Description 

Sharp Leadenhall is generally bounded by the Otterbein local district to the north, Solo Gibbs Park and I-395 to the west, Cross Street industrial buildings to the south, and Federal Hill Register historic comprises approximately 250 properties most of which are two-to-three story vernacular rowhouses built between the 1820’s and the 1870’s.

Significance

The Sharp Leadenhall historic district is a small but cohesive portion of the original African American neighborhood that began near the corner of Sharp and Pratt streets and expanded south to today’s Sharp Leadenhall neighborhood. The district contributes to the heritage of Baltimore as a cohesive remnant of an important South Baltimore African American neighborhood. The building fabric of the historic district illustrates the various architectural periods and styles of the 19^th century.

Sharp Leadenhall historic district captures 200 years of African American history in South Baltimore. By the last decade of the 18^th century, an African American community began to form around the Sharp and Pratt streets. This neighborhood first centered on Sharp Street Methodist church and the Sharp Street African American School. This community was home to some of America’s most import African American intellectuals including Daniel Coker, William Watkins, William Douglass, Hezekiah Grice, Dr. Lewis Wells, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. The Otterbein and Sharp Leadenhall neighborhoods represent the remnants of this once Antebellum African American neighborhood.