Hebrew Orphan Asylum

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Hebrew Orphan Asylum
Established 1872
Construction Began 1875 (New brick structure to replace the fire damage mansion.)
Opened 1872
Closed 1989
Current Status Closed
Building Style Single Building
Architect(s) Lupus & Roby
Location Baltimore Maryland
Architecture Style Victorian Romanesque
Alternate Names
  • Calverton Mansion
  • West Baltimore General
  • Lutheran Hospital of Maryland
  • Tuerk House



History[edit]

The history of the development at the site of the current building began in 1815 with the construction of “Calverton,” the country home of Baltimore banker Dennis Smith. This building was re-purposed and expanded for use as the Baltimore City and County Almshouse from 1820 through 1866. The Hebrew Orphan Asylum was established in 1872 and operated in the Calverton mansion until displaced by a fire in 1874. After some deliberation, the leaders of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum decided to rebuild at the same location following a design by architects Lupus & Roby.

The Hebrew Orphan Asylum moved to a new facility in 1923 and the building transitioned to serve as the West Baltimore General Hospital from 1923 through 1945. The facility then became the Lutheran Hospital of Maryland and remained in use from 1945 to 1989. The history of the building as a hospital included the addition of several related structures to the campus only one of which, a 1945 maternity ward, remaining extant. This building, designed by Henry Powell Hopkins and built by the John K. Ruff Company, now operates as the Tuerk House, a residential drug and alcohol rehab facility. The original Hebrew Orphan Asylum building has been vacant since 1989 and has been owned by Coppin State University since 2003.

Baltimore Heritage, a nonprofit historic preservation advocacy organization, nominated the Hebrew Orphan Asylum to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 with support from Coppin State University.

The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on October 28, 2010. The listing was announced as the featured listing in the National Park Service's weekly list of November 5, 2010.

Links[edit]