Mount Vernon Cultural Walk: Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church

Be Here Stories

The Mount Vernon Cultural Walk is created by The Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA), which promotes, preserves, and enhances Baltimore's historic and cultural legacy and natural resources for current and future generations. A walking tour of this and other destinations is available at www.explorebaltimore.org/tours. Located at 10 East Mount Vernon Place The Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church opened in 1872. Its leaders’ ambition to build a “Cathedral of Methodism” influenced both their choice of locale—the city’s most prestigious square—and the church’s striking Victorian Gothic design. The exterior features six types of stone, including rare green serpentine from Bare Hills quarry in Baltimore County. Red sandstone trim accentuates the building’s Gothic elements, which include pointed arches, soaring spires, and a large rose window. The west wall displays grotesque faces said to depict prominent Baltimoreans of the day. Plans called for a steeple taller than the Washington Monument; it was shortened to 12 inches below Washington’s head after local residents and city officials objected. The church’s interior includes a 3,927-pipe Möller organ and a 10-foot stained-glass Connick cross, installed over the pulpit in 1956. The congregation traces its roots to Baltimore’s Lovely Lane Meeting House, where the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States was officially organized in 1784. A lectern used by Francis Asbury, “father of American Methodism,” stands behind the altar rail. The church replaced the mansion of Charles Howard, son-in-law of Star-Spangled Banner composer Francis Scott Key. Key died in the home while visiting his daughter.