Gateway to Leakin Park

Gateway to Leakin Park. Gwynns Falls Leakin Park.

"One of the most beautiful, as well as extensive country seats in the vicinity of Baltimore is that of the late Thomas Winans." , "A Day at the Crimea," Baltimore Herald (1894)

, The Winans Chapel, a distinctive example of Carpenter Gothic architecture, stands as the gateway to the historic Crimea Estate, which became a Baltimore City park in the 1940s., Thomas Winans, son of B&O pioneer Ross Winans and one of the builders of the first railroad in Russia, purchased this land as his country estate in the 1850s. At the request of his wife, Celeste, the couple built the chapel for the Irish Catholic workers on the estate., In the late 1920s Baltimore City received a bequest from the will of attorney J. Wilson Leakin which provided funding for the purchase of land for a major park. Asked in 1939 to evaluate potential park sites, prominent landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., son of the famous planner of Central Park, strongly recommended the Crimea property as offering the most ideal site for park expansion. Subsequently, the City purchased the property with acquisitions in 1941 and 1948 and named it Leakin Park in recognition of the bequest., Today, Leakin Park and the adjoining Gwynns Falls Park constitute the largest woodland park in an East Coast City.,

"[The Crimea Estate is] so nearly in condition, just as it now is, to be a very beautiful and valuable park." , Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. 1939)

, [Captions:] , Celeste Winans , Local tradition is that Celeste Winans requested that the chapel be built for the Irish Catholic workers who lived on the estate. Sadly, she died in 1861, soon after it was completed., Orianda House , The Orianda, constructed with rustic stonework in Victorian architectural style, was the Winans' country mansion. The Chapel, Orianda House, and stone Carriage House are Baltimore City Historic Landmarks., The Baltimore Herb Festival , Since it was founded in 1987, the annual Baltimore Herb Festival has devoted proceeds from the event to support the preservation of the Winans Chapel. The event is held each year on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.