Baltimore is blessed to have a number of
beautiful urban parks, many interconnected as part of the Baltimore Greenway
Trails Network, ringing our city with a green canopy. A further treat is that
several of the parks, described below, contain impressive summer mansions built
in the mid-1800s by some of Baltimore’s most famous titans of industry and
recently faithfully restored. Taking a walk or hike through these parks gives
one a better understanding of the early history of our city.
Cylburn Arboretum/Tyson Mansion
Cylburn
Arboretum is a popular site for visitors, but they may not be aware of the
interesting history of the Park and its historic Mansion House. Located on
Greenspring Avenue just off Northern Parkway, the park began as the private
estate of Jesse Tyson, owner of the Baltimore Chromite Mining Company, one of
the largest chromite mining operations in the U.S, with mines located in Lake
Roland Park and the Soldiers Delight area in Baltimore County.
In 1863, Tyson
began construction of the Cylburn mansion as his summer home. Designed by
George Frederick, who also designed Baltimore City Hall, the mansion was built
in the Italianate renaissance revival style using serpentine stone from Mr.
Tyson's Bare Hills quarries along Falls Road. The building features a
wrap-around veranda, tall French windows, inlaid wood flooring, ornate plaster
work, marble fireplaces, imported tapestries, and a mansard roof.
After Mr. Tyson
died in 1906, his widow Edyth remarried and continued to live in the mansion
until her death in 1942 at which time the home and surrounding 200 acres were
purchased by Baltimore City. From 1943 to 1957, the property served as a refuge
for neglected children. In 1954, it became a Wilderness and Garden Center, and
in 1984 its name was officially changed to Cylburn Arboretum. In addition to
the mansion and surrounding gardens, the property, with its several miles of
nature trails and ornate statuary, includes a modern Visitor and Education
Center, a greenhouse, classroom, gazebo, and carriage house, which is planned
for renovation. Although the mansion is now closed because of COVID, the
gardens are worth a visit at any time of the year, especially in the spring
when the daffodils, tulips, and crocuses are in bloom. There is ample on-site
parking and most of the gardens are handicap accessible.
Gwynn Falls/Leakin Park/Orianda
The contiguous
1,200 acres of Gwynn Falls/Leakin Park are located entirely within the west
side of Baltimore City and constitute the largest woodland park in an East
Coast city. The park is part of the Baltimore National Heritage Area and is
notable for its diverse natural features marked by streams, valleys, old tall
tree stands, and meadows – reminiscent of a rocky, mountainous environment. Its
many well marked unpaved and paved trails are ideal for walking, running,
hiking, biking, and dog walking.
The park traces
its history to 1901 with the acquisition by the city of the Gwynn Falls
Reserve. Over the years, the park has greatly expanded by the annexation of
contiguous land, with much of the design of the park led by the Olmsted
Brothers Landscape Design firm (successors of the legendary landscape architect
Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park in NYC). The park, named for former
Baltimore City Mayor J. Wilson Leakin, has a number of attractions, including
the Murray Nature Center, tennis courts, playing fields, an avian rescue
facility, sculptures made from natural objects found in the park, and a working
miniature steam railroad with surrounding playground.
The Winans
Estate area of the park contains the Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School, the
Orianda Mansion, a honeymoon cottage, a wooden Gothic revival chapel, ruins of fort
and farm buildings as well as a huge iron water wheel. The Winans Estate area
has an interesting history. In the 1840s, Thomas DeLay Winans, son of the
builder of the B&O railroad, and his brother William traveled to Russia to
construct the country’s first railroad connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg.
While in Russia, Thomas met and married his French-Russian wife Celeste. Upon
returning home in the 1850s, Thomas purchased land, now the Winans Estate area
of Leakin Park, that he named Crimea, and upon which he built his summer home,
Orianda.
Work on
Orianda, a name derived from a resort town on the Crimean Peninsula, started in
1855 and was completed in 1858 at a cost of $9,170. A dollar obviously went a
lot further then. It is an almost square, three-story stone home built in the
Italianate style with double-decker porches along the main facade, a flat roof
and square central cupola. Adjacent to the house were a windmill, suspension
bridge, floodgate, gymnasium, and a gas manufacturing system. In 1931, Orianda
and 200 surrounding acres were purchased by Baltimore City for the park. The
mansion, which now houses offices of the Outward Bound program, is not open to
visitors. There is ample parking in this area of the park.
Clifton Park/Hopkins Mansion
Clifton Park is
a 266-acre urban park located in the northeastern section of Baltimore City.
The park, the site of an abandoned reservoir, now includes public clay tennis
courts, a swimming pool, and the City’s first public golf course. The major
feature of the park is the Johns Hopkins country estate. In 1802, Henry
Thompson, a wealthy merchant and revolutionary war hero, built a two-story
Georgian style farmhouse on this site. Later, in 1838, Johns Hopkins, a local
merchant and philanthropist, purchased the building and adjoining acreage to
use as his summer home. Between 1841 and 1853, Johns Hopkins had the building
expanded into a Victorian-era Italianate villa which he occupied until his
death in 1873. It is his only remaining home.
The mansion is
notable for a dramatic 80-foot tower with commanding views of Baltimore, a
porch arcade that wraps around three sides of the building, a black walnut
grand staircase, marble floors, intricate plaster work, and ornate hand-painted
ceilings and walls, including a room-size mural depicting the Bay of Naples.
Hopkins originally intended to locate the campus of his planned university on
the site, but a downtown location was selected, and in 1874, the University
sold the unused Clifton estate acreage to the City of Baltimore to add to its
growing park system.
Over the years,
the mansion has been used for multiple purposes, including the office and shop
for the golf course operation and the headquarters of the Department of
Recreation and Parks, but the property fell into disrepair. However, with local
philanthropic support, a multimillion dollar renovation of the mansion took
place, and the gorgeous mansion is now leased to a local service-based
non-profit (Civic Works) to use as its headquarters. Check the cliftonmansion.com
website for the availability of tours, both virtual and in person. There is
ample parking and the mansion is handicap accessible.
In addition to
the homes described above, there are a number of other historic buildings in
Baltimore parks that have been faithfully restored and, COVID permitting, are
well worth a visit. These include the 1868 Superintendent’s House and the 1890
Pagoda in Patterson Park, the 1801 Mansion House in the Baltimore Zoo, the 1763
Mount Clare Mansion in Carroll Park, and the stunning Victorian-style glass
Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park. Take the opportunity to get in some
exercise in great parks, view some of Baltimore's most historic homes, and
learn some of our city’s fascinating history.
