Local perspective: Hidden treasure invites rediscovery
by David Marks
The Perry Hall Mansion is the best known – and least understood – landmark in northeastern Baltimore County.
I say “best known” because the actual name of the building – “Perry Hall” – has come to represent the burgeoning community of 30,000 residents between Pulaski Highway and Putty Hill. But the building itself is a mystery to most of them.
In fact, the Perry Hall Mansion is probably one of the most historic places in Maryland. Built between 1773 and 1775, it was the centerpiece of a vast estate that dominated life and commerce in eastern Baltimore County. Harry Dorsey Gough, the Baltimore businessman who used it as a country retreat, sheltered early Methodist leaders at the mansion when their pacifist views were unpopular.
The mansion went through at least 10 owners between 1773 and 2001, and little by little, the estate was whittled down to four acres. By the 1960s, the home was largely forgotten. Sure, there was the little metal marker erected by the State Roads Commission, and students at Perry Hall High School saw a likeness on their rings. But the mansion was mostly a faint memory in Perry Hall’s distant past.
In 1995, I returned from college and began getting involved in several local organizations. One was the Baltimore County Historical Trust, which works to protect historic properties.
At about that time, the Baltimore County Historical Trust was trying to stop a developer from destroying the Samuel Owings House, the landmark for which Owings Mills was made. I thought to myself: if Owings Mills could lose its namesake, then what about Perry Hall?
I also got involved in the Perry Hall Improvement Association. At the time, the PHIA was mostly known as a watchdog against bad development. But I urged the PHIA to also keep an eye out for the Perry Hall Mansion. Sure enough, in 1999, the mansion went up for sale.
What happened next was remarkable. Over the course of two years – from 1999 to 2001 – community leaders had not only preserved the Perry Hall Mansion, but got Baltimore County to buy it as a future community museum and landmark.
I will never forget Saturday morning, September 18, 1999. The PHIA and other community groups held a “community breakfast” at the Perry Inn and Pub to plan Perry Hall’s 225th birthday. After the breakfast ended, a number of us approached Sen. Tom Bromwell about the Perry Hall Mansion.
He immediately embraced the idea of having either the state or Baltimore County buy the mansion.
I have not always agreed with Senator Bromwell, but there is no doubt in my mind that the Perry Hall Mansion would never have been bought without his help.
He persuaded Baltimore County Executive Dutch Ruppersberger to go along with the idea – as long as the state helped pay for the mansion’s restoration. Then, a group of Democratic and Republican state legislators worked together to secure the first bond bill, which sealed the deal.
There are other people to thank. Community activists such as Don Bollhorst, Chris Jackovitz, and Al Zorn believed in the project. But most importantly, the owner of the mansion was willing to wait nearly two years for Baltimore County to finalize a contract.
Throughout Maryland, there are owners of historic properties who simply cannot wait for the “right owner” to come along. Many are lured by the promise of quick cash. In Perry Hall, historic properties have been bulldozed for a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, a Walgreens pharmacy, and a Safeway grocery store. Somehow, I doubt these buildings will be appearing on a list of culturally significant landmarks in a hundred years.
But the Perry Hall Mansion was saved. Preserving this landmark is, by far, one of the two or three most important accomplishments of the PHIA and other community organizations.
Baltimore County has owned the mansion for six years now. During that time, the county spent the original bond money restoring the exterior, and some additional funding was secured for the interior renovations. But this work has largely gone unnoticed by the public.
Today, the Perry Hall Mansion is framed by a makeshift fence, weeds popping through the wires. It’s no wonder the building still appears on lists of haunted houses on the Internet.
That’s why it was so important for community leaders to take the next step and create a separate organization to care for the property. By-laws for the Friends of the Perry Hall Mansion have been drafted, and there will be an official signing ceremony at the Perry Hall Town Fair. You can learn more about the Friends at www.perryhallmansion.org.
There is still much to be done. The Friends can hopefully prod Baltimore County to complete a master plan for the Perry Hall Mansion, a document that spells out future uses, funding needs, and staffing requirements. Then, the Friends will need to raise about $300,000 to complete the interior renovations. My hope is that the entire project can be finished by the end of 2009. That will be 10 years since community leaders first pushed to save the mansion, and it will also be the 350th birthday of Baltimore County.
I also hope there is a renewed campaign to educate people, particularly the young, about the importance of the mansion. Unbelievably, many students at Perry Hall High School no longer buy class rings that feature the landmark.
In northeastern Baltimore County, we are so lucky to have a landmark like the Perry Hall Mansion. The list of communities that have lost their namesake landmarks is long – places like Cockeysville, Milford Mill, Owings Mills, Timonium, and Warren. Perry Hall will never be one of them.
David Marks is a longtime Perry Hall community activist and author of a history of Perry Hall, Md.