithuanian immigrant community. Because of the large Lithuanian population in the area north of Hollins Street, the area became known as Little Lithuania. A few remnants of the neighborhood's Lithuanian heritage still remain, such as Lithuanian Hall located on Hollins Street.It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 22, 2009.The district is "located directly north of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Mount Clare yard and shops on W. Pratt Street", so apparently does not include the Mt Clare Roundhouse, now the B&O Railroad Museum, i.e. the railway roundhouse which contributes to the district's name.

Pennsylvania Railroad 4876 was a GG1-class electric locomotive built in January 1939 at the PRR's Altoona Works in Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States. It is best known for being involved in an accident on January 15, 1953, when the locomotive overran a buffer stop, crashed into the concourse of Union Station in Washington, D.C., and fell partway into the basement after the train's brakes failed. Due to the major crowds expected for the upcoming inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 4876 was lowered the rest of the way into the basement and a temporary floor was erected overhead. After the inauguration, the locomotive's frame and superstructure was essentially scrapped on site, with all the reusable components shipped back to Altoona, Pennsylvania, to reconstruct a replacement 4876, which operated for another 30 years.

The Mount Clare Shops is the oldest railroad manufacturing complex in the United States, located in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1829. Mt. Clare was the site of many inventions and innovations in railroad technology. It is now the site of the B&O Railroad Museum. The museum and Mt. Clare station were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood High School is a public adult high school located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, part of the Baltimore City Public Schools. The school is named for Francis M. Wood, Baltimore's Director of Negro Schools from 1925 to 1943.