• Baltimore City Historic District Ordinance 331 1/27/69
• National Register of Historic Places 7/21/72

Description

Dickeyville is a distinctive mill era residential neighborhood near the Gwynns Falls and Leakin Parks on the western boundary line of Baltimore City. This irregularly shaped district relates to the serpentine nature of the Gwynns Falls and the unusual street pattern in the community. Primarily, Wetheredsville and Pickwick Roads meet in a "v" shaped plot of land and form a "y" shaped street pattern for the oldest section of Dickeyville. There are a variety of residential buildings in a village-like setting. Many of the early buildings are of stone construction, such as the three-story high field stone buildings of "stone row" and an early stone church and schoolhouse.

Most of the houses are clapboard, but there is a scattering of brick and shingle buildings. The many styles of residences include: gable roof houses with dormer windows; Victorian designs featuring ornate wood work; cross gable houses; flat roof houses with bracketed cornices and suburban type mid-twentieth century houses along newer portions of the community. An old brick mill dating from 1873 is also extant on the north side of the Gwynns Falls.

Significance

Dickeyville is significant as a surviving mill town featuring a variety of buildings from the late 18th century through the Victorian era. The diversity of residential buildings, extant community, church and mill-related structures, distinctive street plan, and intact park-like environment featuring the Gwynns Falls creates an old village character for Dickeyville that is unlike any other neighborhood in Baltimore City.

This unique environment began undergoing restoration in the 1930s. Dickeyville, therefore, represents one of Baltimore's first community preservation projects. There are many important examples of adaptive re-use in the area, and Dickeyville stands as a model for the preservation of small communities throughout Maryland.