Skip to content
Boots

Towson Walking Tour

  • Home
  • Sites

    Towson Walking Tour

    Other Sites of Interest

    • Baltimore County Courthouse
    • Black & Decker
    • Historic East Towson
    • MA & PA Overpass
    • Olympic Park
    • Prospect Hill Cemetery
    • The Schmuck House
    • Shealey Family Cemetery
    • Towson Armory
    • Towson Library
    • Towson Tavern Site
    • Wayside Cross
    • York & Joppa Roads
    • Lynching of Howard Cooper
    • Sheppard Pratt
    • Baltimore County Courthouse
    • Black & Decker
    • Historic East Towson
    • Lynching of Howard Cooper
    • MA and PA Overpass
    • Olympic Park
    • Prospect Hill Cemetery
    • The Schmuck House
    • Shealey Family Cemetery
    • Sheppard Pratt
    • Towson Armory
    • Towson Library
    • Towson Tavern Site
    • York & Joppa Roads
    • Wayside Cross
  • Contact

Sheppard Pratt

Previous Site
Sheppard Pratt
History of Sheppard Pratt
Next Site

Share This!

Sponsored by The Towson Chamber of Commerce

Copyright © | All Rights Reserved | Website design by Computer Engineering Group

Page load link

Odd Fellows Building

[The Baltimore County Landmarks List BA-1505 (2006)]

Baltimore was the birthplace of Odd Fellowship in the U.S. in 1819, and at one time there were 17,000 lodges in North America. With parts dating from before 1853, the Independent Order Lodge #79 in Towson has one of the oldest halls in the U.S., located at 507 York Road. The stone building is two stories, roughly 84 ft. wide and 100 ft. deep. The lodge suffered a fire in 1878, and the building was rebuilt with some modifications. In 1926 the hall was expanded in two directions and renovated. The lodge is one of the county’s oldest surviving lodges and is known for its association with the growth of the town and its civic institutions and the service of its prominent citizens.

Odd Fellows

Baltimore County Bank Building

[The Baltimore County Landmarks List BA-2490 (2006)]

Prominently sited on the northeast corner of York Road and Pennsylvania Avenue, the two-story Baltimore County Bank building, faced in squared-fieldstone, opened for business on March 27, 1926. The architect for the bank was George Norbury MacKenzie. The bank failed during the Great Depression, and a succession of banks owned the building before it was adapted to other commercial uses. The building retains a high degree of architectural integrity and is notable for its association with the development of the banking industry in Towson, its distinctive Art Deco-style using locally-quarried stone, and being a good example of the work of a noted architect.

Baltimore County Bank building
Elks Building
Courthouse memorials

Law Building

[The Baltimore County Landmarks List BA-1442 (2006)]

The circa 1914, two-story limestone building at 405 Washington Avenue is attached to the front of a hip-roofed pre-1877 structure known originally as the Law Building. It is the last of the buildings facing the Courthouse to survive from the period when Towson was a small village at the end of the streetcar line from Baltimore. The Second National Bank purchased the property in 1906, and the classic building it constructed continued in use as a bank. The building is a distinctive example of Classical Beaux Arts design and a good example of the work of noted architect A.C. Leath.

Post Office

Old Police Station

[The Baltimore County Landmarks List BA-1439 (1991)]

The former Towson Police Station at 308 Washington Avenue is a two-story brick building with a green ceramic tile hip roof, built in Spanish or Canal Zone style with traces of Georgian trim. It features various sculptured panels, including fasces, as well as Doric columns, belt-coursing, and a swan’s neck pediment with pineapple motif over the main entrance. Originally built as a one-story building by contractors David M. Andrews, it was later raised to two full stories. The building served as central police headquarters until a new facility on Kenilworth Avenue was opened in 1961.

Old Police Station
Historic East Towson church

512-514 Virginia Avenue

[The Baltimore County Landmarks List BA-1157 (2006)]

The Chew House at 512-514 Virginia Avenue is a two-and-one-half story rubble-stone structure built in 1859 containing two residences. The land was part of the Epsom estate owned by Henry Chew and Harriet Ridgely Chew, who were related to Hampton’s Ridgeley family. This massive redstone building is one of the town’s few surviving mid-19th century historic resources. The structure is the second-oldest remaining structure associated with the development of Towson. It is an unusually large duplex design with Gothic and Greek Revival elements.

518 Virginia Avenue

[The Baltimore County Landmarks List BA-0206 (2006)]

The structure at 518 Virginia Avenue was part of the Epsom estate owned by Henry Chew and his wife Harriet Ridgely Chew, daughter of Charles Ridgely of Hampton. The mansion was built in 1859 and advertised for rent in 1860 as a two-family unit, a fashionable boarding house, or school. An observatory above the third floor offered an extensive view over much of the county at that time. This building is associated with over almost 150 years of Towson’s history and is a distinctive example of a well-crafted duplex. The structure is an imposing bluestone structure from the 19th century with notable artistic merit.

Virginia Avenue homes

Shealey Cemetery

[The Baltimore County Landmarks List (2006)]

The Shealey Cemetery, with one remaining visible grave marker, is a family plot that has served as the final resting place for members of the Shealey family for over 140 years. The Shealeys were one of the first families to settle in Towson. The cemetery is associated with one of the town’s founding families and is a potential archaeological resource.

Go to Top