Charles Village

Location

Charles Village's boundaries run from University Parkway in the north down Guilford Avenue in the east until 25th Street, where the eastern boundary becomes Saint Paul Street until the southern boundary at 22nd Street. Howard Street provides the western boundary until 29th Street where Howard ends and the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Johns Hopkins University create a western boundary at Charles Street. The area is conveniently located to downtown and has very easy access to I-83. Major bus-lines follow Charles Village's major north-south streets such as North Charles, St. Paul and Maryland Avenue.

Zip Code: 21218

Description

Charles Village is an active and diverse community with a strong sense of self-identity. The neighborhood has a strong local business climate and an abundance of well-known cultural and educational resources, being the home to such institutions as the Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

The Old Goucher Neighborhood, formerly South Charles Village, is well known for its mix of ethnic restaurants, white-collar professional firms, and non-profits, contained in its late Victorian streetscape. Lovely Lane Methodist Church and the handsome granite buildings nearby were part of the original campus of Goucher College, which moved to Towson in the 1950s. Howard Street has become Baltimore's "Automotive Alley" with its heavy concentration of car-related services. And St. Paul Street, around the corner from JHU, has evolved into a student-orientated retail strip.

Another neighborhood association identifies itself as a separate organized identity within Charles Village. The Peabody Heights Resident Homeowners Alliance represents the blocks between 25 and 31streets, bounded by Maryland Avenue and Guilford Avenue east and west, respectively.

Greater Charles Village is generally considered to include the Charles Village, Abell, Harwood and Old Goucher Neighborhoods.

History

Plans for Peabody Heights, the first name given to the area now known as Charles Village, had been drawn up shortly after the Civil War. The main objective of the Peabody Heights development was to profitably anticipate the growth of the City in the northern direction. By 1911, Peabody Heights and the surrounding areas were developing rapidly. As the former rural atmosphere disappeared, land values climbed, especially along the Olmsted-designed Charles Street boulevard. During the 1960s, a renaissance began in the community as new homebuyers were attracted to the area's architectural variety and quality. In addition to the functional beauty of its large buildings, the neighborhood offered a convenient location near good public transportation and prominent institutions. A new name, Charles Village, was coined by local resident Grace Darin in 1967. Charles Village is now part of the Charles Village Community Benefits District, a special assessment district which also includes the neighborhoods of Abell, Harwood and Charles North, and provides extra service and support to neighborhood residents and businesses.