The Perry Hall Mansion is a historic structure located in the area to which it gave its name,
Perry Hall,
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 ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Erected on a hill above the
Gunpowder River
The Gunpowder River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tidal inlet on the western side of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, United States. It is formed by the jo ...
Valley, the mansion is an excellent example of late colonial and early 19th-century life in eastern Baltimore County.
History
Construction began under Corbin Lee, who died in 1773. It was completed under
Harry Dorsey Gough, a wealthy
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
merchant, in 1776.
[Colwill, Stiles T. ''Francis Guy, 1760–1820''. Maryland Historical Society, 1981.] Gough named the estate Perry Hall, after his
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
's ancestral home of
the same name within what is now
Perry Hall Park
Perry Hall Park or Perry Hall Country Park, and previously Perry Hall Playing Fields, is a park in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England, at . It was in Staffordshire until 1928.'The City of Birmingham', in A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 7, ...
, in
Perry Barr
Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, England. It is also the name of a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Birmingham Perry Barr is also a parliamentary constituency; its Member of Parliament is Khalid Ma ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, a northern suburb of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. From the 16-room mansion, Gough administered his vast plantation operation, where dozens of slaves tended cattle, various food crops, and stands of tobacco. The Perry Hall estate was so influential that maps from the period typically identify modern-day Bel Air Road (
U.S. Route 1
U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...
) as "Perry Hall Road" or "Gough's Road."
Gough died on May 8, 1808. Due to his statewide prominence, more than 2,000 people attended his funeral, which was held at the Perry Hall estate. The mansion was generally viewed as being at its zenith during the early Nineteenth Century. Visitors commented on the distinctive architectural features of the home as well as the lush gardens on the surrounding grounds. When one looks at the mansion as it existed in Gough's time, it is clear that the house included features that mirrored the diverse facets of Harry Dorsey Gough's life. The impressive wine cellars and expansive grand hall used for entertaining symbolized Gough's socially prominent life before his conversion to
Methodism
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...
. After his conversion, Gough built a chapel near the mansion's eastern wing that allowed him to quietly pursue his religious worship, along with his family, servants, and other neighboring landowners.
Perry Hall remained under the ownership of Gough's descendants until 1852 when it was sold to investors who subdivided much of the property among immigrant families who built dozens of farms. The mansion remained in private ownership for over two centuries, and by 2001, the vast estate had been whittled down to approximately four acres. That year, the mansion was sold to Baltimore County for future use as a museum and community center. The home in its original form appears in three large paintings made about 1803 by
Francis Guy
Francis Guy (1760–1820) was an English-born American Colonial Era painter. Mostly remembered for his topographic views of Brooklyn, Guy is today highly regarded as one of America's earliest and most important landscape artists.http://dallasmu ...
.
It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1980.
Friends of the Perry Hall Mansion
Since its acquisition by the Department of Parks and Recreation for Baltimore County, the Perry Hall Mansion has received a comprehensive exterior renovation. In addition, a structure has been created to allow the public to be directly involved in shaping the future of this historically significant property.
The Friends of the Perry Hall Mansion is a freestanding organization, formed in September 2007, that aims to work to complete the renovations at the mansion, and care for the structure once the project is finished. The officers and directors will work to achieve the group's mission to educate the public about the Perry Hall Mansion and provide input to the Baltimore County government on its uses and operations.
The Friends' agenda includes continued fund-raising for the interior renovation of the building, the initiation of an archaeological dig on the property, and the completion of a master plan to help guide the future use and continuous improvement of the mansion and grounds. Current members of the board of directors are as follows: Jeffrey Smith, president, Neil Miller, vice president, Tim Kosiba, treasurer, Linda Polesne, secretary, Colleen Bowers, membership chairperson, and Wayne Schaumburg, Vince Pecora, Ann Palrang, Laura Kimball, Melissa Redmer, and Peggy Neidlinger, directors.
Gallery
Image:Perry Hall Mansion.jpg, Artist Francis Guy's (1760-1820) portrait of Perry Hall Mansion, painted in 1803
Image:Perryhallhouseeastwing.jpg, The East wing of the mansion
References
Further reading
*Friends of Perry Hall Mansion website: https://web.archive.org/web/20110501073526/http://www.perryhallmansion.org/
*"Crossroads: The History of Perry Hall, by David Marks."''
External links
*, including photo from 1976, at Maryland Historical Trust
*
Friends organization
{{Authority control
African-American history of Baltimore County, Maryland
English-American culture in Maryland
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
Houses in Baltimore County, Maryland
Houses completed in 1773
Georgian architecture in Maryland
Historic American Buildings Survey in Maryland
National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore County, Maryland
Plantation houses in Maryland