McElderry Park is a neighborhood in the northern part of the southeastern district of the City of
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
. Its boundaries are marked by
East Fayette Street,
East Monument Street,
Linwood Avenue, and
Patterson Park Avenue. South of McElderry Park is the neighborhood of
Patterson Park
Patterson Park is an urban park in Southeast Baltimore, Maryland, United States, adjacent to the neighborhoods of Canton, Highlandtown, Patterson Park, and Butchers Hill. It is bordered by East Baltimore Street, Eastern Avenue, South Pa ...
;
Butchers Hill is to the southwest.
Ellwood Park
Ellwood Park is a neighborhood in the eastern part of Baltimore, Maryland. It is named for a small public park with a playground between Jefferson and Orleans Streets. The neighborhood extends from Linwood Avenue and Haven Street, between Monumen ...
is located to the east, and the campus of The
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...
to the west. To its north is the neighborhood of
Madison-East End.
In the early 1980s, McElderry Park suffered from
white flight and abandonment by its
working class homeowners. The closing of nearby
public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, de ...
flooded the neighborhood with
Section 8 tenants in individual rowhomes and apartments, with additional
street crime
Street crime is a loose term for any criminal offense in a public place. The difference between street crime and white-collar crime is that street crime is often violence that occurs in a public area whereas white-collar crime is non-violent crime ...
, and
illegal drug trade. Throughout the 1990s, the area became the most crime-ridden in old East Baltimore. Efforts are underway to turn things around, replacing abandoned buildings with productive uses such as public gardens.
The 2000 census reported that 34.3 percent of McElderry Park's families had incomes below the poverty line. Although predominantly black, the neighborhood has significant
white and
Hispanic populations.
History
The Park takes its name from the McElderry family, who were wealthy merchants in Baltimore in the early 19th century. Irish immigrant
Thomas McElderry (17581810) arrived in Baltimore in 1793 and quickly established himselfbuilding a wharf that bore his name, improving Market Square, and helping found the Baltimore Water Company.
McElderry Park is located entirely within the bounds of the
East Monument Historic District. Historically, McElderry and the nearby neighborhood of
Middle East were the heart of the
Czech immigrant community in Baltimore. This area was often known as "Little Bohemia" or "Swampoodle".
Jimmy Carter lends a hand
Former 38th president
Jimmy Carter erved 1977-1981 assisted 300 volunteers on October 5, 2010 at a
"Habitat for Humanity" project in McElderry Park. This weeklong project restored vacant houses in the 2400 block of Jefferson Street.
"Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake" has been working with the Monument-McElderry-Fayette Revitalization Plan Board since 2006 on a long-term plan to restore blighted portions of McElderry Park. When they began work in 2007, only two of 43 houses in the 2400 block of Jefferson Street were occupied. The Plan Board's co-chairman expected to have 32 of the houses owner-occupied by the end of 2010.
Amazing Port Street Sacred Commons
"Amazing Port Street Sacred Commons" is a prayer labyrinth, perennial garden, and open, grassy field located behind the Amazing Grace Lutheran Church (founded/merged 1996 from several earlier Lutheran churches), located at 2424 McElderry Street. The space currently used by the Commons was previously occupied by abandoned, dilapidated houses. It was purchased and developed by the church as open green space with a grant from the TKF Foundation. The Commons is open to the public, of all faiths, as required by the grant. Produce from the garden is distributed by the church's food pantry, the "Center for Grace-full Living".
Public services
Schools
*
Tench Tilghman Elementary and Middle School (Pre-K to 8), located at 600 North
Patterson Park Avenue, enrollment: 360.
*
William Paca
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...
Elementary School (Pre-K to 5), located at 200 North Lakewood Avenue, enrollment: 624.
Enoch Pratt Free Library
*
Patterson Park Branch Library, 158 North Linwood Avenue.
Parks
*
Patterson Park
Patterson Park is an urban park in Southeast Baltimore, Maryland, United States, adjacent to the neighborhoods of Canton, Highlandtown, Patterson Park, and Butchers Hill. It is bordered by East Baltimore Street, Eastern Avenue, South Pa ...
, one of the City's largest and oldest "green oasises" between
Eastern Avenue on the south,
Patterson Park Avenue on the west, Ellwood Street on the east, and
East Baltimore Street and
East Pratt Street on the north.
Transportation
Route 35 (MTA Maryland)
LocalLink Route 56 is a bus route operated by the Maryland Transit Administration in Baltimore and its suburbs. The line runs between the Park and Ride station in White Marsh and Charles Center in Downtown Baltimore. In June 2017, LocalLink 56 r ...
provides bus service between
Downtown Baltimore and
White Marsh, with stops along East Monument Street and East Madison Street. The
Route 40
The following highways are numbered 40:
International
* European route E40
Argentina
* National Route 40
Australia
* NSW State Route 40 (Windsor Road and Victoria Road in Sydney)
* Victorian State Route 40
* Mulligan Highway (Queensland)
...
Quickbus stops at East Fayette Street and Linwood Avenue along its crosstown course between
Woodlawn in the west and Essex in the east of suburban
Baltimore County
Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...
.
Route 13 passes through the neighborhood along Milton Avenue, McElderry Street and Linwood Avenue.
Route 20 and
Route 23 provide crosstown bus service along East Fayette Street.
See also
*
List of Baltimore neighborhoods
Neighborhoods in the City of Baltimore are officially divided into nine geographical regions: North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, Northwest, and Central, with each district patrolled by a respective precinct of the Baltim ...
References
External links
HUD Helps McElderry Park Restore Vacant LandsMonument-McElderry-Fayette Area Plan, September 2006Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition, Inc.Southeast District Maps Baltimore City Neighborhoods Portal
{{Baltimore neighborhoods
African-American history in Baltimore
Czech-American culture in Baltimore
East Baltimore
Neighborhoods in Baltimore
Poverty in Maryland
Working-class culture in Baltimore