Baltimore City Historic District Ordinance 18-117 - 3/27/2018

Description

Situated within the historic retail core of Baltimore City and on a street grid that largely remains from the original settlement of the area, the proposed Five & Dime historic district demonstrates distinctive characteristics of 19th and early 20th century commercial architecture in a variety of styles. Five & Dime comprises about 5 city blocks northwest of the Inner Harbor and immediately adjacent to (west of) the Central Business District. Howard Street continues to serve this area as the primary thoroughfare for public transit, as the light rail tracks replaced the historic streetcar route.

The district is comprised of a wide variety of commercial structures dating primarily from the 19th and 20th centuries. A number of the buildings have been modified over time to connect or modernize smaller buildings. Much of this work occurred during the period of significance and resulted from the change in the nature of retail design. The buildings represent a diversity of style and material, ranging from mid-19th century 3-story brick gable rowhouses to 5-story cast-iron commercial storefront buildings, to multi-story, half-block masonry department stores.

Significance

The proposed Five & Dime local historic district is home to a wide variety of commercial structures in the heart of Baltimore’s historic retail district. The proposed district is part of the Five & Dime (Westside) Local Historic District Designation: Hearing Two 2 larger Market Center National Register Historic District, which is home to large department stores, banking centers, theaters and restaurants. The rise of Lexington Market as one of the premiere city markets in the middle of the 19th century spurred the commercial growth in the adjacent blocks. This commercial district developed in the early 19th century and by the end of the 19th century it was home to many of Baltimore’s large department stores. Much of the building stock within the proposed Five & Dime local historic district transitioned from retailresidential-warehouse uses to commercial in the late 19th century. The district houses a variety of warehouses and some early discount and wholesale stores.

In the early 20th century as shopping tastes changed, the 200 block of West Lexington Street became home to a variety of “five and dime” stores, like McCrory’s, Schulte-United, Woolworth’s and Brager-Gutmans. Remodeled or new purpose-built, two- to four-story commercial buildings were erected on this block, with wider street frontages and modern storefronts. Many of the structures were designed by prominent Baltimore architects and architecture firms, including Charles E. Cassell, Henry F. Brauns, Smith and May, Joseph Evans Sperry, John Freund Jr., Josias Pennington, Louis Levi, Thomas W. Lamb, and Simonson and Peitsch.

The 1930s were an architecturally transformative time for the district, as older storefronts were given modern streamlined facades and new five & dime establishments were built in the Art Deco and Moderne styles. The iconic rounded façade of Kresge’s and the decorative color tile work on the McCrory’s building are just a few examples of the impact this period had on the architecture of the district.

In the 1950s, this district played a major role in the desegregation of commercial establishments, particularly along the 200 block of West Lexington Street. Protests and sit-ins led by the Congress of Racial Equity (CORE), students from Morgan State College and other groups, desegregated lunch counters and helped to open store services to all patrons. Although these were popular retailers, their discriminatory practices during the Jim Crow era meant that African-American patrons were not allowed to participate in ordinary activities like trying on clothing or eating at the lunch counter. From 1953 to 1955, sit-in demonstrations took place at lunch counters in five & dime stores like McCrory’s, Woolworths and Reads, all located within the proposed district.

By the 1960s, suburbanization and the desire for auto-oriented retail drew many major retailers out of the historic commercial core of the city and to areas like Edmondson Village, Mondawmin Mall and Towson. The district remained home to smaller retailers; however, many of the buildings were underused. In 1999 the area was named as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and in 2001 Baltimore City signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Maryland Historical Trust with the goal of preserving significant City-owned buildings.