James Lawrence Kernan facts for kids

James Lawrence Kernan (1838–1912) was a theater manager and a generous person who helped many people in Baltimore, Maryland. He was known for building hotels and theaters, and for starting a hospital.

Early Life and the Civil War

James Lawrence Kernan was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 29, 1838. His childhood home was near East Pratt and High streets. He went to school at Loyola High School and Loyola College in Baltimore. He also studied at Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Frederick County.

Before the war, James worked in a dry goods store. He also worked as a clerk for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. When the Civil War began, he joined the Confederate Army. In October 1864, he was captured. He became a prisoner of war at Point Lookout in St. Mary's County. This camp was located where the Potomac River meets the Chesapeake Bay. He stayed there until the war ended.

Building Businesses in Baltimore

After the war, in February 1866, James Kernan started "Kernan Enterprises." This business was a combination of a hotel and a rathskeller (a type of restaurant or bar, often in a basement).

In 1903, he built a very fancy hotel called the Hotel Kernan. Next to it, he built the Maryland Theater. These buildings faced West Franklin Street in Baltimore. The Hotel Kernan was later renamed the Congress Hotel. Its basement bar, known as the Marble Bar, was famous for its new and exciting music and nightlife, even up to the 1980s.

This area was already a busy theater district. The old Academy of Music was built nearby in 1875. Later, in the 1920s, the grand Mayfair Theatre was built. The beautiful Stanley Theatre also replaced the Academy of Music. By 2005, the old Congress Hotel was updated into apartments and condos.

Helping the Community

James Kernan was also very generous. Between 1860 and 1866, he started a hospital. This hospital later became known as the James Lawrence Kernan Hospital. Today, it is called the "University of Maryland Rehabilitation & Orthopaedic Institute." It is part of the larger University of Maryland Medical Center. The hospital is located in northwest Baltimore, near the Forest Park neighborhood.

Near the end of his life, he ran a Yiddish theater. This theater was in a large brick building now known as the Hendler Creamery. This building was in the Jonestown neighborhood, which was a center for the Jewish community in Baltimore. James Lawrence Kernan passed away at his Hotel Kernan in 1912.