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Evergreen Museum & Library facts for kids
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Evergreen House
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| Location | 4545 N. Charles St., Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
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| Area | 17 acres (6.9 ha) |
| Built | 1857-1858 |
| Architect | Multiple, including Laurence Hall Fowler |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival, Renaissance |
| NRHP reference No. | 83002932 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | January 17, 1983 |
The Evergreen Museum & Library is a special place in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It's a historic house museum and a huge research library. You can find it between the campuses of Notre Dame of Maryland University and Loyola University Maryland. Johns Hopkins University runs Evergreen, along with another museum called Homewood. Together, they are the Johns Hopkins University Museums.
Evergreen's Story: A Grand Home's History
This amazing mansion was built in the mid-1800s. In 1878, a very important person bought it: John W. Garrett. He was the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Railroads were a huge business back then!
The Garrett family owned one of the biggest railroad companies. Because of this, their home grew to be very fancy and well-known. John Garrett's son, T. Harrison Garrett, added even more to the house. He built a new section with a billiard room, a bowling alley, and a gym.
Later, these fun rooms were changed into an art gallery and a private theater. The Garrett family lived in Evergreen until 1952. Then, they gave the house to Johns Hopkins University. In 1983, Evergreen was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's a very important historic site.
Exploring Evergreen's Architecture and Art
Evergreen House is a wonderful example of Gilded Age architecture. The Gilded Age was a time in American history when many people became very rich and built huge, fancy homes. This house sits on 26 acres of beautiful land in Northern Baltimore.
The house started as a simpler Italianate style home. But when the Garretts owned it, it became a giant 48-room mansion! Imagine a bathroom covered in 23-karat gold. There's also a library with 30,000 books and a theater painted by the famous Russian artist Léon Bakst.
The house is filled with amazing decorations from all over the world. These items show the Garrett family's travels and interests. You can see a red Asian room with items from Japan and China. There are also artworks by famous artists like Picasso, Modigliani, and Degas. You can even find beautiful glass made by Tiffany and special Dutch furniture.
Today, Johns Hopkins University takes care of the museum. You can take a guided tour to see all these incredible things for yourself.
The John Work Garrett Library: A Treasure Trove of Books
The John Work Garrett Library is a very special part of Johns Hopkins University. It's managed by the Department of Special Collections. This library holds over 30,000 books! Most of these books were collected by John Work Garrett (who lived from 1872 to 1942) and his father, T. Harrison Garrett.
The library has many important books, especially from the English Renaissance. This includes early copies of William Shakespeare's plays, called the Shakespeare Folios, from 1623, 1632, and 1663. Other strong parts of the collection include books about natural history. For example, it has the original drawings for James Sowerby's book Mineral Conchology of Great Britain.
You can also find books about travel, architecture, and early American history. One special item is the original handwritten story of The History of the Ancient and Honorable Tuesday Club by Alexander Hamilton. The library also has a small but wonderful collection of very old printed books (called incunabula) and books of hours.
The museum even has the oldest known example of printing made in colonial Maryland. It's a small booklet printed by Nicholas Hasselbach. He opened the first printing shop in Baltimore in 1765.