The Baltimore City Planning Commission defines the neighborhood as being bound by Eager Street to the north, the Jones Falls Expressway to the east, Franklin Street to the south, and Eutaw Street to the west. The Mid-Town Belvedere neighborhood, named for the Belvedere estate of John Eager Howard, lies immediately to the north, and the two are sometimes considered to be one neighborhood.
During the 1970s, Mount Vernon became Baltimore's main gay village. The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore, now known as the Pride Center of Maryland, was established in Mount Vernon in 1977.[4]
Architectural history
The centerpiece of the Mount Vernon neighborhood, the cruciform arrangement of parks surrounding the Washington Monument, represents one of the nation's first examples of city planning for the express purpose of highlighting a monument. The Washington Monument was completed in 1829 to a design by Robert Mills, and in 1831 the Howard family was granted permission to lay out the surrounding parks[5] which eventually were lined by stately homes. The parks, which have survived almost intact, are considered to be the finest existing urban landscapes by the Beaux-Arts architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings, who also designed the New York Public Library, portions of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and the residence that houses the Frick Collection.
Elsewhere in the neighborhood are many older apartment buildings and three and four-story rowhouses. The Belvedere Hotel, opened in 1903, was converted to condominiums in 1991.[5][failed verification]
The Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church lies northeast of the Washington Monument. Conceived as a cathedral of Methodism, it was built on the site of the Charles Howard mansion, the house in which Francis Scott Key died. In 2021, the church's owners sought planning permission to subdivide the building, separating the church from the adjacent Asbury House.[6] The southeast corner from the monument is occupied entirely by the Peabody Institute, and the southwest corner includes three buildings forming part of the Walters Art Museum.
The former Stafford Hotel on Washington Place, built in 1894, now serves as an apartment building primarily housing Peabody Institute students.[7]
The old Mount Vernon Hotel at 702 Cathedral Street, built in 1847, was the mansion home of U.S. Congressman William Julian Albert where he entertained Abraham Lincoln. It was converted into a hotel in 1967, and was where Oscar Wilde stayed as part of his 1882 lecture tour of the United States.[8][failed verification]
Selected parcels with the National Historic Landmark District have been designated Baltimore City Landmarks, including:
Washington Monument and Mount Vernon Place (defined as the city square of the monument and the cruciform-shaped area of parks radiating north, south, east and west)[9]
60.4% of the population were employed, 3.5% were unemployed, and 36.0% were not in the labor force, largely due to the large student population. The median household income was $21,225. About 15.2% of families and 26.9% of the population were below the poverty line.[12]
5.6% of occupied housing units were owner-occupied. 10.2% of housing units were vacant.[12]
^"Our History". The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
