Caulkers' Houses

Caulkers' Houses. . , In the early 1780s Ann Bond Fell Giles laid out for development the area called Fell's Point, just south of the existing Fell's Prospect community. Development was in part to provide housing needed to meet the demands of the growing maritime econony. Families that occupied these South Wolfe Street residences before the Civil War included free African-Americans employed as caulkers in adjacent shipyards. Research indicates the houses were occupied prior to 1801., The plan of 612-14 South Wolfe Street is one-room deep with an attic floor having a dormer. Originally two identical houses were attached to the north of 612, forming a row of four living units in one building (a quadplex). The construction method was light timber frame with bricks filling the spaces between the framing (known as nogging)., Exterior bricks covered with a plaster rendering were coated with limewash. Wood siding was added at a later date., These remaining houses as examples of timber-frame brick nogging construction are rarities in the Mid-Atlantic region and believed to be sole survivors of their kind in Baltimore. Now owned by the Society for the Preservation of Federal Hill and Fell's Point, the houses - through their rehabilitation - present a unique educational opportunity to expand the knowledge of the multi-layered history of Fell's Point., National Register of Historic Places , National Historic District (Listed 1969), Baltimore City Landmark (Designated 1987), Baltimore National Heritage Area