Walking Baltimore. Evan Balkan
a big soccer match taking place somewhere in the world, Claddagh’s Pub, on the square, is the best place in the city to take it in.) In the middle of it all is the statue to the father of Canton, Captain John O’Donnell, who settled in Baltimore-Town in 1780 and initiated trade between Baltimore and Canton, China, in 1785, thus the name. Of course, the local stress here is on the first syllable, “CAN-ton,” as opposed to the Chinese “Can-TON.” Most of Canton was originally O’Donnell’s waterside plantation. (It was on that plantation that local Betsy Patterson met Prince Jerome Bonaparte, Napoléon’s brother, in 1803. They married two years later. Archbishop Carroll presided over the ceremony.) Look for the unique “keyhole” house on the north edge of the square, just before S. Ellwood Ave. This private home stands out for its beautiful stone construction and circular covered entranceway.
After a respite in O’Donnell Square, continue heading east, toward the granite church on the east side of the square. This is the home of the Messiah English Lutheran Church, dating to 1890. Behind the church is the Canton branch of the Enoch Pratt Library. This branch, on the National Register of Historic Places, was one of the system’s four original branches and has been in continuous use since 1886, making it the city’s oldest branch. Its architect, Charles Carson, designed many Baltimore landmarks (including the Mount Vernon Methodist Church; see Walk 16) and was responsible for the keyhole house noted above. Note: the library is undergoing renovation slated to last until January 2014.
Continue moving east on O’Donnell St., taking note of Canton’s residential profile: tidy, two-story row homes of brick, stone, and the occasional Formstone (a type of cement designed to imitate stone). Be on the lookout also for painted screens (for the lowdown on painted screens and Formstone, both beloved institutions of Baltimore kitsch, see Walk 9: Patterson Park to Highlandtown). The houses here and on bordering blocks were built primarily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the large influx of blue-collar immigrant workers, mostly German, Greek, Irish, Polish, and Welsh. Later waves brought immigrants from farther east: Lithuanians, Russians, Ukrainians. As you move east, you’ll see one of the city’s most iconic images, the illuminated one-eyed Mr. Boh (see “Back Story” on the previous page). Eight blocks from the library is S. Conkling St., where you’ll find Natty Boh Tower, named for the adored local brew that has now been embraced by a younger generation of Baltimoreans both paying homage to the city’s past and celebrating its present quirkiness and charm.
You’re now in the heart of Brewers Hill, an up-and-coming neighborhood that has seen some thoughtful and inventive reuse. This area is where National Brewery and Gunther Brewery operated for decades, beginning in the 1880s, churning out Gunther, Hamms, National Bohemian, National Premium, and Schaefer, among other brands. One of National’s more popular outputs was Colt 45, named for Baltimore Colts running back Jerry Hill, #45. It was here that the six-pack was invented, revolutionizing (cheap) beer consumption. Now, the old complex is used for retail, office, light industrial, and residential use, but reminders of its brewing past abound, with great nostalgia-inducing signage attached to the old brick buildings. To wander around the place, you can go one block north on S. Conkling, to Dillon St., and take a right. Here, breweriana abounds.
Return to S. Conkling and head south, toward the harbor. Take the first right onto Elliott St., at the massive, brick Hamms Brewery building. Elliott St. reflects Canton’s waterside roots, as the street was named for Jesse Duncan Elliott, the superintendent of the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
Take your first left onto S. Baylis St. (Conkling and Baylis are the names of past leaders of the industrial Canton Company, as are street names Leakin and Gwynne). It was at the corner of O’Donnell and Baylis where George Pabst opened a small brewery in 1860. The next block south is Toone St., named in honor of a local saloon owner who in the early 1820s owned Toone’s Pleasure Gardens, where patrons could grab a drink and watch the races at the nearby tracks. Boston St. is the next block, and across Boston is Canton Crossing, where you began. If you’re up for it, follow Clinton St. all the way south another quarter mile or so to its water end. A quarantine hospital used to stand here, as did a lighthouse. Visitors to Fort McHenry have no doubt noticed the Lehigh Cement Plant across the water; that is what stands at the end of Clinton St. now. Interestingly, so does the lighthouse, near the water’s edge in front of the cement plant off Mertens Ave. What you can see there now isn’t the original, however, which was constructed in 1831. Sadly, that lighthouse, Chesapeake’s first electric lighthouse, was demolished in 1926 after it was deemed superfluous. What stands there now is a faithful reproduction, erected in the 1980s.
John O’Donnell, Canton’s founder
BACK STORY
Few things scream Baltimore more than the one-eyed, mustachioed Mr. Boh, an icon since his introduction in 1936. Since its inception in 1885, National Bohemian has been proclaiming good tidings from “The Land of Pleasant Living.” The brand came packing wacky and wonderful cartoon pitchmen beyond the famous one-eyed barkeep, including an oyster, a turtle, a seagull or duck (or blue bird) wearing a ship captain’s hat, a pelican, and a vaguely colonial chap toting a banjo. All weirdness and all great fun. At one time, the brewery’s president also owned the Baltimore Orioles and the two became intertwined, with Natty Boh on tap at all O’s games. Yes, the O’s on the radio, a pile of crabs, and a case of Natty Boh: the essential ingredients for Baltimore nirvana.
CONNECTING THE WALKS
From the American Can Company complex, Patterson Park (Walk 9) is five blocks due north. Once on the Harbor Promenade, stay on it heading west and you’ll soon be in Fells Point (Walk 6).
POINTS OF INTEREST (START TO FINISH)
Clarence “Du” Burns Arena 1301 S. Ellwood Ave., 443-573-2450
Canton Waterfront Park 2903 Boston St.
Korean War Memorial Canton Waterfront Park, 2903 Boston St.
Bo Brooks 2701/150 Lighthouse Point, 410-558-0202
American Can Company thecancompany.com, 2400 Boston St., 443-573-4460
St. Casimir’s stcasimir.org, 2800 O’Donnell St., 410-276-1981
O’Donnell Square 2900 block of O’Donnell St.
Claddagh’s Pub claddaghonline.com, 2918 O’Donnell St., 410-522-4220
Messiah English Lutheran Church messiahodsq.com, 1025 South Potomac St., 410-324-4543
Enoch Pratt Free Library, Canton Branch prattlibrary.org/locations/canton, 1030 S. Ellwood Ave., 410-545-7130
Brewers Hill brewershill.net, Conkling St. to O’Donnell and Dillon Sts.
ROUTE SUMMARY
1 Start at Canton Crossing, S. Clinton St. south of Boston St.
2 Go north on S. Clinton and turn left onto Boston St.
3 Enter Canton Waterfront Park.
4 Head west on the Harbor Promenade.
5 Cross Boston St. north of Boston Street Pier Park.
6 Enter the American Can Company complex.
7 Go east on O’Donnell St.
8 Explore Brewers Hill at S. Conkling, O’Donnell, and Dillon Sts.
9 Go south