Bare Hills Historic District

About this property

The Bare Hills Historic District encompasses a residential area north of Baltimore, Maryland, in Baltimore County, which had industrial beginnings before being transformed into a suburb of the city. The district includes Lake Roland Park (formerly named Robert E. Lee Park,) as well as a cluster of largely vernacular dwellings between the park and Falls Turnpike that was built mainly in the 19th century. The Bare Hills Historic District, covering approximately 275 acres, takes its name from the geological formation it in part encompasses, a promontory of Serpentine (“copper rock”) around which the Jones Falls flows on its way to Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay. The 19th-20th century African American Scott Settlement—one of the earliest free-black communities in Baltimore County. Late 19th and 20th century residential development along the railroad and Lake Roland. Lake Roland Park (so-named since 28 September 2015). Originally named Robert E. Lee Park, the portion included in the historic district encompasses a wooded landscape on the side of the undeveloped 1898 Sorrento subdivision Visually, the Bare Hills Historic District is characterized by the integration of various sizes, types and styles of construction spanning almost a century and a half of development. Within the wooded environment, most of the houses are of frame construction, many of them gable fronted, with wood-shingled walls, porches, and with foundations constructed of the local Serpentine stone. The majority of houses and their support buildings date from 1890 to 1920, but there are significant examples both earlier and later, such as the individually National Register-listed Gothic Revival Bare Hills House built in 1857, the 1881 serpentine stone Bare Hills School, and the Mid-Century Modern Hooper House II, designed by Marcel Breuer and constructed in 1959-60. Until the year 1808 or 1810, little was known of the mineralogical character of these hills, and little else was obvious to the traveler besides their repulsive aspect. About this time, the chromate of iron, in small irregular or rolled masses, was discovered in one of the deep ravines, by Mr. Henfrey, a gentleman who it is believed, was the discoverer of chrome, titanium, and several other interesting minerals, in this part of the country. Subsequently, and particularly since the commencement of regular operations for obtaining chromate of iron, this district has excited, especially among mineralogists, a degree of interest not surpassed, perhaps, in the case of any locality in the United States. The discovery occurred on Jesse Tyson's farm. Tyson's son Isaac Tyson Jr. successfully mined the Bare Hills for chromite and identified other serpentine barrens in Maryland as chromite sources, including the Soldiers Delight area in western Baltimore County. His acumen established Maryland as the world's leading producer of chromium until the middle of the 19th century. All extraction at Bare Hills ceased by 1833.

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

More in Baltimore County

Historic places, battles, and census history across Baltimore County.

More historic places in Maryland

Browse all historic places in Maryland.

Conflict records

Explore 19,000+ military engagements across American history.

Maryland history

Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.