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University Parkway Viaduct

2026-01-02T10:28:54-05:00

Dublin Core

Title

University Parkway Viaduct

Subject

transportation

Art & Design

Infrastructure

bridges

Creator

Burkely Hermann

Curatescape Story Item Type Metadata

Story

The West University Parkway concrete bridge arcs over Stony Run to connect the neighborhoods of Roland Park and Tuscany-Canterbury. Hikers can follow a pedestrian pathway from Wyman Park, and walk under the bridge, which serves as a viaduct since it carries University Parkway in an arc over Stony Run, before entering the Tuscany-Canterbury neighborhood. This bridge not only connects these neighborhoods but those living in nearby residential apartments, whether the Carlyle to the Northwest, the historic Tudor Arms Apartments to the Southwest, and various apartment complexes to the Southeast, such as Hopkins House, the Carolina, and University West apartments. The viaduct also ensures easy access to John Hopkins University’s Homewood campus which sits less than a half of a mile southeast of the bridge.

Etchings on the bridge's four corners indicate that it was constructed in 1908. Although a map released in 1906 seems to show that the bridge was present, this is referring to a previous steel trestle bridge, which the Olmsted Brothers saw when surveying the land a year before. The new bridge was wide enough to accommodate vehicles, trolleys, and pedestrians at the same time.

One early design for the bridge was proposed by city engineer Benjamin T. Fendell. He was influenced by the ideas from the Olmsted Brothers, who recommended improvements to enhance the bridge's "architectural beauty," so that the design did not appear "weak." Ultimately, Wyatt & Nolting Architects, a partnership between architects William G. Nolting and James B.N. Wyatt, known for the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse, and later for the Physics Building on the Homewood campus and the Garrett Building in downtown Baltimore, were chosen to complete the final design. The bridge itself was constructed by the city’s engineering department for a cost of $25,000.

At the time of its construction, the Maryland and Pennsylvania (Ma & Pa) railroad had been running alongside Stony Run for four years, through the newly-created Wyman Park. The Olmsted Brothers described the latter, in their comprehensive 1904 report on development of public grounds in greater Baltimore, as a "beautiful piece of sylvan Scenery" and noted its beach trees and topography. The trustees of Johns Hopkins University, including William Wyman (which Wyman Park is named after), had deeded these lands to the city.

The Ma & Pa railroad would continue to run under the viaduct until June 1958. University Parkway, which replaced Merryman Lane, a narrow country road, allowed for the construction of many buildings in the area. This included Tudor Hall in 1911, which opened for residents in 1912. It would later become the North Building of a housing cooperative named Tudor Arms. A few years after the bridge's construction, the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University came into existence. There were plans to incorporate the campus into the city grid. Although the campus opened for students in 1914, the full relocation of the university to that location would not be finished until two years later.

Spanning almost 87 feet, this concrete arch viaduct is considered one of the most notable, and historic, bridges in the U.S., possibly for its wide span, its design, the fact it has remained intact for over 117 years, or because it connects two neighborhoods together. The bridge, according to a report prepared for the State Highway Administration in October 1995, showed the city's commitment to arch design. This is because the same year the city began construction of two other reinforced concrete bridges, one at Hollins Street, over Gwynns Run, and another at Edmondson Avenue, over Gwynns Falls.

The viaduct encouraged additional residential development. The Topographical Survey Commission of Baltimore noted, in a 1912 report to city leaders, that the land required for building University Parkway was deeded without cost to the city by Johns Hopkins University and the Roland Park Company, and praised this land grant to the city for its advantages. The viaduct also helped connect the city's parks. A few years later, the city installed street lamps along the bridge. Some years after that, in 1919, curbs and sidewalks along the bridge were raised and improved.

The University Parkway viaduct remains intact to this day, continuing to serve as a vital route used by residents, delivery services, emergency vehicles, and others alike.

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Street Address

Tudor Arms Ave and West University Parkway

Tudor Arms Apartments

2025-12-08T10:05:15-05:00

Dublin Core

Title

Tudor Arms Apartments

Subject

Architecture

Urban Planning

Creator

Burkely Hermann

Curatescape Story Item Type Metadata

Story

Tudor Arms Apartments on University Parkway is one of the few cooperative housing apartments in Baltimore. It is composed of two buildings, which sit within the Roland Park Historic District. The first of the two apartment buildings, which is five-stories tall, replaced a popular tavern at the site known as Biddy Rice’s Saloon. After purchasing the site from the Roland Park Company in January 1911, the Wentworth Apartment Company would begin constructing the first building, at a cost of $100,000 at the time. The company’s secretary, J.G. Valiant, would be the building’s renting agent.

Two renowned architects, Clyde Nelson Friz and Edward Hughes Glidden, worked together on the building’s architecture, with brick and stone in the style of Tudor Revival, and terra cotta trimmings. The building opened to residents in 1912 with the name Tudor Hall. This “high-class apartment,” as it was described at the time, had a working elevator (which remains in operation), steam heat, hardwood floors, and other amenities. The nearby concrete bridge over Stony Run had only been built four years earlier, which is still intact. A train, part of the Maryland and Pennsylvania railroad, would run underneath the bridge until January 1958 when it stopped operating there.

Friz and Glidden partnered again for the second building, named Essex Arms, which had the same architectural style as the first building. It opened to residents in 1922. The building’s landlord, Guilford Realty Company, later purchased the building from the Wentworth Apartment Company. The apartments were available to rent on a month-to-month basis. On February 25, 1929, the 91��ɫ��Ƶ City Council unanimously voted to rename the dirt road to the south of the apartment building from “Tudor Hall Avenue” to “Tudor Arms Avenue.” The name is still used to this day.

In May 1947, three residents, Marie Codd, Nora Quillen, and Ralph Quillen purchased the buildings from the landlord, planning to make Essex Arms and Tudor Hall into a cooperative housing corporation, naming it Tudor Arms Apartments. This came to pass in October 1947.

Some residents challenged this and sued the newly-established cooperative. However, the highest court in Maryland, the Court of Appeals, ruled in favor of the cooperative, and against the tenant challengers, in the case of Tudor Arms Apartments v. Shaffer. The ruling, which reversed a circuit court decision, held that those who bought cooperative apartment units were the owners indefinitely, as long as they exercised “good behavior.” Their decision would later be cited by courts in Maryland, Illinois and Massachusetts in cases involving other housing cooperatives, such as Greenbelt Homes and Village Green Mutual Homes.

Sometime after the founding of the Tudor Arms housing cooperative, likely in either the late 1940s or 1950s, a bridge connecting Essex Arms and Tudor Hall would be constructed, signifying that both buildings were one community. Specific building names would later be dropped. The terms “North Building” and “South Building” would be used in their place. Over the years, Tudor Arms has been the home to many prominent residents. This has included epidemiologist Wade Hampton Frost, historical scholar Kent Roberts Greenfield, sculptor Ephraim Keyser (and his wife Fannie), music educators Grace Harriet Spofford and Elizabeth Coulson, Theo Lippman (father of Baltimore writer Laura Lippman), and former Maryland State Senator Jill P. Carter.

In the late 1960s, the Tudor Arms Board opposed plans by the Baltimore Department of Recreation and Parks to change neighboring Wyman Park into a recreation space, wanting it to be “natural,” instead. To justify their decision, they cited their support for Johns Hopkins University’s purchase of 31 acres of the park for university development in 1961, which included the creation of San Martin Drive.

In recent years, residents have honored the apartment community’s history with “Tudor Arms Day” in August 2024 and “Tudor Arms Day 2” in April of this year. This included a guided tour to historical spots of note, multiple tri-fold historic display boards, a self-guided scavenger hunt, an unveiling of a painting commissioned by residents of the North Building, and other activities.

Street Address

501 West University Parkway, Baltimore, MD 21210

Washington Apartments

2018-11-27T10:33:49-05:00

Dublin Core

Title

Washington Apartments

Subject

Urban Planning

Architecture

Description

The Washington Apartment House at the northwest corner of Charles Street and Mt. Vernon Place is a one of the finest Beaux Arts apartment houses in Baltimore. After the controversial construction of The Severn in 1895, many Mt. Vernon residents were suspicious of new "skyscrapers." Just a month after the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, the Baltimore Municipal Arts Society successfully pushed the Maryland State Legislature to pass an "Anti-Skyscraper Bill" prohibiting the construction of any building (other than churches) over seventy feet high within one block of the Washington Monument. William F. Cochran, the developer of the Washington Apartments, built right up to the limit of 70 feet before suing to erect an 8 foot addition. His lawsuit failed, reinforcing the restriction that became known as Maryland's first zoning law and was one of the earliest zoning laws in the United States.

William Cochran was born to privilege–his grandfather, Alexander Smith, had amassed a fortune as a carpet manufacturer in Yonkers, New York. Cochran moved to Baltimore in 1902 after marrying Annie Lorraine Gill. Despite his comfortable position among the local high society, he found his personal wealth troubling, explaining in an address on the "Passing of the Idle Rich" at Westminster Church, "The joy of having abundance is terribly mitigated when one is confronted with the sight of and appeals from people living under the opposite conditions. It seems all wrong."

While Cochran was vocal about his socialist ideals, he also sympathized with in the wealthy Mt. Vernon residents who sought to control the character of their neighborhood's development. He explained his purchase of the property at 700 Washington Place, remarking, "A strong desire of property holders on Mt. Vernon Place to control the kind of building to be erected on this site led me to purchase it to prevent anyone from building a skyscraper." Cochran bought the vacant mansion, built for Edward McDonald Greenway in 1835, in April 1905 for $160,000 and soon starting planning for a modern apartment house that could meet with approval from the neighbors.

The architect Cochran selected for the job was Edward H. Glidden, a Cleveland native, who arrived in Baltimore around the same time as Cochran. Glidden had already started a career that led him to become one of the city's foremost architects for apartment buildings with projects including the Stork Apartment House (1903) at Park and Monument, the Marlborough Apartments (1906) on Eutaw Place, Homewood Apartments (1910) at Charles and 31st Street, The Latrobe, Canterbury Hall and Tudor Hall Apartments. Glidden even lived at Homewood Apartments at the time of his death in 1924.

Washington Apartments went up quickly in 1906 at a cost of $300,000. Its six stories included 28 luxurious apartments and 29 rooms for servants. Measuring 69 feet and 8 inches tall, the building stood just under the recently instituted 70-foot height limit. Less than a year after completion, however, Cochran sought a permit application to build one more story, eight feet tall and set back twenty feet, to contain additional rooms for servants. The permit was denied and Cochran went to court, lost, then lost again on appeal in June 1908 with an important decision that affirmed the ability of the city to regulate building heights.