Description

The Waverly Historic District includes a single block of buildings in the area adjacent to Memorial Stadium. The block includes twenty-two frame houses and a stone church. Ranging in date from the late 1880s to c. 1905, these cottage-like Victorian era houses often display excellent jigsaw and barge board woodwork. Most of the buildings feature center or offset gables. The houses are set back from the street and front on a tree-lined residentially scaled street. This particular block is only a small part of the general area known as Waverly. It is, however, well preserved with few intrusions, thus retaining its original village character.

Significance

The Waverly Historic District is significant as a surviving portion of the Victorian village known as Waverly that developed on the outskirts of Baltimore in the late nineteenth century. Many of the buildings feature some of Baltimore's finest jigsaw and barge board woodwork. As a whole, the group of residential buildings in this district produces a relatively intact streetscape which provides an understanding of the nature of Baltimore suburban environments at the turn of the century. Much of the Waverly area has been altered to a great extent or has been overshadowed by later rowhouse development. This small enclave is representative of the best preserved streets in the community and may serve as an example for the future preservation of similar early suburban environments.