The Hampton Estate

Well, I've had yet another adventure through the history of Baltimore! It's a bit difficult to escape them when I enjoy them so much, and they're required for class... anyway.

This week, my Historic Preservation class took a trip to the Hampton Estate, which is about a ten-minute drive away from Goucher campus. In fact, Goucher's current campus used to be part of the estate, and it is said that one of the would-be masters (Captain Charles Ridgely) was killed in a riding accident somewhere on campus (right by the Mary Fischer Library, to be exact). It was owned by the Ridgely family, who began building the mansion in 1783. It was completed in 1790, and was, at the time, the largest home in the United States. It was used as a summer home for the Ridgely family, and the estate included orchards and ironworks, a farm, and a racing track (Charles Carnan Ridgely, the second owner of the estate, and the nephew of the first was an avid horseman, and began to breed Thoroughbreds at Hampton. Carnan Ridgely was originally "Charles Ridgely Carnan," but changed his name in order to inherit the estate after the would-be owner, Captain Charles Ridgely, died).

It is now a museum, with each room restored to a different period of the mansion's history.

This, for example, is the Parlor, as it was in the 18th Century, just after the American Revolutionary War.

I love this carpet. It vaguely reminds me of a rug we used to have in New York, but then again, a lot of things vaguely remind me of other things. Don't mind me. Anyway. I didn't know this before, but at the time, carpeting was sold in strips of about 27 inches (if I remember correctly), and one can see the tiny gaps between strips...

...Yep.

And I happen to find this door quite interesting:

Ordinary, wooden door, right? Not quite. It's made of wood, of course, but it is painted over look like mahogany. Apparently, this was quite a popular method of decoration at this time. In the Great Hall, which I do not have many pictures of, the "marble" decorations at the bottom of the walls are actually wood, painted by somebody to look like marble.

And this is the East Hyphen. A "hyphen," in this case, describes part of a building that connects two larger areas of a building. In Georgian houses, which Hampton is a rather good example of, there were typically two hyphens, one on each side, connecting the larger part of the house to smaller areas. The East Hyphen, in this case, connects to the kitchens.

Each of these bells is connected to a separate room in the house. They each sound slightly different, so that when they were rung, servants knew which room to go to.

The Kitchens:

The Dining Room:

I have to say, I really love this room. Not as in "OhmygoodnessIwouldtotallydecoratemydiningroomlikethis," but in the more "I could spend my day staring at this room," sort of way. It is restored to what it would have looked like just after the Napoleonic Wars. It has a lot of this very beautiful Prussian blue paint, as you can see, and yes, we know for a fact that this was the color used at the time. It's surprisingly bright, but then again, nothing looks too ridiculous next to the mural they have on the wall. These sorts of wall murals were quite popular in Europe at the time, and the Ridgelys were very much aware of this. So they had their dining room wall painted with landmarks of Paris. I kept expecting to look around and see a guillotine painted somewhere, but no... I was disappointed.

The Drawing Room:

Now, we are very clearly no longer looking at the Federal Period. The Drawing Room (the room to which one would "withdraw" after dining) is as it would have looked in the 1850s-1860s. As you can see, there's another very elaborate carpet (imported from England), also in strips, though its more difficult to tell with this one. Here, we have another example of what I was talking about with the "mahogany" door: the wooden decorations on the walls are painted to look like sandalwood.

And I could kick myself for not getting a close-up, but in this room, one sees more decorations with stag heads, and shields with three stars... these are part of the Ridgely Family crest. Later on during the tour, we got to see a lot of the family silver, and quite a bit of it was also decorated with these symbols.

The White Curtain Room:

Well, quite clearly, there aren't any curtains in this room, but that's only because the museum is still researching exactly what they would have looked like. It's nice to know somebody is being a stickler about these things... anyway. This is a bedroom on the second floor, as it would have been in the 1890s. The second floor was meant more for guests, so it was more highly decorated, as you'll be able to see as I go on.

Another bedroom:

This room is restored to its Napoleonic War-era state. Small meals like breakfast and dessert would have been had in this room, and it also houses a telescope, which I would have been very happy to see closer up... but ah well. And if my photographing abilities were not as horrible as they are, you would be able to see that one of the panes of glass looks a bit different than the others... it was a common practice during this time to etch window panes with names, as well as dates of birth (and death). It's a bit classier than graffiti-ing the wall, I suppose...

Just a little section of wall decoration that was kept in the Gallery Room, where they are currently keeping the Ridgely Family silver.

The Needles Bedroom:

Still on the second floor...

 Back on the first floor, to the last room, which happens to be my favorite:

Of course, my favorite room would be the Music Room, shown here in all it's Victorian glory (there's even a little print of Queen Victoria in the corner. Something I wasn't quite expecting to find in Towson, Maryland of all places, but perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised. The Ridgelys did a lot of traveling, and there is a reason we know the period as "The Victorian Era" in the United States, and not just in Britain). This is how the room would have looked in the 1900s to be specific. There are hand-painted silk shades on each window, which I unfortunately could not manage to get a proper picture of, so you'll just have to take my word for it when I say they were quite beautiful.  
I was excited to see this room in the first place, as I've been studying Victorian Parlor Organs for the past week or so, and I was excited to see one in person. So I walked into the room, ready to see an organ with a ridiculous amount of decorated wooden shelving, and instead, I got... well. A pretty standard-looking piano.

I'm not disappointed, really. I'm just a bit bemused, since Parlor Organs were so much a part showing off one's style and taste at this time... I suppose I can't really explain my feelings about it without going into a discussion of Parlor Organs in general, which will have to happen another time, but... anyway. Suffice it to say I was surprised. They also had the original harp used by one of the female family members, so I cannot complain.

And a few pictures of the facade to finish up:

 Well, that's just about that. If you are interested in learning more about it, here is the Hampton Estate's website: http://www.historichampton.org/.

And just a few words about myself personally... things are going fairly well. Busy as ever, but well. I just got my second major paper back from European History, which I wrote about the "Age of Metternich." If you are interested in reading it, let me know, and I will email it to you, along with my professor's comments. But anyway, I got another "A," so I'm pleased. I'm hoping (okay, I'm fairly sure) I did as well on the second part of my European History midterm.

More soon! My love to all,
Tasha

Myers, Briggs, and Holmes

I've been slacking off. Again. It's probably expected by now though, so anyway.

A lot has been happening over the past few days... weeks, actually, I suppose. I sat down thinking: "Finally! Time to write! This is going to be such a long post!" and now that I'm actually trying to write it all down, it seems like there's nothing really worth mentioning. Whenever I call my parents, or I come back to New York, and I get asked what has been going on, I have to respond: "Not much," because that's all I can say that really makes any sense. Things happen that seem very dramatic at the time, but by the time I get around to relating them, they're just more of the same story: I love class, I'm doing well, my friends stress me out more than my work does, I forgot to eat for three days, and now I'd like to sleep, please and thank you. It's all rather dull... but that's everyday life. And I like to think that while Professor Sheller continues to bring 19th century tailor's shears and tea sets and other such things into class for me to examine for two hours straight, everyday life won't be all that dull.

So yes. About the last two weeks specifically... well. Not much specific to say. I'm getting ready for a craft fair that should be taking place this Friday. Hopefully I'll earn some extra cash from it... that would be really nice. I'm just hoping people buy things at all. There was another craft fair last week that my friend Jenny was selling scarves at, and she managed to sell four of them. We were all quite amazed, as it's really impossible to get college students to buy anything that costs more than five dollars, and Jenny was charging fifteen... but anyway. I have hope. And very little else, but that's enough to be getting on with for now.

My classes have been going very well, as usual! I've just finished all my midterms, and should be getting some grades back over the next two days. Of course I'm nervous about it. I always am, no matter how well I do in the actual class. I keep getting the feeling that I could have written more, or that I could have included or explained more things more clearly... I cannot think about it. I really cannot afford to be worrying about things that I don't need to be worrying about... and yet, I do. Am I surprised? No. Am I frustrated with myself anyway? Yes. Rather.

Anyway.

You know, that paragraph started out very cheerfully, and ended very... not-cheerfully. I didn't mean for that to happen... as I was saying, my classes have been great. Of course, they're the reason I'm here, but I've also been feeling lately as if they're a safe haven from everything else that's been going on. People are complicated... yes, I know we all know that, but... wow. People are complicated. I tend to think of myself as somebody who doesn't really need other people around all the time... actually, most of the time. And yet, I attract people that need other people around them all the time, constantly. One can see the problem here... I make friends with people who need me around more than I need them around. And that sounds really horrible, but I don't mean it to sound that way... I love and enjoy my friends. I really do. Anybody could tell you that. It just happens to be that my best friends are people who are equally in need of time to themselves, and equally capable of entertaining themselves.

The nature of relationships at college just doesn't seem suited to the way I interact with people in general. I've met people who, overnight, will start calling me their best friend and spouting "I love you!"s like I don't even know what. I'm sorry. But my best friends are people who I have known for years. A few late-night study sessions does not give one that title. And I firmly believe "love," like "hate," is a very strong word, and a word that one should only use when one really means it. I am capable of having low-key, casual friendships, you know... not every friendship needs to have the intensity of... something very intense.

Sorry. I felt the need to vent about that. It's just that only about three people here seem to get that. And it frustrates me when I find myself in a situation where there's a lot of drama and anxiety, just because myself and the other person involved don't share the same idea of what friendships should be.

I need to put out a guidebook: How to Deal With Your Natasha Gross 1.0 or something like that. (For those of you who don't know, it would probably read something like this: http://typelogic.com/intj.html. Some of you may already know the story of how my Art History professor had us take the Myers-Briggs test earlier this semester... if you don't, that's pretty much how that went. Usually, I'm not one to put much faith in these personality test things... I think the most useful thing I learned from psychology in high school is that anything, if it is flattering and general enough, will be perceived as true. To be perfectly blunt, I think the whole personality type thing is simply another way of shoving people into boxes, which I thoroughly disaprove of, and my opinion is not helped by the fact that the tests themselves are almost always very general, and rather inaccurate. I happen to think that this one is very interesting, however, and I have to admit I'm impressed with how well it described me. With some people, it completely misses, but... anyway. This has been a very long parenthetical statement.)

Anyway, I've been burying myself in my work as a result, and I've come to the conclusion that this is how things should be. I don't need to be socializing... just give me a book and an essay to write, and I'm happy. And speaking of books and essays, I just finished re-reading The Sign of Four for my European History class. Yes, that's The Sign of Four, as in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, as in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I'm not sure how to get across just how pleased I am that this is required reading... it's how we're meant to be studying Victorian culture. Really, it's just an excuse for me to curl up with Misha, a cup of tea, and a whole lot of late 19th Century trash literature.

A worthy use of time, I think.

So I shouldn't be complaining as much as I am... I may have people problems, and I may worry too much about everything, but I get to read Sherlock Holmes for class. And I'm not currently in Libya or Japan. ...I really wish I could say something about those situations that somebody else has not already said. It's just amazing what has happened over the past two months. Frightening, really. But things like this happen all the time, and I never hear about them... it is interesing what the media chooses to cover, and what the superpowers choose to get involved in, and what they don't. That being said, my heart goes out to everybody suffering right now, whether the BBC talks about them or not.

My love to all,
Tasha

ps. I feel the need to mention this to everybody: one of my best friends is in circus arts, and is (in addition to being an all-around extraordinary person, both in terms of personality and intelligence) a fantastic performer. Here's one of his videos, if you are interested in seeing what he does...

Trevor:  I can't wait to hear what L'École de Cirque de Québec says. No matter how it turns out, I cannot say how in awe I am of you, or how proud I am to call you my friend. :)

Internships and Insecurities

Well, despite the fact that it is in the title, I really don't have any news on any internships yet. But it relates to what's been going on lately, because the whole "lets-make-plans-for-summer" thing has been taking up a rather large portion of the energy my brain has that isn't focused on classes. Most of you probably already know this, but when something big is left undecided, or unsure, I tend to think myself into a state of stress disproportionate to the sittuation. Right now, my summer plans seem completely fluid. I may be doing the Medieval Studies program at Cambridge, if I get an internship, and if I don't get an internship, I may be doing another program earlier in the summer at Cambridge, provided that there are still spots open, and if that doesn't pull through, I'll hopefully be taking classes at one of the colleges in New York, or elsewhere theoretically. Okay. All of this is purely theoretical. Which is my issue in the first place.

...I'm fairly sure this isn't a very healthy outlook on life. I'm going to have to get over this whole fear-of-the-undecided thing at some point.

Also, I got a B on a paper for Russian History. Not terrible, but it sort of dampens the sort of "I-can-do-anything" high I've been on for the past few weeks. Honestly, I wasn't expecting a fantastic grade on this one, seeing as I really don't know much about this period of Russian history, and have less outside information to draw on for these things. But still. And I don't mean for this to sound as if I'm saying that because I got one B, I'm having a mental break-down... my expectations aren't that high. Okay, that's a lie, my expectations are that high, but that's not the point. My point is that I'm not especially bothered by the grade. It just happened to come at a point when I'm worrying about whether or not I'm going to get an internship or not, and...

...anyway. Basically, I'm stressing myself about something I have no real reason to be stressing about. I think. I hope. I've also noticed a decreasing tolerance for socialization. As it currently stands, I'm hiding in my upcoming essays, and refusing to talk to anybody I don't need to.

...yeah. Moving on. It's a good thing Spring break is in two days.

Things have been pretty alright, other than everything I just talked about. The semester has been fairly easy in terms of workload, which I have greatly enjoyed rubbing in the faces of all my science-major friends. Which is pretty much all my friends, actually... Anyway. One of the great benefits of being a history major is that the only homework I ever get consists of reading and writing. Occasionally, it requires reading quite a bit, and writing quite a bit. Obviously, I understate. But it's really quite nice for somebody who enjoys that sort of thing, and especially nice for somebody who enjoys it and can do it quite quickly. Thankfully, that's me.

But anyway, that means I've had time to actually go to events and get off of campus a bit...

(Ellie, Sarah, and I at a lacrosse game.)

(...I really don't know how to explain this one.)

...I haven't actually gone anywhere very interesting, other than a Japanese restaurant and the local art supplies store. And my friend Jenny had to drag me out of the library for that trip, so it doesn't really count. I also got dragged out to a lacrosse game somehow... I'm still trying to figure out how that happened. It was fun though. And it took my mind off of a lot of things. Not really, but it helped.

As I mentioned earlier, Spring break is in two days, so hopefully I'll get to slow down and relax a little bit before finishing up the semester. (Yes. Finishing up the semester. I'm amazed that I can even use the phrase, but it's true... my last day is 12 May.) That being said, I don't really want to relax... I just want to get stuff sorted out. As soon as I know what I'm doing this summer, I can relax, but until then, I will continue to worry about it.

Well, sorry about the amount of blabbering in this post. I'll write again soon, and probably from New York!

My love to all,
Tasha

Visits and Papers

Well, it's been a long few weeks... I really dislike February. It is the shortest month of the year, in terms of actual days, but I don't think any month manages to drag on for this long...

Thankfully, I've had plenty to keep my spirits up. The weather in Baltimore gets warmer sooner than it does in New York... which I'm less happy about in autumn, but at around this time of year, it's wonderful. There's a bit of a shorter wait for spring. I've also been very happy with how my classes have been going (for the most part). My first paper for American History had me a bit nervous, as I very unwisely assumed I could leave it 'till the last minute, and I didn't think I did as well on it as I could have... to be honest, I thought it was awful. I just got it back last Thursday, and --surprise of surprises-- I got an A on it.

I'm starting to think Karia has a point when she tells me to calm down about these things. (Actually, I've been hearing that from a lot of people recently. They may have a point.)

I also got back my first paper for this semester of European History the other day. It was really fun to write-- the premise was a bit more complicated than this, but essentially, I got to blather on about the Enlightenment for 5-7 pages. Of course, being that the Enlightenment is my favorite time period, and I've managed to keep everything I learned about it in high school stuffed in my head, I had a lot of material to work from... so,  yes. My paper is ten pages long. And I could have written at least five pages more. And I'm definitely not going to let it get to my head. In any case, Professor Fraser writes really detailed comments, and for papers, she actually types out a separate page of comments. Personally, I think this is a brilliant system-- I wish all the professors would do that. But anyway. I now have a page of what is, essentially, her going on about... well. Here's what she said:

"Comments:



Natasha, this is excellent- not only for a first essay of the semester or for the level of analysis I expect for this introductory class, but as a proper historical essay that succeeds on a much higher level. You write very well, using clear, concise prose, and your analytical observations are astute and sophisticated. Your attention to chronology in these documents and how they compare to each other is very good, and you have shown an understanding of these documents that far exceeds my expectations at this level. Well done! I sense that you have even more going on in your brain than you could fit on the page, so throughout the semester, something you can work on is achieving even more succinctness and clarity with your arguments and examples. History writing can be particularly challenging because there is always so much we can include! I have no problem with the length of your essay here, but I think you can also work on conciseness and precision- and practicing the always difficult decision-making process about not only what should be included, but also what can be left out. I almost hate to give this grade on the first assignment of the semester, lest it indicate there is no room for improvement, but this really is very well done. Keep it up!


Grade: A "

Yep... I'm happy. Historic Preservation and Russian History are going just as well, though I wish I could say the same for Art History. It's not that I'm doing badly... I just don't have quite the same level of enthusiasm for it as I do for my other classes. I'm sure it's just the way this professor is teaching it, and that I'll be a lot happier once we get to the survey part of the class (where we actually learn history), but right now, we're just going over all the theoretical stuff. There really is a certain type of person who is cut out for it. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm one of them.

Ah well. I honestly cannot complain. Too many good things going on to be able to grumble because I have one class I'm slightly frustrated with.

Daria, my sister, visited the weekend before last! It was great to see her again... unfortunately, it turned out to be a really busy weekend for me in terms of work (both for class and for, you know, actual work), so we couldn't do anything interesting... I feel really bad about it. But I suppose that's the way things happens sometimes... next time, I'll have to make sure I have a enough free time to go around to museums and such. We did manage to get to the Paper Moon Diner, after a bit of an adventure in wandering around Baltimore at 7.00 in the evening, and Daria finally got to meet Kaira and Ellie, so I'm happy about that at least. (By the way, if you're reading this Daria: Kaira and Ellie say "hello.") We also went to see a friend of mine play at the Gopher Hole (the bar/coffee shop of Goucher campus), which was really fun. And... that's about it. I'm a very boring older sister. (Sorry.)

Speaking of work... I've been looking to get another job, since I'm now only working at the stables on the weekends, and at a really inconvenient time too. I wouldn't mind that, if it were a job that was actually helping my resume, or my major, or my education in general, but... well. Feeding horses doesn't do any of those things. So I'm looking into getting a job at the library for next semester (or for the remainder of this one, if possible). If I do get a job for this semester, the hours are likely to be a little odd, as the library is open 24/7, and nobody really wants the 3am-6am shift... but if it gets me time to do my work on the weekends, I'm happy.

Anyway... that's about it for now. It's been pretty dull around here, to be honest. I've been rather slowly working on A History of the English Speaking Peoples, by Winston Churchill. I'm about halfway through Volume II (so just around the Spanish Armada), and I'm hoping to read The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco, after Volume III... so I'll be needing book suggestions for this April-May. Ideas, anyone?

My love to all,
Tasha

ps. I've had a lot of Edward Elgar running through my head lately as well.

Rousseau, "The Marriage of Figaro," and unseasonably warm weather.

I often wonder why it is those three things (yes. Jean-Jacques Rousseau is now a thing. I'm sure he would have appreciated that.) always seem to coincide in my life... A word of explanation: I'm working on a paper about the Enlightenment for my European History class, which requires me to talk about The Social Contract quite a bit. Actually, I've gotten quite good at it over the three years I've had of European History. I'm listening to Marriage of Figaro (that's rather self-explanatory). And it is 60 F out.

It's fantastic. This is the most content I've been in weeks.

Honestly, I'm starting to think I like talking about the Enlightenment a bit too much. This paper is meant to be 4-6 pages long. It is now 9 pages in length, and I still have to write a conclusion that will be at least two paragraphs long. And there's no way I'm editing out more than I already have.

Anyway. It's a really nice change, especially since the past week has been... less than good. It has been downright dreadful for Kaira. It started with our window shades falling on her and slicing her finger open, and did not end with the stitches ripping.

My side of it hasn't been very interesting... mostly, it consists of some very uncomfortable moments in American History, and agonizing over what should have been a simple paper for said class. Basically, we were meant to write a few pages on early Colonial history based on the statistics she gave us in class. Sounds fairly easy. Should have been very easy.

Unfortunately, I chose the night before it was due to have massive writer's block. Of course I got it done, but I'm not happy with how it turned out. I haven't gotten it back yet, so I don't know for sure how I did, but I'm sure I don't want to know. I'm going to give it to Kaira, and only have her tell me what I got if it was over an 80%.

As for the class itself, I like it... but I'm still getting used to it. I haven't taken the subject in two years, and it definitely shows. Not that this means that I'm not doing well-- most of the people in the class haven't taken a history class at all since high school, and analyzing documents is analyzing documents, no matter where they're from. But it's still a bit awkward when we discuss John Locke, and I'm thinking more about tabula rasa than property rights.

That settles my choice in concentration, I suppose.

In other news... well. I have one part of my summer plan worked out! I am enrolled in Medieval Studies at Cambridge University for this August! I'm just hoping that if I manage to get an internship, it will be one of the internships that is more flexible in terms of timing, or ends before I have to be in the UK... but anyway. At the moment, I'm just very nervous about the internships in general. They tend to be very competitive, and my resume isn't exactly the strongest at this point. Most of my experience is in politics and writing, and my actual jobs have consisted of being a counselor at a day camp, and working at the Goucher stables.

I suppose it could be worse... But I keep wishing I had worked at a museum at some point.

Well. Hopefully, I'll hear something soon, and hopefully it will be good news, so I'll be able to stop worrying and get back to basking in the light of a way-too-warm February and my Dean's List status.

... I'm still a little bit in shock about that. But unfortunately, that hasn't stopped me from bragging to myself every now and then.

That's about it, really. I'll write again as soon as something interesting happens.

My love to all,
Tasha

Letters and Maps

Well. I got a very exciting letter yesterday evening... I would have gotten it earlier, I assume, if I had thought to check my mail box more than once a week.

It reads:

"Dear Natasha,


Congratulations on making the Dean's List during the Fall semester of the 2010-11 academic year. I hope you are proud of your success; you deserve to be.


As you know, Goucher College has always held academic achievement as its highest goal. Your accomplishments send a clear message that you have embraced this goal too, and I commend you for your hard work and dedication to learning. 


I hope that you will continue your good work and enjoy the satisfaction that comes from doing your best. If there is anything that I can do to assist you with academic matters, please let me know.


Sincerely,


Mark M. Roy
Provost"

So... as you can imagine, I spent the majority of last night bouncing slightly and grinning like an idiot. (And reading for my Russian/Soviet History class, but that's part of the daily schedule at this point.)

Other than that... not much to say. I spent most of today outside, either at work, or taking little walks in the woods. It was surprisingly warm: in the high 40s F... it felt like early Spring. To me, at least... Kaira is still convinced that she'll freeze to death if she steps outside for more time than it takes to walk to class and back. It was just so beautiful, though... I was sort of traipsing around the woods, singing The Lord of the Rings songs to myself, and I'm sure that would have been a strange sight to walk in on, so I'm glad nobody had that experience.

(And since I'm on the subject, I just discovered the Tolkien Ensemble. For those of us who are interested in that sort of geeky stuff, their version of Sam's Song in the Orc Tower has got to be my favorite so far. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoVnWUQ9CR8))

Anyway... it was just... beautiful. Tolkien and the first instances of Spring weather (even when it is in February, and it probably won't be warm again until April) tend to stir up those sort of sentimental feelings in me. Don't mind that.

Well. Until next time,

Tasha

ps. It just occurred to me that I'm going to be 19 in a bit more than two months. A bit early to be thinking about that, I'm sure, but... goodness. The further past 16 I get, the more concerned I become that I'm just not ready to be this old. I'm currently reading Notes of a Red Guard, which is about a man who lived through (and was very involved in) the Russian Revolution. He was economically independent from his parents by the time he was 16. (In fact, he was making twice as much money as his father was by that age...)

...irrational? Maybe. But I still can't help but feel somewhat inadequate.

pps. Also, I've finally finished unpacking all my things. Which means that I've finally finished putting up all my maps, including a French map of Colonial America, and another following Lewis and Clark's route to the Pacific and back. My happiness about this is highly disproportionate to the actual accomplishment.

Fell's Point

Well, we did make it to Fell's Point!

I realized that I sort of mentioned that in passing without really explaining, so... Fell's Point is a Historic District in Baltimore, dating from 1763, which is known for it's bars and pubs, and among History students, for it's historical infamy as one, big, brothel, and for it's hooked shape.

But anyway. It's a very interesting area, partly because it was originally not part of Baltimore at all: in fact, it was quite a trip to get from one town to the other in the 18th century, as one would be traveling through swamp, essentially. Baltimore town was built on its now famous Inner Harbor, but the issue was that the Inner Harbor is actually quite shallow. Fell's Point, on the other hand, has a deep-water port, which made it relatively easy for large, ocean-going vessels to anchor there. So what ended up happening was that ships would anchor at Fell's Point, and unload their cargo onto smaller barges, which would take the goods to Baltimore. As a result, Fell's Point evolved as a more maritime community, where sailors lived between journeys (you can imagine for yourself what that community looked like), while Baltimore Town became inhabited by merchants and artisans, and was therefore somewhat more established and conservative.

Baltimore annexed Fell's Point in 1773, and that's where I'm going to leave the story until the 1900's, when much of Baltimore burned down. Fell's Point survived, making it one of the only areas where 18th century architecture survives in the city.

It was made into a Historic District in the 1960's, after it was almost destroyed to make way for a highway that was to be built through the area. There is a very long, dramatic, and fascinating story behind what I just summarized in one sentence, but I'll save that for another time.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a lot of pictures, but the cornices on some of the buildings are really beautiful. This is a relatively plain brick one, but most are made of wood, and can be very ornate.

Supposedly, this is the next project for the Fell's Point Preservation Society.

Anyway, I went there on a field trip with my Historic Preservation class this afternoon. One of the 3 people who work at the Fells Point Preservation Society is the head of the Graduate program in Historic Preservation at Goucher, so we got a private tour of one of the projects they are currently working on. The building is called "The Academy," for some unknown reason, since it was never at any point an academy... It was built in 1790, and many additions were made in the 1890's. A porch was added in the 1920's, but it has since been taken off, since the Preservation Society lacks the funds to restore it.

Currently, most of the house is down to the bare bones, so you can see the old wooden frame, and the nogging (essentially bricks that were laid to fill the spaces in the frame). The Baltimore area is very rich in clay, so naturally, one finds bricks being used quite a bit, even though it was porous and a rather unreliable building material in the 18th and 19th centuries. Usually, one finds brick being covered up by wood or by Form Stone (such as in the house above).

An original doorframe.

The plans.

The original staircase.

One can see some of the original nogging here. Apparently, they are going to keep part of this area uncovered, so visitors can see the different layers of the wall.

Wallpaper from the 1920's.

Some of the original roof.

A view from the back of the house. 

This is what is known as a sally port. The more recognized usage of the word describes a secure entrance, usually to a prison or a fort (and of course, Fort McHenry has many of them). These, however, are simply entrances to alleys that lead to the back of a house. Though I suppose they fit the definition of a "secure entrance." They would have to be, I assume.

If you're interested, Fell's Point has a website (and it's not purely about bars!) at http://www.fellspoint.us/ It's worth looking around the site-- they have some interesting videos on the architecture, and some really good stuff on the history of the area. Needless to say, I'm going to have to take another trip there on my own, so I can take my time with the place... and hopefully cover more than just one house.

Until next time, my love to all!

Tasha