A long-dormant Mount Vernon church will open for public tours this month, marking the first time its main sanctuary has been available to visit since a local non-profit group purchased the building in July to preserve and reactivate it.
Mount Vernon Place Church is one of 45 buildings and sites that will be open on Oct. 25 as part of the annual Doors Open Baltimore architectural festival that is organized by the Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and starts this year with a free kickoff event at The Peale museum on Thursday, Oct. 2. The Mount Vernon landmark is one of nine sites that are new to the tour.
The main sanctuary of the church at 2 E. Mount Vernon Place hasn’t been open for worship services since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic more than five years ago. The church’s congregation meets in a smaller room behind the main sanctuary. The last time the sanctuary was open to the general public was during a real estate broker’s open house in July of 2024, when the church was up for sale.
The 153-year-old church is now owned by UNITE Mount Vernon Inc., a non-profit that acquired it from the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church for $500,000 on July 10.The group’s goal is to restore the building and introduce uses that are compatible with the building and surrounding area. It also leases part of the interior to the Methodist congregation that was in place before the sale. The building’s name was shortened from Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church by the new owners.
Asbury House, the former church office building at 10 E. Mount Vernon Place, was sold separately on July 10 by the conference and is already undergoing restoration. It is not part of this year’s Doors Open Baltimore tour.
Located at a highly visible intersection near the base of the Washington Monument, the church is one of the most photographed buildings in Baltimore and is steeped in history. It was constructed on the spot where Charles Howard, son of the Revolutionary War officer John Eager Howard, had a mansion, and Francis Scott Key, author of the Star-Spangled Banner, died in 1843. It opened in 1872 at a cost of $400,000, including land, building and furnishings.
Considered a prime example of Victorian Gothic architecture, the church has three spires and an exterior made of six different types of stone. Designed by Thomas Dixon and Charles Carson, the church has seating for 900 people in its main sanctuary, a massive M. P. Moeller organ with 3,927 pipes, and a rose window modeled after the one at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Other interior spaces range from the intimate Bosley Chapel to a cavernous multi-purpose room known as Davis Hall.
UNITE Mount Vernon is still formulating its long-range plans. It has already secured more than $300,000 to be used for planning, community engagement and preservation. Most of the initial funding comes from a $250,000 state bond initiative that was passed in 2024 to provide seed money for a capital campaign and other assistance. Opening the church for the BAF event is consistent with the group’s strategy for getting the word out and building support for its efforts.
Open on Oct. 25
Mount Vernon Place Church will be open as part of Doors Open Baltimore events on Oct. 25. Sites will be open either from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The complete list is at www.doorsopenbaltimore.org.
Doors Open Baltimore has also scheduled a guided tour of the church on Oct. 19 that will be led by architect Ann Powell, one of the board members of UNITE Mount Vernon, but that event is sold out.
These events are the first of several others in which the church’s main sanctuary will be open after years of dormancy. Next spring, the church will be open as part of the annual Maryland House & Garden Pilgrimage that will be in Mount Vernon in 2026. Proceeds from the event will go to UNITE Mount Vernon to support its work to preserve the church.
The congregation is also planning its own event in conjunction with other United Methodist churches in Baltimore. According to The Rev. Angelic Williams, the pastor, the church’s lease with UNITE Mount Vernon allows the congregation to use the main sanctuary up to four times a year. Williams said she is planning to invite members from all of the United Methodist churches in Baltimore, and others, to take part in a worship service there and see that the congregation is still active and welcoming new members. The event would also be an occasion to celebrate the church’s 150th anniversary, which got little attention in 2022. A date for that service has not been set.
Other tour stops
This is the 12th year for Doors Open Baltimore, which gives participants a chance to visit buildings and sites that aren’t usually open to the public. The Maryland Center for History and Culture at 610 Park Avenue is serving as the event’s information hub and suggested starting point.
Mount Vernon Place Church is one of 12 churches and synagogues that will be open for tours on Oct. 25. Others include: St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church: First Unitarian Church of Baltimore; First and Franklin Street Presbyterian Church; Zion Church of the City of Baltimore; Old St. Paul’s Episcopal Church; Episcopal Church of the Redeemer; Brown Memorial Park Avenue; Hampden United Methodist Church; Good Shepherd United Methodist Church; Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church, and Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church.
Other buildings and sites include: Davidge Hall; the SNF Parkway Theater; The Grand Baltimore; the Lord Baltimore Hotel, the Harlem Theatre; Corradetti Glassblowing Studio; the Arch Social Club; the H. L. Mencken House; the Enoch Pratt House; Carroll Mansion; the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum and the Maryland Center for History and Culture. Adaptive reuse projects include the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company Theater; Library Nineteen; Area 405 and Le Mondo.
In addition to the free Doors Open events on Oct. 25, the organizers have scheduled a series of ticketed tours that will start Oct. 4 and continue through the month. Some are sold out, but others are still available. The still-available sites include: the Justice Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center in west Baltimore; a Water Taxi tour of Baltimore’s harbor; Shaarei Tfiloh; Homewood mansion; the former Greyhound bus terminal on Howard Street and Beth Am Synagogue.
The kickoff event for Doors Open Baltimore will be held at The Peale, Baltimore’s community museum, 225 Holliday St., on Thursday Oct. 2 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
