Description

Stirling Street comprises a single block of c. 1835 vernacular, gabled roof, brick rowhouses, which have been renovated under Baltimore's nationally recognized homesteading program. The district, which also includes a formstone church contemporary of Stirling Street rowhouses, is located just east of downtown Baltimore in the Oldtown area. The buildings, primarily two and one half story rowhouse groupings, are among the last of early rowhouses in Oldtown. The district is surrounded by new streets, housing projects, parks, public buildings and the Oldtown Mall (formerly the Gay Street commercial district). The City has constructed a cobblestone street and paved brick sidewalks, as well as planted trees along Stirling Street in order to create an early 19th Century environment in an area a few short blocks from downtown Baltimore.

Significance

The Stirling Street District is architecturally significant as Baltimore's most completely restored 19th Century streetscape. This symbol of Baltimore's Renaissance and the City's homesteading program is comprised of houses embodying the distinctive characteristics of traditional vernacular Baltimore rowhouse architecture. The early history of the street is representative of early 19th Century working class neighborhoods which housed both black and white residents.