BNHA Carroll Park
Interpretive Framework
Seeking Prosperity on the Chesapeake: Baltimore History from Colonial Times through the 1800s
Shaping a Monumental City: The City’s Growth in the 20th Century
Upholding Independence: Baltimore and the War of 1812
Resource Type
Parks/Green Spaces
1500 Washington Blvd
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Carroll Park was the city’s third country landscape park (developed after Druid Hill and Patterson parks). The 117-acre park is significant for its association with the early development of the park system in Baltimore. Originally part of the Mount Clare estate of Charles Carroll, the park includes the Mount Clare Museum House, a grand mansion built in 1760 and once the center of the bustling 800-acre farm and industrial complex.
In the 30 years prior to becoming a park, the area surrounding the Mount Clare estate was leased from the Carrolls and used as Southwestern Schuetzen Park, a private recreation area used by German immigrants in Baltimore. A pastoral setting with curvilinear carriageways and pedestrian walks was planted with trees, shrubs and flower beds, and included a picturesque Victorian conservatory.
Today, Carroll Park boasts an assortment of athletic fields, a neighborhood playground, and a nine-hole golf course. Carroll Park also hosts a German festival each year, which offers music, performing arts, food, and crafts.
Site summary courtesy of the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks