The Loew's Parkway Theater was built in 1915 and designed by architect Oliver B. Wight. As a man from Baltimore County he not only designed the Loew's Parkway but several other theaters in the city, such as the old and now demolished New Theatre on Lexington st. Loew's Parkway wasn't always a Loew's Theatre; in 1926 the building was purchased by the Loew's Company and remodeled by architect John Eberson and the theater had a grand reopening.
Constructed
in the 1830's by one of Mob Town's first professionally trained architects, the
“Upper-crust School” was once a home. Baltimore lawyer David Stewart hired
architect Robert Carey Lon, to design and build the once proud manor. Robert
Carey Lon has designed many buildings, including other Maryland landmarks such
as the Patapsco Female Institute in Ellicott City, and the Lloyd Street
Synagogue in Baltimore. In 1858 David Stewart (owner of the manor) passed away.
The mansion was then be purchased by Dammann family. They would reside in the
manor until 1901, when it then went to musician Robert Young; who only lived in
the manor for 3 years. The old manor would sit vacant until 1930.
The manor was converted to home of one of Baltimore’s first
radio stations. Extensive renovations changed the layout of the house
dramatically. The radio station would then sell the property to the Baltimore
School of Musical Arts. The school was founded with the intention of offering
an identical program that was offered at Peabody, and in 1950 enrolled upwards
of 300 students. As the inevitable history of this old manor progressed, the
musical institute would close in 1955. In 1957 the manor began it’s final run
as a special needs school for “trainable children”; and the BCPS (Baltimore
City Public Schools) Headquarters. The Manor, “Upper-Crust School”, has sat
vacant since 2006, and currently has no future.
In
1669 a man named Thomas Todd acquired a 300 acre peninsula bordering
the Patapsco River, not all of this land was owned by Todd; however, it
was part of his plantation. It would remain the way for many years to
come, the land would even see battle in the war of 1812. In 1902
reinforced concrete bunkers would be installed on the peninsula and the
land would then become a military fort. In 1917, the troops at Fort
Howard were doubled and its men were put on a wartime basis due to the
concerns of an impending war. And in 1926, the Secretary of War was
authorized to dispose of the Fort Howard Military Reservation, but the
reservation was not sold and continued as an active post of the Regular
Army until August 1940 when nearly 80 buildings would be removed from
the fort’s property when I neighboring VA hospital decided to move their
location to the peninsula. The Medical Corps Buildings of the 12th
Infantry were renovated for the nurses’ home, infirmary, and attendants’
quarters. The nurses’ home was the headquarters of General Douglas
MacArthur from 1925 to 1928 which became the 377-bed hospital building.
The Peninsula VA hospital officially opened for patient care in 1943.
On June 20, 2000, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs approved the plans to
change the mission of the Peninsula VA Medical Center, a division of the
VA Maryland Health Care System. The first phase of the new mission was
moving the Peninsula VA Hospital to a new location about an hour north
across the Potomac River; This would then occur in 2002 when the
location peninsula location was closed.
After
closure the property when through multiple states; it was at first
still VA property, then became state property and part of a park. In
early 2013 they came up with a plan to demolish the current buildings,
and reopen a new facility; newer that the location on the Potomac. The
property would then once again become VA property. The demise of this
complex is still not certain, for now it still stands boarded up on a
peninsula, south of Mob Town.
