Patterson Place

Location

Patterson Place includes over 400 houses on the Northwest corner of Patterson Park. The boundaries of the neighborhood are Milton Avenue on the East, Patterson Park Avenue on the West, Orleans Street on the North and Baltimore Street on the South. Southeast Baltimore’s Patterson Place neighborhood neighbors Butcher’s Hill to its West, Patterson Park to its East, and Canton to its South.

Description

Patterson Place is across Baltimore Street from Patterson Park, voted “Best Park” by the City Paper in 2002 and 2007. On 155 acres, Patterson Park truly is a great asset to the surrounding neighborhoods. Home to the famous Pagoda, the park also includes a pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, baseball diamonds, an ice skating rink, a lake with fish, playground equipment, and a community garden. There are acres of rolling grass and trees, and walking trails. For runners, each lap around Patterson Park is 2 miles.

History

Patterson Park was donated in 1827 to the City of Baltimore with 6 acres of land by William Patterson. In 1860 an additional 29 acres were purchased from the Patterson heirs. During the Civil War the park was used as a Union troop encampment. The 60 foot Pagoda, designed by Charles H. Latrobe, was built in 1891. Another expansion of 19 acres was added in 1873, and two additional expansions in 1907 and 1913 brought the total acreage to 155. Patterson Place is part of the Patterson Park/Highlandtown Historic District, first settled in 1867. The area retains elements such as painted screens, window displays, planters, and decorative seating areas characteristic of Baltimore. Churches, schools, corner stores, and scattered small-scale industrial buildings are interspersed among the row houses in a manner characteristic of communities knit together by foot and streetcar transportation. Fewer than 1% of the structures constructed prior to 1952 have been lost.