Perkins Square Gazebo

Perkins Square Gazebo. National Register of Historic Places. , The Perkins Square Gazebo harkens back to the grandeur of Baltimore’s 19th century architectural and landscape heritage. In 1871, the gazebo was built as a spring shelter, the centerpiece for a new park. The land for the park was once part of Chatsworth, an estate originally owned by Dr. George Walker, one of Baltimore’s original commissioners. As early as the 1850s, the city became interested in preserving the natural spring and surrounding grounds as “a place of public resort for the citizens of Baltimore.” Once triangular in shape the park became known for its rock formations with creeping vines and extravagant plantings with luxuriant beds of coleus and petunias planted in shapes of stars, shields and anchors.

The gazebo, octagonal in shape, comprises eight cast-iron columns which support a metal roof. The architectural details capture Moorish influences, most notably in the arches and the roof shape. The cast-iron construction, a rarity today, also lends significance as an example of a building technology for which Baltimore was a national center of production.

In 1963, the city razed the surrounding neighborhood for the development of the Murphy Homes housing project. This development was later demolished to create Heritage Crossing, a new housing development. The gazebo stands as a centerpiece for Heritage Crossing, and remains as one of two spring shelters existing in Baltimore.