Patterson Park High School,  101 South Ellwood Avenue,  Highlandtown,  Baltimore, Maryland

Many of our classmates spent two or three years at the old school.  I was there from the 9th grade through the 11th grade.  To be quite honest, I preferred the school on Ellwood Avenue to the newer school on Kane Street.  I loved the "fortress like" architecture and the fabulous rooftop views of Baltimore City.  Going to school in Highlandtown had many other advantages as well:  relatives and friends who still lived there, Eastern Avenue shopping, Haussner's Restaurant, the proximity of Patterson Park, where I played as a child, and the Patterson and Grand Theaters. 

The school had 50 regular classrooms plus home economics on floors 1 through 4, separate gyms for boys and girls, shops and labs in the basement and a 1,200 seat auditorium.  The large cafeteria was on the 5th floor.  From the rooftop to the crawl space under the ground floor, where the Rifle Club learned to shoot rifles and improve their marksmanship, the old building was / is an architectural marvel.  The school also had two elevators (we thought that was "so cool").  Of course only teachers or other school staff were allowed to operate the elevators.  I did have one good, creative friend in the Art Service Club who became the unofficial (and illegal) elevator monitor after school.  "Barbara" took me anywhere I wanted to go... and she always had permission from 'some teacher' to operate the elevator without an adult aboard --- or that was "her story" if we were ever stopped or questioned.  The staircases, between classes, were wild -with hundreds of students, carrying armfuls of books and other school paraphernalia, rushing to their next class - as if the starting gate bell at Pimlico just rang!

East Baltimoreans would affectionately nickname their school the "Big Red Schoolhouse."

The building takes up a full city block and is probably the best Art Deco building in Baltimore City.  The "Art Deco" style emerged in the 1920's and is basically art that is geometrically balanced, decorative - but strong.  The school was built in 1933,  its seven stories of Bauhaus -- inspired industrialism -- tower over the surrounding two-story rowhouses.  The roof, above the seventh floor, was used as a break / play area for students, usually after lunch.  The "Bauhaus" was a school of architecture founded in Germany in 1919 and known for its adaptation of science and technology along with the experimental use of glass and metal in architectural design.  The Bauhaus boldness and strength of the Ellwood Avenue building is softened by the multi-colored brick banding and large steel windows that stripe its facade.

In Ayn Rand's "Fountainhead", written in 1943 when many of us were being born, Howard Roark, the individualistic, idealist architect said,  "A building is alive, like a man.  Its integrity is to follow its own truth, its one single theme, and to serve its own purpose."  He saw man as strong, proud, clean, wise and fearless.  He saw man and architecture as heroic --- and his (Howard Roark's) architectural designs, his creativity and genius reflected that.  I think that Howard Roark would have approved the design and function of Patterson Park High School.

There are over 100 Art Deco buildings still standing in Baltimore City although several have been demolished and many are threatened.  Memorial Stadium, "The Grand Old Lady of 33rd. Street", was demolished in 2001.  My hope for Patterson Park High School (the building) is that it will "live" on and that the beauty and integrity of its architecture will not be destroyed by impetuous renovation.  This magnificent building is a Baltimore City landmark and needs to be protected and preserved.

Christopher Newman               3/30/2011

Hi Chris,

I've been enjoying each of your stories as you have added them to the web site. I can see that you really enjoy writing, and your selection of topics has been quite interesting.

I wanted to add that many students also referred to our school as "the factory." Have you ever heard that term before?

Keep up the good stories!

Diane (Lodge) Lawrence