The Peale Building, 1877

Previously serving as Peale’s Baltimore Museum (1814 – 1829) and the first City Hall of Baltimore (1830 -1875), the Peale building became Male & Female Colored Primary School No. 1 beginning in 1878.

The Peale, unidentified photographer, 1877, MC 10401. Peale/Baltimore City Life Museum Photographic Prints Collection, 16 x 20 Box 34, H. Furlong Baldwin Library, Maryland Center for History and Culture, Baltimore.

Visual Description: A faded black and white photo of the front of The Peale Building ca. 1877. The building is three stories with windows stretching along the top two floors. Each window has a slatted wooden shutter set openeing out onto the street. Below on the ground level a group of men stand on the sides of the steps leading up to the entrance. They are very small in the image (some stand in the shadow of a tall tree) and their features are hard to make out. They are dressed in suits and top hats and are looking at the photographer. Two gaslights flank the steps on the sidewalk. The image has faded around the edges causing a very old and worn look.