BNHA Bromo Seltzer Tower

Baltimore’s iconic Emerson Bromo Seltzer Tower stands as a symbol of the city and the new Bromo Tower Arts and Entertainment District. Inspired by the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy, the 15-story building was the tallest in Baltimore until the 1930s.

The tower was built for the founder of the Emerson Drug Company, Captain Isaac E. Emerson. The tower was originally topped with a large replica of the blue Bromo Seltzer bottle, which was illuminated at night and became a notable landmark for ships entering the Baltimore harbor. This bottle was removed in the 1930s, but the clock, the largest four-dial gravity clock in the world, remains.

The tower was originally used as offices for the Emerson Drug Company, which also had a manufacturing facility at the site. The facility was demolished; the city’s John F. Steadman Fire Station was built in its place and today wraps around the tower. In 2007, the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts began renovations to transform the former office space into artist studios. The building is open to the public; tours of the tower’s clock room are available.

The Baltimore Arts Tower was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and designated a city landmark in 1975.

Site summary courtesy of Baltimore City Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation