Giving Voice to the Community

Giving Voice to the Community. . , As the villages around Waverly grew in the 1800s, religion played an important role in social, civil and political organizing., Baptists, Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians and Catholics regularly attended each other's church picnics and suppers and were active in creating local schools and other institutions. Churches were built to serve the diverse congregations. In 1843, St. John's in the Village began providing services to local Episcopalians. The Baptists built their church at the corner of Barclay Street and East 31st Street. The Methodists first built their church on the site of today's Goodwill before moving to their present location on East 33rd Street. The Catholics built St. Bernard's on Gorsuch Avenue where villagers of all faiths went to see their May Processions. In 1873, the Town Hall was constructed and served as a community meeting place, a center of commerce, a social hub and a post office. Originally named Huntington, the area was renamed Waverly in 1866 when a local post office was opened at the Toll House. Rallies and debates were held at the Town Hall on significant issues facing local residents, including the annexation of the village of Waverly into Baltimore City, which took place in 1888. The area remained a hub for political and social causes over the next century with a counter-culture flourishing from the 1960s to the 1980s. Anti-war protesters, feminists and Black Panthers establishes the People's Community Health Center that provided free medical care to all patients. East 31st Street was a home to Sam's Belly Food Co-op, Bread and Roses Coffee Shop and the 31st Street Woman's Bookstore, who space is now occupied by Normal's Books and Records, which continues the tradition today as a collective and center for experimental music, film and publications., Waverly Main Streets is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is part of the Baltimore National Heritage Area.