A Place Called Poppleton Special Edition

-Written by Dr. Nicole King

A Place Called Poppleton is an ongoing cultural documentation project focused on the rich history, folklife, and culture of the Poppleton neighborhood of West Baltimore.

The Poppleton neighborhood was named for Thomas H. Poppleton, who mapped out the design of the city’s grid of streets and alleys in 1823. The neighborhood's boundaries have changed over time. During the late-19th century, Poppleton was a predominantly Black working class neighborhood.

Beginning in the 1930s, the City’s “slum clearance” efforts sought to reimagine Poppleton. In 1940, Poe Homes opened as the first public housing complex in Baltimore City. The Poe Homes public housing complex provided brick rowhouses for Black families as public housing was segregated at the time. In 1958, the Lexington Terrace public housing highrises were built with 677 apartments concentrated in five highrise towers.

Historically, highway construction has done great damage to Poppleton. In 1975, the Franklin-Mulberry expressway, the “Highway to Nowhere,” was completed cutting Poppleton off from other Black neighborhoods. In the 1960s and ‘70s, the government made room for the highway by using eminent domain to take and demolish 971 homes and 62 businesses, displacing around 2,000 Black people.

In 1975, the Poppleton Urban Renewal Area was created and the City hired Phoebe Stanton, a Johns Hopkins University professor and architectural historian, to complete the Poppleton Study documenting the buildings of Poppleton. Her recommendations for preserving much of Poppleton’s historic housing stock were mostly ignored. In 1982, the Martin Lither King Jr. boulevard expressway opened, cutting Poppleton off from downtown and further isolating the neighborhood from resources and investment.

Following decades of disinvestment resulting in decline, Poppleton became a neighborhood targeted for revitalization as part of Baltimore’s $100 million federal Empowerment Zone (EZ) project in 1995. In 1996, The Lexington Terrace highrises were demolished and, through a public-private partnership, replaced with The Terraces, a mix of low-income housing options. The major result of the decade-long EZ program was the $300 million-dollar University of Maryland BioPark project that pushed the university across MLK boulevard into Poppleton. With the BioPark groundbreaking in 2004, the City began acquiring land for a large development project.

In November 2004, the City approved an amendment to the Poppleton Urban Renewal Plan to redevelop 526 properties on a 13.8 acre parcel in Poppleton. In order to get a large parcel for redevelopment, the City had to acquire the remaining 169 privately-owned parcels by eminent domain and 134 of those properties were occupied by Black families. The City made a deal with La Cité, a Black-owned New York based development company, in 2006 for the redevelopment project. Construction was due to begin in 2008 but lack of funding brought the project to a halt. 

In 2012, the City of Baltimore tried to get out of the agreement, but the developer sued and kept the right to develop. Part of Phase I of the massive redevelopment, which includes the two luxury apartment buildings at 101 N. Schroeder St, did not begin until 2017. In the intervening years, many Poppleton residents were displaced from their homes and the residents who remained were forced to live in a neighborhood frozen and abandoned without being informed of when things would change. 

In 2018, The Housing Authority of Baltimore City received a large grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop a redevelopment plan for Poe Homes. Transform Poe’s goal is to “transform neighborhoods of extreme poverty into sustainable, mixed-income communities,” which includes tearing down the 1940s Poe Homes public housing complex and replacing it primarily with new housing.

In 2020 and 2021, residents in Poppleton–including the Eaddy family– received condemnation notices and relocation offers from Baltimore City. The City was using the powers of eminent domain–the state’s power to take private property for a public use–to condemn and demolish homes in Poppleton for a long-stalled redevelopment project dating back to 2004. In summer 2020, the Baltimore Traces: Communities in Transition project began documenting Poppleton’s long history of failed redevelopment and preserving the sense of place and community created by the Eaddy family and other residents, churches, and local businesses.

However, many residents did not want to leave. Poppleton residents worked with a collective of concerned citizens to host a Save Our Block rally on July 11, 2021 and began a public campaign for development without displacement. Researchers and students worked with residents on a CHAP Local Historic District for the Sarah Ann Street alley houses and the Eaddy home. The historical research, cultural documentation, and media supported residents in the preservation of Poppleton and was embedded in Baltimore Traces courses in 2021-2023.

In 2021 and 2022, the work of cultural documentation—place-based research and oral history interviews—shifted from documenting the ongoing displacement of residents in Poppleton to organizing for change. Baltimore City has been taking Black people's homes using eminent domain–the power of the state to take private property for public use–since 2004 for a misguided redevelopment project linked to the move of the University of Maryland BioPark into Poppleton and West Baltimore.

On July 18, 2022 at a press conference at Sarah Ann Street, Mayor Brandon Scott announced a “reset on development in Poppleton.” The Mayor and Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy promised a focus on equitable, transparent, and communityled neighborhood development in an amended Land Disposition and Development Agreement (LDDA). This 5th amendment to the LDDA gave the Eaddy family their home back and announced that the Sarah Ann Street alley houses would be preserved, rehabbed, and redeveloped for homeownership by non-profit developer Shelley Halstead of Black Women Build - Baltimore.

The Mayoral Signing Ceremony of the Sarah Ann Street Historic District Designation occurred on Monday, April 3, 2023 at 10am. The Baltimore City Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP), residents, Councilman John Bullock, Mayor Brandon Scott, and Black Women Build attended the ceremony.

These wins for the Poppleton neighborhood are hard fought and speak to the importance of listening to the stories of residents and to building relationships and trust while organizing for a better and stronger Baltimore.

-Written by Chibuzo Ibezimako

“No amount of money can change what happened to me… they took my life.”

The public needs to know and remember the story of Diane Bell. Mrs. Bell suffered through the trauma of losing her home in Poppleton by eminent domain–the power of the state to take private property for public use–as part of the 2006 Poppleton redevelopment project.

Bell was a licensed daycare owner. She ran her business on the bottom floors of her home in Poppleton. Being a homeowner and a small business owner, Mrs. Bell was able to live out her dream. Her daycare business was a way for her to connect and support the people in her community. Unfortunately, her dream was short-lived.

In 2007, when the City of Baltimore took Mrs. Bell’s home along with the homes of her neighbors and friends through eminent domain, these hard-working city residents felt they were being taken advantage of. The harm and repercussions of losing their homes had a lasting impact on their lives.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it”

The entire premise of the City's use of eminent domain was based on a farce. In 2006, Mayor Martin O’Malley and City Council President Sheila Dixon lied to the residents of Poppleton, telling them that there were doctors, students, and many families coming from other states and countries in search of homes for the new redevelopment project and that residents must move immediately for the massive redevelopment project. They never finished what they barely started. 

The City of Baltimore ignored the protest of families in Poppleton. Diane Bell and her neighbors felt like they were exploited for profit. “There was depression going through all of us,” Mrs. Bell explains. The City of Baltimore coerced the residents to sign a relocation check and told them to give it right back to the representatives of the Baltimore Department of Housing and Community (DHCD). Residents did not fully comprehend the real implications of what was happening. 

Diane Bell and her neighbors were not treated with respect nor given options for where to live. Residents felt pressured to buy expensive houses beyond their means. “They had to leave us like they found us,” Bell explains. “They found us with a mortgage; they leave us with a mortgage.”  Worse, some residents never made it through the structural violence of forced displacement.

Mrs. Bell had to sell all her daycare items, close her business, and find a job she

despised. This mentally broke Mrs. Bell for a while. She lost everything she had worked so hard for. She fell into a deep depression, almost taking her own life following the trauma of displacement.

The people involved within this relocation scheme in Poppleton must be held accountable for the damages they have caused to hardworking city residents.

The houses that were taken away from Mrs. Bell and her neighbors by eminent domain stood from 2007 up to 2019. For twelve years, the homes stood vacant and untouched. Twelve years that something could have been done.

In 2019, Mrs. Bell’s home was demolished. Today, it is a vacant lot. Where is the justice for Mrs. Diane Bell and her neighbors?

“I was working at Social Security. And this is when I met my good girlfriend, Linda. She was a sweetheart. She would do anything for you,” Pat Nickerson explains. In the 1980s both Ms. Pat and her good friend Linda Jihad moved into Poppleton as neighbors.

“She got this letter from the city in 2006. I believe it might have been like summertime. She brought it to work. And she said, “The City is trying to take my house … I don't want to leave.” And I said, “Oh my god, that's terrible.” Ms. Pat said that her friend was doing well with her battle with cancer, but then stress from the relocation caused her health to take a downturn. One Sunday Ms. Pat and Linda had a good conversation. 

“I had talked to her that Sunday. And we had a very nice time. We talked about old times we talked about when we met, we talked about our work,” Ms. Pat explained. “And we just had an awesome time that day, that Sunday. That Monday, when I came out of my house to go to work. I saw a bunch of police cars all up and down here.” Linda Jihad died on March 19, 2007 and Ms. Pat blames the stress and trauma from her displacement from a home she loved for the death of her friend.

“I wanted people to know what the City is doing to innocent people,” Ms. Pat explains why she is telling her friend’s story. “You work to have things, things for your family, your children. But the City don't see it that way. All they see is monetary [gain] for themselves, and big corporations… but they're displacing people.” Ms. Pat concludes, “I know if Linda was here I wouldn't be here telling her story. And I know Linda did not want to leave.”

-Written by Karla Press-Porter

“Look What the City Has Done”

Damon Barnes sits on his father Thurston Butler’s stoop at 1134 West Saratoga Street talking about the neighborhood he grew up in and now, at 47 years old, his connections with this place following his father’s passing in 2021. It is a mostly empty block on a not so busy street with the occasional car or truck zooming past.

Damon works at a local distillery and paints houses on the side with his business, “Like Father, Like Son.” His grandfather and then his father passed down the skill of professional painting.

The stoop Damon sat on had a plywood door with a spray painted X and a red reflector inside, numerous “Vacant Property” signs, and an “emergency condemnation and demolition notice” surrounding him. “THE PUBLIC IS WARNED TO KEEP AWAY.”

Damon grew up going between his mom’s over East and his dad’s West Baltimore rowhouse in Poppleton. His father owned the home, one of the last to be taken by eminent domain by Baltimore City for a long-stalled redevelopment project. Mr. Thurston, as his neighbors called him, fought for a long time before giving into the city.

Now his son Damon has a family of his own as is reflecting back on the trauma of his father’s displacement and what could have been done differently to preserve the neighborhood we stand in today.

“I think if he was still alive or around and they wasn't pushing them out, my dad would still be sitting here. I think this house kind of stressed my dad out when they started pushing him out because when he left he had nowhere to go. He went back to Virginia and he had nowhere to really stay. He was staying with my aunt, my uncles, until he finally got a house down there. So it took a toll on my dad,” Damon explains. 

The harm caused by urban renewal and resulting disinvestment and displacement of residents is referred to as “root shock” by Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove in her book Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, And What We Can Do About It.

When Damon spoke, you could feel the emotion behind his words. He truly cared for the neighborhood and missed his father. Damon stayed at his father’s home on weekends and went to school at nearby Francis M. Wood Academy. He shared stories of sitting on the stoop and talking with neighbors in the afternoon when people came home from work, and how when he was a youth he would help elders bring in their groceries. He emphasized the respect that people had for each other and that Poppleton was a tight-knit community.

“One day, it was beautiful. Next month, it was downhill,” Damon explained when asked about the changes he saw in his neighborhood. “You started seeing stuff getting boarded up and people moving out. You just might see one house boarded. Like, all right, they might knock it down. The next thing you know, there's three houses boarded up. And one day I pulled up, the whole side of the street was gone. So, they were moving fast.” However nothing was replacing the demolition in Poppleton.

As Damon told his story and frustrations with how the neighborhood changed, the sky became darker and it began to drizzle. It was as if the weather reflected Damon’s sadness.

Damon missed his father, who was a maintenance man. “He worked at Ashburton Woods Apartments on Dolfield for 25, 30 years,” Damon explains. “He retired from there. Then he went to Catholic Charity for seven years and then he was done. I even had him work with me a couple of times on my jobs. He didn't like it. He said I was too bossy. Where I get it from? My dad. That's what I remember about my dad.”

Mr. Thurston was a friendly figure in the neighborhood. Known by many and left a mark on community organizer Sonia Eaddy, who walked over from her home on the block to join us for the later part of the interview.

“Yes. His father was one of the last ones of the homeowners who was in this fight to remain a homeowner in this neighborhood. He was a part of our planning committee, the Poppleton Planning Committee that fought against the city and them taking the properties. He didn't want to go,” Sonia explains.

Mr. Thurston was known for his cars–a red Cadillac that sat out front and a shiny black Chrysler. “He was really known throughout the neighborhood for that shiny black car,” Miss When he drove through you'd just holler, "Hey, Mr. Thurston." You knew, you recognized him by…” Damon interjected, “That 300 Chrysler, he had a 300 Chrysler.”

That fighting spirit that so many of Poppleton community members have is passed down to their children, the next generation of voices to be heard and hopefully to see change in their communities that the past generations have been fighting for. “Just be aware of what's going on around you and just don't let anybody do anything to any of us,” Damon explained. “We've got to stand up and fight for it.” 

Sonia joined Damoon on the stoop and talked about the memories and what Baltimore City is doing to Poppleton and other neighborhoods. While the trauma of displacement is passed down by generations, so too is the drive to fight. Damon’s kids are involved in fighting for their rights.

He explains, “My kids are actually involved in stuff like this. So they're fighting for stuff in their own schools like better lunches or just better education, better books. Like, ‘Why are we sharing books?’ My daughter's very outspoken. She goes to a Catholic school, and she's down there fighting with them about the Black History Month thing they did when none of the Black kids had no say so in how they did it. So she was fighting about it.”

At the end of our interview, Damon discusses his hope for this organizing work and the future of Poppleton and Baltimore city. “Poppleton is going to show everybody the way. Like, listen, this is a neighborhood.” Damon says with conviction, “We back and we neighbors again, and we going to show y'all how to do it. We're going to set the blueprint for them.” 

“That's why I'm going to be sitting right here every time they look up,” Damon says. They got to force me off these steps. Knock the building down around me. I'm going to be still sitting right here.” 

If you could talk to the city who condemned these homes or the developer that saw this as blight and land to clear, what would you tell them about Poppleton?

Damon: This was a great neighborhood to grow up in. We don't deserve to be treated the way they're treating us. Hear us out and then give us the stuff that we are asking for. We ain't asking for the world. We asking to keep our parents' stuff. Give it back to us or show us the way how to keep it so we can pass it down from generation to generation. School us on it. Just show us how to do it. 

And it's going on all over the world. People with big money coming to push people out. That's not fair. You work hard all your life and somebody take it from you. Well, that's not cool.

If you could talk to Mayor Scott, what would you say to him?

Damon: Me and Mr. Scott used to live in the same apartment complex together and I used to watch him walk down the street with his little puppy. I'm like, "Hey, Mr. Scott." I'm like, "Brandon." I call him Brandon. Like, "Man, where you work at?" He went, "I'm a city councilman." And I'm like, "Hey, get me a job down there." He like, "Man, you got to do this, you got to do that." 

So to Brandon Scott, man to man, you step up bro. Like you know what we are going through. Your family is from Park Heights. They doing it up there too and you know that. So this is man to man, step up bro. You know what we're going through. Your family has been through it.

Sonia: Preserving our legacy. How can the city respect us who have helped to build and maintain the city over the decades when there was no investment? The people who suffered through the disinvestment, which was us. To give us our legacy back. To respect us and our voice because we do matter. And Damon, I'm just asking you, I'm glad to hear that you are here to fill in for your dad's place and that's what we need.

And so to have people who are showing the city that we mean business, we are serious about taking back what was taken from us, and to stop y'all from taking anything further. So to join this fight, not just to preserve Poppleton, but the rest of our Black neighborhoods and Baltimore City.

Now residents are asking for the remaining properties on the 1100 block of Saratoga Street to be preserved, rehabbed, and offered for homeownership.

We have met with residents whose families were long-time homeowners and tenants on 1100 W. Saratoga Street. Angela Banks, who was displaced in 2018, from her home at 1132 W. Saratoga Street. On February 12, 2023, Banks along with the nonprofit advocacy group Economic Action Maryland filed a complaint asking federal officials to investigate how Baltimore City’s redevelopment policies in Poppleton perpetuated racial segregation and violated fair housing laws by disproportionately displacing Black and low-income residents.

In 2023, Angela Banks was able to purchase a home in Baltimore. She has achieved her dream of being a homeowner. Her past home at 1132 Saratoga Street still still vacant as Poppleton residents wait for redevelopment that honors the past, present, and future of the community.

I've been here in Poppleton since I was five. My dad moved in here and bought a house for us to stay in so we wouldn't have to move from place to place. When he was little, he always had to move from house to house and he said if he ever had children he would make sure he paid off the house for us to stay in so we wouldn't have to move from place to place. And he did just that.

On being relocated from her home for development:

It's kind of hard because I've been here for so long and I was hoping to pass it down to the grandchildren. My daughter loves the home she is staying in. That's a special place for us because we all (the grandkids) had ideas for making part of the house into a studio so they could make their music. I mean my father's purpose of him paying for the house was so we would be there and not have to struggle and start all over paying mortgage on a house and stuff.

I just pray in the future that there won't be a repeat of moving neighbors out of their community, when they work so hard to build their lives right there. Now they have to keep starting over. We got the pandemic, we got people losing their jobs, we got single parents. They need to do things that plan on looking out for everybody, not just pushing people out because they want a certain area to build certain things. Make it new with the people in it. 

-Written by Adrinna Ebron & Josh Masser

“I want everything back, like the way it was.”

“I want home back, I want my home, I miss my home, I miss my area, I miss the community. I know she’s [my aunt] flipping in her grave right now, if she was to know all of this that’s taken place,” Jamaal Griffen said with sadness reflecting on the displacement of residents along Sarah Ann Street and the Poppleton neighborhood.

Jamaal came to live with his aunt on 1122 Sarah Ann Street when he was 18 years old. He has family all across West Baltimore.

Jamaal has fond memories of the Poppleton Rec Center and what it meant for the community. “I used to play football for them…starting at the age of 8. I ran a mile 1:61.”Jammal shared that the Poppleton Rec Center is where people from all across Baltimore, both East and West, would travel to for football and basketball games. The recreation center served as neutral ground for rival neighborhood members and for children of all ages to have a place of their own. The closing of the recreation center took away opportunities for the young people in Poppleton and throughout the City of Baltimore to have a place to be mentored, a place to be safe, and a place to be loved.

Jamaal struggles with housing insecurity. “So, me coming down to my aunt and helping her out in that situation, it gave me a breath of fresh air,” he explains, “Like a new life, a fresh start and also being there to take care of her.” Jamaal had always considered Poppleton home, even if he moved away for a few months, he always found his way back.  

Like many Poppleton residents, Jamaal was informed that he needed to find somewhere else to live and he only had a short time to do so. “I actually found out from just a knock on the door, it was just a lady, she said she was from the City.” He remembered, “once the lady came and she knocked on the door she told people that, I’m from the City, you have to vacate, but you have to find somewhere within this time frame, so if you don’t find nowhere within this timeframe you have to get what you can get and we have to lock this door.” Development was coming.

You can see the pain behind Jamaal’s eyes as he remembers being forced from his home. “It made me feel like where’s the hope?” Unable to find a new home in time, Jamaal was forced to take only what he could carry with him before the house was locked and boarded up. “It hurts, just the fact that you never think this would happen to a human being. Like, who forces a person out of where you call home? And you can’t get time to take any of your things.” 

If he had the chance to talk to city officials about the ordeal he would ask, “Why? Why did this happen in the first place? How could you let this happen?”  

Jamaal hopes that bringing new amenities to Poppleton will encourage people to return. “You want to bring the community back, you gotta bring things to the community, you wanna bring the neighborhood back, bring some things to the neighborhood for the neighborhood.” 

Recalling the good times he had at the rec center, Jamaal points out, “We have no rec centers in the city for kids right now, it's no options for them right now, other than just outside, the streets.” 

Jamaal also wants to see more neighborhood shops open for the elderly residents. “Right now, it’s no markets, no supermarkets in the area,” he explains. “You have a lot of elderly’s surrounding the whole area. Where they gonna walk to, to get their meals, bread, things like that?” 

He believes that reopening the rec center is a meaningful step toward rebuilding Poppleton, “I think that would bring a lot of kids back into the community.”  

He was a maintenance man. He worked at Ashburton Woods Apartments on Dolfield for 25, 30 years. He retired from there. Then he went to Catholic Charity for seven years and then he was done. I even had him work with me a couple of times on my jobs. He didn't like it. He said I was too bossy. Where I get it from? My dad. That's what I remember about my dad.

[Being relocated from his home] took a toll on my dad. I watched my dad go from 160-something pounds to 125 just because he was retired and he wasn't doing nothing. He was just sitting here probably worrying himself to death. But always, "I'm fine, I'm fine." My dad wasn't fine. My dad was stressed out. When they put his trailer down there [in Virginia], from what my aunt told me, they didn't even have the doorknobs on the door. He was already sleeping in there. Nothing in there. That was crazy. He had nowhere to go. Nowhere to go. And my dad lived in that house [in Virginia] nine months and he passed away.

He was really known throughout the neighborhood for his shiny black car. Very friendly, quiet but very friendly, and just well-liked by his neighbors. Very supportive. And it was just hard to hear when he received his notice because he didn't share. But none of us knew that they were giving out notices at the time. So when he received his notice, he did get a lawyer and he tried to fight. But the cost of the lawyers.

This is really why they have to stop with eminent domain coming into Black neighborhoods, they don't understand the devastation and the loss that comes with this.

We would go out door knocking and just passing out flyers month after month trying to get people to come out. When I became the president of the community association back in 2017. And one day Mr. Thurston popped up to one of the meetings and as soon as he learned what we were actually fighting for, he spoke his truth, what he was going through and what this community meant to him, what keeping his house meant to him. He just was like, "I want to be a part." There was a decision to start a planning committee…He would always share stories about home. We knew about his family home in Virginia. He'd talked a lot about his sister. I knew that he was a painter. 

He was just willing to do whatever he could to stay in his home and his neighborhood. He felt the same way that we felt losing your home and the devastation of it all. So again, it was really sad for me to learn that he was being pushed out. 

And not even to know that he had even passed. In January, sending out the invites to our community association meeting, to January's meeting. And I text his name, because I had his name included in the text group. And somebody responded, "Who's this?" And I'm like, "Hey Mr. Thurston, how you doing? I really didn't mean to include your name, but how have you been? It's Sonia." 

So then the next month I hear this news [from Damon]. Wow. And having to share that with my other neighbors who were a part of the community association and the planning committee. And everybody knew who I was talking about by that black car. So he's definitely remembered. And I would like to somehow, with the community, have something in his memory. 

That let people know that we lost one of our neighbors who fought to stay here. And allowing the city to know and understand how taking our homes is detrimental, and how it truly affects our lifespan. We have one that we can attest to in Mr. Thurston.

–Sonia Eaddy, president of Poppleton Now

–Damon Barnes, Mr. Thurston’s son

–Sonia Eaddy, Mr. Thurston’s neighbor

Sampson’s was an iconic Black-owned business located at 944 West Fayette Street in Poppleton. Owner J.A. Duke Martin opened Sampson’s restaurant in the 1950s when dining in the city was still primarily segregated, providing Black diners with safety and community through soul food.  Martin’s restaurant became known as the “gateway to West Baltimore.” Sampson’s had a bakery where customers could watch its famous bread and rolls being made. In addition to those legendary rolls, Sampson’s was known for home cooking, such as collard greens, chitterlings, and pork chops, and its friendly atmosphere. For generations, Sampson’s was a space for both the political elite and everyday Baltimorean, serving as a hub for Black Baltimore’s food, arts, and culture.

As a result of the redevelopment of the area, Sampson’s was condemned by the City of Baltimore in 2006. This historic space for Black Baltimore was demolished in 2007 as part of the Center\West housing project by La Cité development company. This development has done very little for the residents of Poppleton despite the grand promises made to them by La Cité and Baltimore City. 

For decades Pop! Farm has been a space in Poppleton for community members to gather and build relationships. Founded by Delegate Ruth Kirk in the 1990s, Pop! Farm has transformed from a vacant lot to a vibrant community garden. Community gardens help residents gain access to fresh produce, which is especially important in places like Poppleton that are faced with food apartheid--a racially discriminatory food system. In addition, Pop! Farm has provided a space for cookouts and events on the medicinal benefits of plants, read books from a free library, and provide mentorship opportunities for youth by hiring local students to work in the garden. Courtney Hobson, a volunteer at Pop! Farm, expresses how her time there has "built essential friendships in my neighborhood," sharing that gardens are "magical places." In 2021 were notified that the La Cité development will be displacing Pop! Farm. Gardeners are in talks with the city on finding a new location within Poppleton.

The 300 block of North Carrollton has a long, but largely uneventful, history. Many houses remained empty throughout the late 1800s, and took some time to fill. Fortunately, by the early 1900s and 1910s the vast majority of houses were occupied although the turnover rate of residents was high as untimely deaths of residents frequently occurred. One notable resident during this time was Dr. Edward G. Altvater of 321. Dr. Altvater was named an assistant physician and successor to Dr. Albert D. Driscoll at Quarantine. The appointment is notable as it is credited to fellow Poppleton resident Boss Kelly, who was close friends with Altvater. The 300 block of North Carrollton Avenue has long been a residential area with three story houses lining the east side of the street, which sets the western boundary of the current Poppleton neighborhood. According to Sonia Eaddy, longtime resident at 319, the block was always family oriented with kids safe to play in the streets. Beside the A residences, the street corners always contained a small business such as corner stores or barber shops. In a December 2020 interview, Sonia Eaddy stated that when buildings became vacant and began deteriorating, the city demolished them instead of reinvesting in the neighborhood.

The trend has continued under the La Cite development plan with 303-309 being demolished on March 3, 2021.

-Updated by Kyle Casamento

The Boss Kelly House, located at 1106 West Saratoga Street, was  built between 1830 and 1845 . In its 190 years, the house has provided residence to many Baltimoreans, including one very notable figure. 

“Boss” Kelly, regardless of either being “ Joseph F. ” or “ John S. (Frank) ,” was a very important political figure in his time. Kelly moved into the home as a foster kid, and by  some accounts , lived there until his death. An Irish immigrant and one time saloon keeper, Kelly became the leader of the powerful West Baltimore Democratic Club. He served  as a strong political force against Prohibitionist “Dry Laws”  in Baltimore City (to little success). During his reign from the late 19th into the early 20th centuries, “Boss” Kelly ran the political machine of West Baltimore. He was responsible for electing several mayors, senators, judges and state representatives over his tenure. The basement at 1106 West Saratoga Street would frequently be used to hold meetings for Kelly and other political players. The funeral for “Boss” Kelly, held at St. John’s Catholic Church in August 1930, drew a crowd of one thousand, including a group of  bipartisan political leaders  among the grieving.  Over the decades that followed, the Boss Kelly row of homes deteriorated due to disinvestment and were taken by eminent domain by the City for a redevelopment project in the early 21st century. The row of homes featured a distinct style, one tied to the architect  Robert Cary Long Jr.  and unique to Baltimore. 

Preservationists and the Poppleton community sought to protect the “Boss” Kelly house  over the course of several decades , but on July 12, 2021, the house was demolished by a contractor on behalf of the Baltimore Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The demolition occurred just two days after the “Save Our Block” rally, an event calling for the preservation of the Sarah Ann Alley Houses, Boss Kelly Row, and the Eaddy family home. HCD claimed that the demolition had been a part of their  normal rotation of work , and that the Poppleton Now community group had no objections to the demolition. However, Poppleton Now was fighting the preserve history and homes on the block at the time of demolition.

Mount Olive Baptist Church formerly stood at 809 W Saratoga Street. In 1991, like many other churches in the area that wanted to increase community engagement, Rev. Oscar Brown created a program - known as "Each One -- Reach One," where organizers called to the community to join forces to "reclaim our youth and stop the violence that is killing so many." Unfortunately, A fire in 2007 forced the church to relocate to Linthincum, Maryland. "The building will be a total loss," said fire Chief William J. Goodwin, as 150 firefighters with 42 pieces of equipment battled the blaze in the 800 block of W. Saratoga St." The fire was devastating, and the church was not able to rebuild their original structure. After the fire, efforts were made to rebuild, including community efforts of trying to raise funds, but the project ultimately fell short. In the former Poppleton location, 13 years after the fire, is a boarded up building where the church and community food bank once stood.

-Updated by Julia New

In March 1956 there were plans in store from the Housing Authority of Baltimore for a fourteen story building and 4 eleven story buildings, all to be used in a modern high rise public housing project. On March 1st in 1957, the ground-breaking ceremony occurred with the help of Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro, Director Oliver C. Winston of the Urban Renewal Housing Agency, Officer Walter L. Seif of the former Baltimore Housing Authority, and chairman Walter Sondheim Jr. of the new Baltimore Housing Authority. 

A year later on October 11th there would be new heads appointed on these housing projects. These men include R. Clark Davis as the new relocation site manager and Warren Weaver as the Lexington Terrace-Poe Homes manager. 

As Lexington Terrace grew in tenants, there were plans to build new schools in December of 1959. These schools included Lexington Terrace Elementary School located on Lexington Street and Myrtle Avenue. It seemed that things were going great for this new complex as new projects grew in the works. However, there were other challenges growing alongside this progress. 

In December of 1971 the level of criminal activity in the Lexington Terrace area was beginning to worry even the older residents of the complex. Ruth Stricklin and Jerome Young are two such residents who have expressed their fears of leaving the complex after dark. Ruth stated that when it’s dark her door doesn’t open for anyone, not for her to go out nor for visitors to come inside. She states that the area is not a place for older individuals to come at nightfall. 

The level of fear seemed to differ amongst some residents who were content playing cards on the floor lounge while others remained behind bolted doors. Another resident to offer his opinion to the press was William H. Edmonds stated that since there aren’t any stores around, many have to walk three blocks to go shopping which can be just as dangerous. 

The 1980s were marked by rent strikes for better conditions and the formation of community-based organizations like MOM or Mothers on the March. The rent strike took place in December of 1983 with over 130 residents sending grievance letters to the Housing Authority that detailed numerous problems with the complexes ranging from broken doors to malfunctioning elevators. A resident named Bobby Cheeks coordinated the efforts, stating that he and other residents will go on a rent strike should these living conditions not be fixed within a 30 day time period. 

John McCauley, deputy executive director of the Housing Authority at the time, states that work orders were signed for their complaints. He further stated that although many of the problems have been fixed, he attributes the problem to wider issues of overcrowding, lack of security, and maintenance problems. Sharon Garner, a resident, stated that elevators in particular were a problem as they would need constant fixing, and that it was not a place for children. Florence Chapman, another resident, revealed her experience with a bullet flying through her window, and that addicts were also another issue. Sharon Garner would then go on to form the organization MOM or Mothers on the March. The organization wanted to meet with Mayor Schaefer to discuss a possibility for a compromise, and hopefully relocate residents to safer living conditions. 

Three years later in 1986 Rev. William E. Ray organized a march against drugs and violence within the Lexington Terrace area. Ray was the chairman of the Baltimore Coalition to Stop the Killing which aimed to organize the local black community against drugs and violence, often by information, changing the attitudes of local youth, and maintaining a higher moral and ethical consciousness. The coalition also began to sponsor carnivals, picnics, and city-wide contests with the stipulation that participants would be informed of their mission as well as entertained. Still, residents like Alona Thomas were still skeptical as she stated that it’s not enough to pay lip service, and that people need to be aware of the conditions residents are living in.

Unfortunately the 1990s marked the end of an era for the Lexington Terrace as plans were put into place to relocate residents to demolish all six of the complexes. The decision to relocate residents and demolish the apartment complexes was made official as early as November of 1990. The mayor at the time, Kurt L. Schmoke made this decision based on a recommendation of a prestigious study panel and ordered the Baltimore City Housing Authority to move residents out of the apartment buildings. There was some backlash from residents who not only felt that the higher ups didn’t meet their demands for repairs, but that they were being intentionally segregated by class and race. 

In May 1996 it was revealed that a new public housing project was in the works, and that the project would be given $1.4 million dollars from the HOPE VI program for the Townes at the Terraces. Many of the buildings were demolished on July 27th, 1996. Residents were relocated prior to demolition, but many were still affected as financial segregation allegations surfaced.

The idea of a new public housing project received mixed reviews from residents in the area. In May of 1998, the Housing Authority attempted to assure residents that the new project would bring new townhouses and job training. However, many residents felt that this would be a return to the ongoing problems of urban renewal. 

Trouble would continue to stir as the public housing project moved into the 2000s. In October of 2001 there were residents who were concerned about mismanagement with the Terraces. One report goes as far as to question the efficacy of the HOPE VI program, with only 11.4 percent of residents being able to return to rebuilt developments.

Today residents in the Terraces still organize for better housing and living conditions in Poppleton.

-Written by Juelle Lee and Adrianna Ebron

Lenny Clay’s House of Naturals Barbershop was central to the Poppleton community for over 40 years. Arriving in Baltimore from North Carolina in 1955, Lenny Clay began cutting hair at a young age and was able to turn that skill into a lasting business. After opening the 1099 W. Fayette property in 1961, House of Naturals became an exemplar of how barbershops are about more than just grooming, which Clay always professed.

Affectionately called the “unofficial Mayor of Baltimore,” Clay’s legacy is still felt in Baltimore through the mentorship he provided to barbers like Troy Stanton, who is still cutting hair today and has been able to open a chain of beauty salons and barbershops throughout the city. Lenny Clay’s House of Naturals is an important example of the role Black barbershops and other local businesses serve as cultural institutions and community assets.

Despite Mr. Clay’s long connection with Baltimore political leaders who patronized his shop, even a community hub like House of Naturals was not exempt from the development and displacement occurring in the Poppleton area, specifically by University of Maryland’s Biopark and New York based development company, La Cité. Clay even played a role in Biopark’s 2004 emergence in Poppleton. Today, House of Naturals is just a memory in the empty lot of land on the corner of N. Carrollton Avenue and W. Fayette Street after the building was demolished in 2019 to make way for new development that the neighborhood has yet to see.

For more on Lenny Clay, see UMBC student Kendal Howell’s  Watch Me Work: Baltimore  

 Barbershops, Salons, Stories & More  project (trailer  here )

-Updated by Tristan Diaz

 Allen African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church  stands for service and community in the Poppleton neighborhood. The church was founded in 1860 in a small house on Stockton Street known as Allen Chapel AME Church. The church moved to its present location at 1126-1130 West Lexington Street in 1902. An anchor in the Poppleton Community of West Baltimore, the church rests not just upon its early history. 

Though the church still stands, much of the surrounding area has changed. Much of the block was originally surrounded by homes and a public school, which have been demolished over the years as part of the neighborhood’s continuing redevelopment. Though Allen AMEC is one of the last remnants of a seemingly forgotten past, that has not stopped the Church from striving to create a strong sense of community for both members of the church and the community at large. 

In September 2017, Bishop James Levert Davis appointed Rev. Brenda D. White (an alumna of UMBC) to serve as the pastor of Allen AME Church. Under her leadership, the Allen AME Church is experiencing transformational spiritual growth through its teaching, ministries, and community engagement. The church community preserves green space and keeps storm drains clean. The Allen AME Church also promotes nutrition, health advocacy, education, and medication management in the community. This initiative is in partnership with the University of Maryland Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology. They have joined other community leaders and have helped bring together the community for prayer and unity through peaceful gatherings outside during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Allen AMEC has proved to be a bulwark of community building beyond a simple religious mission. The Church has continued its mission of service by organizing food and school material drives for residents in and around Poppleton. Allen AMEC has a mission to the community beyond that of faith, without regard to residents' personal faith. The Church has partnered with companies such as Lowe’s and the United Way of Central Maryland for the betterment of Poppleton as a whole. Allen AMEC has taken the initiative to become a community meeting space for those seeking to help preserve Poppleton, with Allen AMEC hosting meetings between Poppleton residents and city officials, including several with Baltimore Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy in 2022 and 2023. Allen AME is a community church for the benefit of everyone and not just church members. 

It was during the April 2023 meeting with the Baltimore Housing Commissioner, Alice Kennedy, that residents were able to voice their concerns and start a meaningful dialogue with city officials regarding redevelopment in the neighborhood. Continuing with the long-standing tradition of community service, Reverend White has emerged as a beacon of hope for the community and has taken a leading role in pushing against the unjust forms of development that have displaced so many from the neighborhood. Though the fight for preservation is not over, Allen AME Church is here to stay and has cemented itself as a bulwark for community organization and community service. 

Their building is eligible for listing on the National Register or the Baltimore City Landmark list. There is a great deal of work ongoing to preserve and expand this community asset and spiritual hub in the Poppleton community.

"I have been an arabber of Baltimore City all my life and the Poppleton area has been unique because it established a very good route for arrabbing. This is one of the neighborhoods where I've actually learned how to arab...So, you know, I grew up around here all my life. I never really was a resident but you know, I've traveled through here all my life as an arraber so it was important for me as well to, you know, to see this little community to get whatever that it needs."

---Levar Mullen

Levar Mullen is an arabber from West Baltimore. Arabbing is a long-standing Black Baltimore tradition using horse-drawn wagons to deliver fresh produce to residents. Arabbers connect communities in our deeply segregated city and address food apartheid.

St. Luke's: Serving the Community

“I guess I should say after the church was closed in 2020. the Saint Luke's Youth Center, called SLYC, S-L-Y-C, continued to operate. It was a ministry of the church. Now it's a 501C3 corporation that split off from the church, but it started as part of the church's ministry to the surrounding neighborhood, particularly to young people, and that goes back for a long long time in the history of the church. But SLYC is an after school program and runs a summer camp to serve children in the southwest neighborhood"

--- Jane Mayrer

In 1846, Rev R. Riley began holding church services in a room above a grocery store. This congregation eventually went on to become the Founding members of St. Luke's church on 217 North Carey Street. Church records show that main benefactors of the construction and maintenance of the church came from parishioners General George Stuart and Judge John Glenn, men who participated in, benefited from, and fervently supported chattel slavery. Due to their support of the Confederacy, Gen. Stuart and Treasurer William Harrison were both imprisoned and exiled from the area. During these early years the congregation was predominantly white, but as the city changed the church became home to free African Americans. Following this change in the makeup of the congregation Sunday School classes were started to teach religious values as well as reading and writing skills to free Black children. As the number of African American congregants continued to grow, another gallery was added to the church to accommodate them in a place separate from the white congregants. In 1973, St. Luke's became a part of Maryland's Register Properties due to its old age and gothic architecture. In the 1990s, Carol De Borja opened the Agape foundation in the back of the church. Still around today, the Agape foundation helps both adults and children with education and food security. St. Luke's youth center is a relatively new organization founded by Rev. Van H. Gardner Dean Greene to better connect the church and the community, a bond that had been weakening. Although the ministry portion of the church has since closed. St. Luke's youth center remains open, and the building still hosts community events and meetings.

-Updated by Kyle Casamento

The Sarah Ann Alley Houses are a row of alley houses originally built in 1870. The ten middle houses were two stories, bookended by two three story houses. When the houses were built, they originally occupied the lots of 120-142 Harmony Lane, but the street would eventually become 1102-1124 Sarah Ann Street in the  late 19th  and early 20th century. 

The houses were financed by the wealthy Baltimorean merchant Miles White, brother-in-law of Johns Hopkins. The houses were built by two contractors who White would sue for complete ownership of eleven of the twelve properties after a complaint. The homes would be in the White family until the death of his grandson 79 years later. The houses would later be left to Florence Muskin, and eventually Helen Hunt, who would paint the facades of the Sarah Ann houses their iconic colors. Hunt would rent to long-term tenants until the City condemned the houses in 2020, awarding Hunt $200,000, and relocating residents in preparations for an unnamed development project proposed by La Cité, a developer the city had been  promised the land back in 2006 . 

Apart from a few European immigrant families, the Sarah Ann Alley Houses have always been inhabited by Black and non-white working class Baltimoreans. By 1880, just ten years after their creation, the houses were  almost completely occupied by Black residents . The homes have had their fair share of notable residents over the years. One of which being Catherine Kennedy. Kennedy was the first black homeowner of the row, and would rent out her house to many individuals over her time in Sarah Ann. There was also Luberta Williams, the owner of the long gone leftmost bookend, known by the community for her eccentric nature as a  handywoman and her interesting choice of clothes . Williams would  leave $25,000 to the community  after her passing.  In 2000 , Sarah Ann residents Carolyn Shoemaker, Robert Estreet, and Kenneth Currence pushed the drug dealers out and created a park for local children. Robert would later build a playground with equipment from  The Christian Community Center  and help from  The Greater Harvest Spiritual Church  for the children of Poppleton and Sarah Ann Street. 

In 2020, after acquiring the 11 remaining properties from Helen Hunt, the City condemned the houses and served notices of relocation to the residents. Many of the residents here had deep connections to Poppleton and did not want to leave, as showcased in  Baltimore Heritage’s Five Minute History for Sarah Ann Street .  In 2021 , Organize Poppleton and Poppleton Now fought for the preservation of the Sarah Ann Alley Houses. In an effort to “ change the Poppleton narrative ,” the Scott administration sold the houses for $11 to  Black Women Build - Baltimore , a nonprofit who will rehabilitate the homes and work with displaced residents who wish to return.

Under the justification of their long and storied history of black ownership and after years of  advocacy  from the Poppleton neighborhood, Mayor Brandon Scott signed into legislation the “ Sarah Ann Street Local Historic District ” on April 3rd of 2023. The houses should never again face threats of demolition.

"It's my home. I have five children...13 grandchildren, and all of them was here, and they all stay here on weekends. They here, they want to come to grandma’s house, you know, so this is the home of the Eaddys. So anybody want to come through. You're welcome”

-Sonia Eaddy

Curtis Eaddy Sr. and his wife Sonia Eaddy have been married for 32 years and have owned the house at 319 North Carrollton Avenue for over twenty years, Sonia is a third generation Poppleton resident and her father bought the property in the 1990s to provide the opportunity for his family to build generational wealth. The Eaddy family has five children and thirteen grandchildren who all visit the Eaddy home regularly. While Curtis Eaddy Sr. is from East Baltimore, Sonia has strong ties to West Baltimore. Various members of Sonia Eaddy's family have lived in Poppleton. Sonia grew up on Carey Street and has strong ties to the neighborhood. The Eaddys have been highly active in the community by working to improve the neighborhood and building a family-friendly environment where kids can freely enjoy the outdoors.

-Updated by Spencer Hanks

“A Perfect Place for Play”

On June 21 1976, the Poppleton Recreation Center opened in the Poppleton neighborhood to great excitement. The Poppleton Rec Center was funded by President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Model Cities program, the final large-scale urban aid initiative of the Great Society to address poverty. 

The Rec Center offered access to football fields, softball fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, playground, and swimming pools. These outdoor spaces as well as indoor community spaces provided countless activities for people of all ages in Poppleton and surrounding neighborhoods. The Rec Center offered an opportunity for togetherness, comradery, and safety. Activities such as holiday parties, skating, martial arts, and swimming brought the entire community together. 

Sadly, these fun times came to an end just 20 years later in the late 1990s as the Poppleton Recreation Center closed down due to budgetary constraints and disinvestment in the neighborhood. This closure left an extreme void within the Poppleton community as people of all ages no longer had a space to enjoy activities with other members of the community. The community pool has been especially missed by residents as it sat unopened for many summers.

Due to the hard work and organizing of the community, the Poppleton Recreation Center has been revived in recent years. In 2020 - 2023, the Southwest Partnership, a non-profit organization focused on community building, acquired the lease for the Rec Center and worked with local residents and faith communities to reopen the building. Southwest Sports & Fitness Alliance (SWSFA) Executive Director, Anthony Hudgins will be overseeing the operations at the Poppleton Rec Center when it reopens in 2024 as a bright space for community members of all ages, especially the local youth.

We invite you to stand with Poppleton’s residents and be part of this remarkable transformation. Let's harness the power of community, generosity, and collaboration to leave a lasting impact on the lives and neighborhoods that need it most. Together, we can rebuild hope in every corner of our world. Join us in celebrating this journey of renewal and extend your support to the host organization, the Southwest Sports and Fitness Alliance, and the Poppleton community as they pursue happiness and prosperity. Donate today and be part of this incredible story of resilience and determination. Together, we can change lives and communities for the better!

-Updated by Kristin Kelly

Baltimore has a rich history of educating Black youth. The legacy of Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood high school, formerly known as Fannie L. Barbour Elementary, is named after two Black educational pioneers and has been central to the Poppleton community since 1950  when a school building was bought to open a school for “Negro children.” In  November 1951, an announcement proclaimed that the first elementary school for colored children was to be built in Baltimore and would open at the corner of Saratoga and Schroeder streets, 1001 W Saratoga. 

The legacy of Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood Academy began with the legacy of Fannie L. Barbour, the first Black female teacher in Baltimore City, and Francis M. Wood, who would become Baltimore’s Supervisor of Negro schools from 1925 until 1943. In 1888, Barbour was the first Black educator to pass the Baltimore School Board's public school teacher eligibility requirements and became Baltimore's first Black female teacher. Barbour taught in city schools and colored elementary schools when the city tried to have Black teachers teach Black students- she would soon become the principal of “Female Colored School No. 9”. 

 In 1950 Baltimore acquired the land at 1001 W. Saratoga to establish a school for “Negro Children.” Recognizing Barbour’s profound impact on education and young Black minds, the city named the school after this influential educator. From 1952-1953, the school was recorded as a site for community-based resources such as community-based dental care and a location for Civil Defense meetings. In 1965, under the leadership of G. Albert Wright, Fannie Barbour Elementary was known for having a reading center and holding opportunity classes. The school was a site for the Black community and students to be holistically educated and cared for, but things would shift in 1974. 

In 1974, twenty years after Brown v. Board of Education, Baltimore City tried school pairings for school staff desegregation. James McHenry and Fannie Barbour were paired together, but on November 11th of that same year,  attendance for white 7th-grade students was down to only  44%, so in 1978, the school had to close because of under-enrollment. But the legacy of Barbour would continue when the space was repurposed for Francis M. Wood High School. 

In 1992, Francis M. Wood High School became known as an alternative school that serviced students who needed support to graduate high school. In 2005, the campus became a 6-12 campus serving 99% Black students, but in 2008, two existing alternative schools, Harbor City and Francis M. Wood, were required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act to restructure and Francis M. Wood was redesigned and reopened as Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood High School. Both schools were redesigned to target average high school students, preparing them to enter the workforce. 

Presently, Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood High School is for students who are behind on credits and need support. Because of Excel's goal to work against structural barriers that prevent academic success, they profoundly focus on students who are parents. In 2018, the United Way Neighborhood Zone in Poppleton started supporting ongoing work to address many years of disinvestment in Poppleton, West Baltimore, and Baltimore City's public schools and established The United Way Family Center for Student Parents at Excel Academy. The Family Center provides full-day care for infants and toddlers so students can stay in school and graduate. 

Following in the innovative footsteps of Fannie L. Barbour Elementary, in 2022, United Way and Baltimore City Public Schools hosted their first Pregnant & Parenting Teen Resource Fair at Excel Academy inside Francis M. Wood High School to connect students to resources.

A school named after two pioneer Black educators has not lost its vision of pursuing social capital through education. Through community building, support, and necessary education at Excel Academy, programs are fighting against systemic plans that continue to allow a historically rich community to be under-resourced and, in turn, harm the students who are educated there.

Co-op Living on Franklin Square

Adorned with wrought iron balconies, large leafy backyards, and considered the exemplary model for row house design, Waverly Terrace has provided elegant homes along the western edge of Franklin Square Park since the 1850s. Acclaimed architect, Thomas Dixon designed the eleven, four-story brownstone dwellings. The name, Waverly stems from a Sir Walter Scott novel of the same name. Shortly after construction, Waverly Terrace was occupied by Union soldiers during the Civil War. Some residents of the homes were charged with disloyalty for being Confederate sympathizers and possible spies. Since then, shipbuilders and coffee traders, musicians and politicians, and thousands of urbanites drawn to the area have called these buildings home. In 1979, the Department of Housing and Community Development rehabbed the rowhouses as part of the City's "Homesteading" program started in 1972 with federal block grants. The project rehabilitated the buildings into fifty-one cooperatively run units ranging from one bedroom to multi-bedroom units, including some new low income housing. The homes are now part of a ownership co-op where residents select a board of directors to oversee the properties. The rehabilitation of the outside of Waverly Terraces received an outstanding heritage award from Baltimore in 1979.

Fire House Façade: Art Deco in Southwest Baltimore

The Poppleton Fire House, also known as Engine House #38, is located on 756-760 West Baltimore Street. Built during the City's response to the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, the firehouse opened in October 1910, Originally designed by the local firm of Owens and Sisco, the Tudor Revival architectural style takes cues from famous buildings in England. The top front of the firehouse displays a Bottony Cross and is topped with crenellation. Inside the building on the ground floor the walls were covered with mosaics using the colors white, green, yellow, and red. On both floors the ceilings were made of pressed tin ceiling panels. The firehouse was staffed with over 30 firefighters when it opened as the No. 38 Engine Company. Fire fighting apparatus were horse drawn at the time. Engine House No. 38 served the community for 71 years before the city closed the firehouse in 1981 to save money, at which time it was sold and converted into apartments. In 1983 the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its unique architectural features. Currently, the building is once again being rehabbed for apartments.

-Written by Juelle Lee

Kate Ringgold Williams was the first Black woman, and possibly the first woman of any race, in Maryland to obtain her mortuary license which she received from Johns Hopkins School of Embalming in 1920. Mrs. Williams’ licensure is especially significant because most women morticians in this time came into the business through their husbands or fathers but she was able to enter the field on her own. She worked for almost 40 years on Schroeder Street and lived right across the street from the mortuary at 322 N. Schroeder Street, where she died in January of 1963.

Originally built in the late 19th century, this property was bought by Mrs. Williams in 1928 where she and her husband, Clarence Williams, operated their funeral business together until his death in 1929. She is said to have buried over 10,000 Baltimoreans throughout her career and was well-respected and loved in the city. While the building at 321 N. Schroeder Street is still standing, the 322 property is now demolished. 

Despite the crumbling steps and boarded up windows from years of neglect from Baltimore City, Katie Williams’ services are still remembered today amongst longtime Poppleton residents as a significant part in many of their lives, providing assistance during times of death and mourning. After Mrs. Williams’ death, over 1,500 people attended her funeral the following month reflecting her importance and value to the community.

-Written by Dontae Phillips

The Carter Memorial Church of God in Christ was established and founded by the late Pastor James Roosevelt Carter and his wife, First Lady Catherine Carter, in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1940. Elder Carter and First Lady Carter migrated from Chester, Pennsylvania to Baltimore, Maryland in the 1920s. They both endured many hardships as they started services on the street corners of Baltimore City. 

The Carter Memorial Church is a vibrant and thriving Pentecostal Holiness church in the heart of the West Baltimore Poppleton community. The church's mission is “A great place to grow through worship and the word impacting lives for abundant living” (Cater Memorial Church, 2015). The Carter Memorial Church is committed to the Poppleton West Baltimore community and is known for a church in the “heart of the city.” The former pastors of Carter, in succession, were Dr. James Roosevelt Carter (1940-1973), Elder James Norris (1973-1976), Bishop Frank James Ellis (1976-2000), and present, Bishop Carl A. Pierce Sr. (July 2000-Present). 

Timeline 

1926 They began having church services on the streets of Baltimore. 

Late 1930’s Elder Carter & First Lady Carter established a church on West Fayette Street and other locations in the City of Baltimore but failed each time. 

1940 Acquired a building at 1006 W. Lexington Street, which was known as Church of God In Christ # 7. 

1944 The church became incorporated.   

1955 The church was renamed Garden Of Prayer Church Of God In Christ. 

Radio broadcast and healing ministry grew along with many members.  

Late 1955 A larger spaces and building was acquired at 745 West Fayette Street—the former Beechfield Methodist Church. The church leadership wrote to the Beechfield Trustee Board indicating an interest in purchasing the building for $100.00 dollars a week, and then $335.00 dollars per month. 

January 29, 1956 The church marched from 1006 West Lexington Street to the new location at 745 West Fayette Street at the time the church was renamed, “Carter’s Temple Church Of God In Christ.”

September 21, 1973 Dr. Carter is called home to be with the Lord. 

September 1973-1976 Elder James Norris, son of the church, becomes the pastor and leaves to establish another church.

1976 Mother Catherine Carter, Former First Lady acted as church administrator. 

End of 1976 Dark Years—membership had fallen to seven (7) faithful members. 

November 1976 The late Bishop Theodore R. Young, Jurisdictional Prelate of Maryland, appointed Elder Frank James Ellis as pastor of the church. 

January 2, 1977 Elder Ellis came to Carter’s Temple Church as its third pastor.

February 1977 The name was (again) changed to “Carter Memorial Church Of God In Christ,” in honor and memory of its founder.

1994 Elder Carl A. Pierce was appointed to the office of assistant pastor and was prophetically pronounced the next pastor of the church by Bishop Ellis.

June 27, 2000 Bishop Ellis transitioned from labor to reward. 

In July 2000, Elder Pierce was formally appointed and installed the Carter Memorial Church pastor on July 2, 2000, by Bishop David Washington Spann, Sr., Jurisdictional Prelate, Greater Maryland First Jurisdiction, Church of God in Christ. In 2011, Bishop Carl A. Pierce saw a vision of expansion and growth as the church outgrew the 745 West Fayette Street location and presented a proposal for relocation to the congregation to expand the church's footprint and ministries. Bishop Pierce caught word that St. Peter's The Apostle Catholic Church was selling its church building at 13 S. Poppleton St. The church's leadership acquired St. Peter's in 2012, and renovations began soon after. The first phase of the renovations was completed in 2013 as the saints of Carter marched into its new sanctuary on December 29, 2013. The 745 West Fayette Street church building was demolished as The University of Maryland BioPark in West Baltimore broke ground in the fall of 2022 at the intersection of MLK Boulevard and Baltimore Street for a new redevelopment project. 

Carter Memorial is a church focused on advancing the Kingdom of God through various outreach ministries to impact souls in the Poppleton community. Carter Memorial is a church with open doors to evangelize to the lost, reach people through community missions, feed the homeless, and speak into the lives of individuals.  

Activists, community leaders, politicians, school leaders, and renowned Gospel artists have visited Carter Memorial. Even Former President Bill Clinton visited and spoke to the congregation Sunday morning. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders participated in a roundtable discussion with various community leaders and supporters during an event focused on young men of color. Carter Memorial has grown in influence and impact since moving to the new Poppleton location in 2013.

Preserving Poe

"The architecture doesn't lend itself to creating a high-quality experience to understand Poe House. It's sitting there by itself without the context of a neighborhood around it. And I think there's lots of instances inaudible 00:37:34] that kind of thing where we see this is a historic house, but nothing around it is. So, you see it without the context.”

The writer Edgar Allan Poe lived at 203 N. Amity Street from 1833 to 1835. Poe resided in this tiny rowhouse with his aunt, grandmother, and future wife Virginia Eliza Clemm. The beginning of his career in fictional writing may have begun in this small house just a few blocks from where Poe is today buried, Towards the end or World War I, this section (Area H) of the Poppleton neighborhood was slated for demolition by the Baltimore Housing Authority for "slum clearance" to make room for the city's first public housing complex. In 1941, the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore swung into action to save the Poe house. Through negotiations, an agreement was reached whereby the Baltimore Housing Authority would preserve the Poe house, provided that the Society could determine which home (203 or 205) was Poe's. They determined his residence to be 203, and the subsequent public housing complex was named the Edgar Allen Poe Housing Project. The Poe society was able to procure public and private funding to turn Poe's home into the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum, opening to the public in 1949. In 2013, Poe Baltimore (a non-profit organization) took over control of the museum and instituted the annual International Edgar Allan Poe Festival in 2018, In 2019 the Poe House was recognized as Maryland's first national Literary Landmark.

-Written by Chibuzo Ibezimako

The 1000 block of West Baltimore Street has history behind it. According to the Poppleton Historic Study of 1975, the 1000 block was full of 19th century style rowhouses, alongside historic businesses such as George Reus barrel bar. There was a suggestion to preserve and renew the buildings, unfortunately the suggestion was not taken to consideration and nearly 70% of the block was torn down. The 130 one-bedroom unit Hollins House public housing complex was built in the 1000 block in 1983. 

In 2014 the Baltimore Housing Commissioner Paul T. Graziano began the privatization of almost 40 percent of Baltimore’s public housing. In 2016-2017, there was a $11 million renovation to Hollins House as part of the privatization process. In 2018, it was reported by the Baltimore Sun that under privatization tenants were improperly evicted. Poe Homes is set to be redeveloped and privatized. While the outside of Hollins House received an upgrade, the true test of any housing redevelopment is how it serves local residents.

Currently the building still stands and is one of the many public housing buildings that has survived since the 1980s in Baltimore.

-Updated by Angela Green

“Poppleton is not defined by a boundary. It’s not defined by its borders. Poppleton is defined by the people who live there. The voice of Poppleton echoes the city of Baltimore.” 

Sitting on the corner of Fremont Avenue at 764 West Baltimore Street, Silver Moon Diner has fed local residents from Poppelton for more than 30 years. The corner was once home to a gas station before becoming a diner. Previously owned by a Greek immigrant family, the diner was known to serve the best gyros and cheesesteaks in town. The Silver Moon Diner is a symbol of hard work, determination, and community engagement, embodied by its founding owner, Ilias Protopapas, and his daughter, Marina.

The Silver Moon Diner was established in 2006, fulfilling the dream of Ilias Protopapas, who was the proud owner of the establishment for many years. Remarkably, before opening the diner, Protopapas immigrated to the U.S. with no money and only a dream for a better life. He drove a cab in New York City and moved to Baltimore on the suggestion of business opportunities of a relative. What sets this story apart is that Ilias Protoponas built this diner from the ground up as a Greek immigrant with little English. Despite the language barrier, he personally oversaw the kitchen operations and even operated his own bakery. He displayed a relentless work ethic and real determination to achieve his goals and support his family. It's worth noting that Ilias Protoponas only completed the 6th grade, which makes his journey to becoming a diner owner even more impressive. Furthermore, his tradition of giving turkeys to the community on Thanksgiving is a testament to his generosity and commitment to the neighborhood. His interactions with his customers is how he learned English.

Doctor Marina Protopapas, daughter of the Greek owner and medical doctor in pain management, used to work as a cashier at Silver Moon while she was getting her education. Silver Moon was more than just a local diner, but a community kitchen for those who struggled. Marina recalls memories of her father feeding people in need. While Marina’s family no longer owns Silver Moon today, the diner remains an establishment that is favored by the surrounding community, which has few food options. With the construction and expansion of the BioPark nearby, Silver Moon is serving an increasingly diverse customer base that includes biomedical workers and University of Maryland students.

Marina Protopapas returned to Poppleton not as a resident but as a property owner to help build the community. She is not satisfied with merely leasing her building at 762 next door to Silver Moon out for just any business, but ones that would bring collective good. Despite living in Northern Virginia, the well-being of Poppleton has never left her mind. 

Poppleton is her neighborhood not because of geographical proximity but because it is like her family. When the family calls, she shows up. 

A Church That Gives Back

In 1890 Rev. Robert Thomas Winn organized the Morning Star Baptist Church congregation, which separated from its "mother church" the historic Leadenhall Baptist Church (located in the South Baltimore neighborhood of Sharp-Leadenhall). Rev. George J Garrett bought the current building in Poppleton at 1063 West Fayette Street in 1925. With a Growing congregation the church quickly became a dynamic force within the community. Still serving the community today, the Morning Star Church of Christ aids the men, women, and children of the neighborhood, not only in their spiritual needs, but also with youth check-ins, food giveaways, and other community events.

For the full history of the church see:

-Written by Dr. Nicole King

Once the spot of the old Maryland Medical College Building, the Lord Baltimore Theater opened for movies and vaudeville shows on November 24, 1913 with seating for over 1,000 patrons. When it opened, the Lord Baltimore was the largest theater in Baltimore outside the downtown theater district. The Pearce & Scheck Company moved vaudeville into the Lord Baltimore from the Victoria Theater which was located on 415 E. Baltimore St, because the rent was too high. Pearce and Scheck kept vaudeville there for several months until the Hippodrome theater opened.

The projection booth was located on the roof of the lobby and had to be entered by going outside of the theater and climbing up a narrow stairway on the side of the building. Pearce and Scheck had architect Stanislaus Russell prepare plans for improvements to the theater in June 1921. These improvements included storefronts on either side of the lobby. The offices of Phillip J. Scheck Enterprises, the successor to Pearce and Scheck, were located in the Lord Baltimore building after about 1936. While the theater was being remodeled in 1941, the marquee fell and three persons narrowly escaped injury. 

JF Theaters purchased the theater in 1969 for about $50,000. It closed in mid-1970 and by 1973 had been converted into a church. The 1970s brought a decline in population and investment in Baltimore city. 

In 2019 the Southwest Partnership purchased the theater, which has suffered from decades of neglect, in hopes of making it a community arts and culture space. Tonya Harris, owner of Parris Construction and Development, is a local developer interested in working with the community to redevelop this historic theater into something neighbors and visitors can enjoy. 

-Updated by Kyle Casamento

Center\West is not just apartment buildings, but the first in a multi-phase redevelopment project in the West Baltimore neighborhood of Poppleton led by La Cité Development. New York-based La Cité Development entered a deal with Baltimore City and then Mayor Martin O’Malley and City Council President Sheila Dixon in 2006, granting the NYC developers the  right to develop 30 proposed buildings on nearly 14 acres of Poppleton  land. The project was tied to the move of the University of Maryland BioPark into West Baltimore. The City of Baltimore began to take homes using eminent domain and demolish them to make way for the La Cité development project, but nothing moved forward for over a decade.

After the City tried but failed to cancel the deal with La Cité in 2012 due to lack of any development, an agreement was reached in which  La Cite would build 257 units on vacant lots flanking West Lexington and Schroeder Streets . Phase “1A and 1B” of the 4 Phase plan for Center/West, led to the construction of the “Avra” and “Cirro” apartment complexes, at 101 and 201 N. Schroeder Street.

La Cité set its eyes on West Baltimore after their president, Dan Bythewood,  wanted to create Baltimore’s own Black Wall Street . Looking to reduce crime, and with a perception of the City  seemingly fueled by HBO’s The Wire and The Corner , Bythewood wanted to “control the dirt” to redevelop a completely new neighborhood. This meant creating a project which would involve densely packed businesses and apartment units in Southwest Baltimore alongside the rising BioPark. 

Thirteen years after the initial deal was signed, La Cité finished Phase 1A/B of Center\West, with 262 apartment units with retail spaces on the ground floor. Despite the ribbon on Avra and Cirro being cut in November of 2018,  the apartments  did not open until 2019 as many  apartment units sustained extensive water damage . Legal battles between the developer and the contractor were ongoing. 

Even after their 2019 opening, the Avra and Cirro apartments have remained very contentious fixtures in the neighborhood. Residents of Cirro, the smaller of the two “luxury” apartments, point to a revolving door of Airbnb guests,  untidy conditions, poorly priced parking, and unresponsive management  as a sign of division between them and their sister apartment, which boasts a pool and other amenities. 

Since 2006, La Cite has received a  $58 million tax increment public financing (TIF) , and a further  $260,000 has been paid to President Dan Bythewood  as compensation for the preservation of the Sarah Ann Street Alley Houses and the Eaddy family home by Baltimore City. 

As of the end of March 2023, La Cité  owed the City $425,764 in water bills , the occupancy rate of the Center\West apartments  have dropped below 80% , and no business are in either of the Avra’s retail spaces, though a grocery story was announced back in 2021. La Cité has only finished two of their proposed 30 buildings. 

Once a Place for Business, Now Abandoned

August Gross and L.A. Stoops started a carriage-making company in the late 18605, coming to be known as Gross and Stoops Carriage Makers. Between the 18705 and 1880s their carriages were considered highly fashionable and many admired their craftsmanship. August's son, Thomas Gross, would eventually take over operations of the company in 1905 and mark the transition from carriages to automobiles. It's noted that his father would not have been too fond of the change, as he referred to cars as "smoke wagons." After August Gross passed away in 1933, Thomas entered politics under the West Baltimore Democratic Party. The tradition of passing down the company from father to son would eventually come to end in the 1930s, when the building was taken over by a toothpaste development company, Pyordent. The carriage house would continue to hold various businesses throughout the years. This includes Johns Hopkins University medical engineer graduate student, Joseph L. Woods, who eventually occupied the building where he and his partner would make children's watches and toys up until the building's eventual abandonment.

What could this historic carriage house be used for today to serve residents of Poppleton and Franklin's Square?

-Written by Chibuzo Ibezimako

In 1994, Baltimore applied to be one of the six Empowerment Zones (EZ), a new Clinton-era urban revitalization program to assist “distressed” neighborhoods struggling with poverty and unemployment. Baltimore’s EZ application was coordinated by Michael Seipp, who was at the time the vice president of the Baltimore Development Corporation and was the director of the Southwest Partnership from 2015 until 2021. 

The federal program would invest $100 million in six U.S. cities to focus on addressing issues such as  “addiction treatment, job training, after-school programs, housing and transportation.” Seipp sought to write an application “so good it cannot be turned down on merit” and nominated EZ neighborhoods in struggling parts of West, East, and far South Baltimore. Seipp was successful. In December of 1994, Baltimore became one of the six initial empowerment zone cities, along with New York, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia/Camden, and Atlanta. 

Each of the neighborhoods selected formed “villages.” And while it was called the Poppleton Village Center, Franklin Square and portions of Union Square and Hollins Market were included in the EZ as well, just like the Poppleton Urban Renewal Zone. Lenny Clay, a barber who owned Lenny’s House of Naturals in Poppleton, was on the empowerment zone board for the Poppleton Village Center. He was known as a “hairdresser to the politicians” and Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke called him the “mayor of Poppleton.” Clay acquired an important piece of political advice from his father, which can be applied to Baltimore’s Empowerment Zone and other renewal or revitalization efforts: “Listen to what they tell you and watch what they do.”

In 2002, the city of Baltimore began to buy out vacant houses and buildings in the city. Around that time, Wexford Science and Technology collaborated with the University of Maryland, Baltimore to develop a plan to build the BioPark. 

The groundbreaking for the $300 million University of Maryland BioPark in 2004 was all about breaking down walls and crossing boundaries. Republican Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. told the crowd: “It’s not just biotechnology, it’s also symbolism. To have a project cross Martin Luther King--it was not just a road, but a line. Today, there was an official erasing of that line. The University of Maryland is an integral part of West Baltimore’s development.” Dr. David J. Ramsay, UMB’s president since 1994 said: “When I first arrived here, it seemed to me that Martin Luther King [boulevard] symbolically separated the community of West Baltimore from the rest of the city. There is development on the west side, but it stopped at Martin Luther King. What we wanted to do was to bridge Martin Luther King, and this project serves this purpose.” And Clarence Brown of the Village Center of Poppleton felt, “[MLK blvd] was like an invisible wall. But in reality, Martin Luther King is nothing but a street. There’s no wall there--and we proved that today.” 

The BioPark is a 14-acre plot of land adjacent to the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) in which the area expands throughout MLK boulevard. The main area of the BioPark consists of two six story buildings that are located at 800 and 801 West Baltimore Street. These buildings consist of labs in which research is done. The BioPark is not only defined by these two buildings, the Biopark also owns a couple other properties such as the Bioinnovation Center, Maryland Forensic Medical Center and even the Lion Brother’s Building.

The mission of the University of Maryland BioPark is to accompany the progression of biomedical research and economic development not only through the community but also throughout Maryland.

The BioPark plans on developing new future buildings, one being the 4MLK. This site is focused on the aid of bringing all forms of science leaders from the areas of entrepreneurs, innovators, and researchers in the mission of improving human health.

However, how do Poppleton residents feel about the BioPark, its huge buildings, and the redevelopment of their neighborhood?

-Written by Kyle Casamento

After the completion and delayed opening of the Avra and Cirro “luxury” apartments in 2019, Center\West moved from Phase 1A and 1B to Phase 2. After the opening of Avra and Cirro in 2019,  a grocery store at the corner of Sarah Ann and N. Schroeder streets, a hotel south of Cirro, and more apartments north of Avra to Poppleton  were announced.

After two years without development, it was announced in 2021 that  Market Fresh Gourmet  had entered into a definitive agreement with La Cité and the City of Baltimore to bring a full-service grocery store to Center\West. Construction was expected to begin in the spring of 2021, but never started. 

In 2020 and 2021, the City  continued to demolish “vacant” houses  for the development project. In an  address from Mayor Brandon Scott in 2022 , it was revealed that Phase 2 would include an affordable senior living development located at 231 N. Schroeder St. 

The statement also included the mention of additional parcels supporting the redevelopment and planned demolition of the Poe Homes public housing townhouses as part of the HUD funded Transform Poe redevelopment project, which is ongoing.

Very little has happened since 2019 when the first two Center/West apartments opened. La Cité has supposedly  sold some of the lots on West Saratoga Street  where the Poe Homes redevelopment project is ongoing to the Housing Association of Baltimore City for Transform Poe, but no construction, or deconstruction, has started at either of the three sites of the next phase of Center\West. However,  Wells Fargo has committed $300,000  to the support of the Edgar Allan Poe International Festival that takes place annually within the Center/West apartments and by Poe Homes. Poppleton residents are still  seeking clearer communication  from the developer and City and what the future holds.

-Written by Tristan Diaz

When I began fieldwork for this project in the spring of 2023, I was initially connected to the Poppleton Now Community Association planning committee co-chair, Miss Dotie Page. At the time, the planning committee was working to create a series of maps showing the community's ideal redevelopment plan, as well as a list of goals for bringing people and businesses back to the neighborhood. The plan was to present these maps to the Baltimore Housing Commissioner, Alice Kennedy, to begin a direct conversation between residents and city officials. I supported residents in drafting a community-created planning map for the now 18-year-old Poppleton LDDA (proposed redevelopment) area to visualize how residents wished to have their neighborhood redeveloped.

Over many weeks, Poppleton Now's planning committee grew to include several talented individuals, including architects Adan Ramos and William Deutsch, who spearheaded the architectural mapping of the proposed future development in the neighborhood based on the desires of many Poppleton residents. They created many detailed renditions of mixed-use, single-family, and multi-family structures that fit the character of what Poppleton used to look like before La Cité demolished most of the buildings that once existed in the current LDDA area. These maps and building models created by the planning committee represented a future of community-led development for the residents of Poppleton.

With the coordination of many local and community-based organizations, Poppleton Now presented these community-created development maps and their ten development goals to the Baltimore City Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy at the Allen AME Church on April 20th, 2023. The conversation was primarily productive and was meant to build trust and transparency between the two seemingly opposed parties. There was hope that this would be the first of many productive conversations regarding the continued redevelopment of Poppleton, with many of the ideas visualized by the Poppleton Now maps being desired by all parties present. This hope seemed to dwindle as the meeting went on.

While the conversation was positive, the community meeting on April 20th highlights many of the remaining barriers that are present for both Poppleton residents and the City Government going forward. Despite being given no clear timeframes for the redevelopment project, Baltimore City cannot legally strip La Cité of its right to redevelop the land in the LDDA agreement. Additionally, many of the development goals presented in the Poppleton Now maps are unable to be realized in their current form due to Baltimore City's requirement for denser development as legislated in the Planned Unit Development (PUD) laws. Additionally, Alice Kennedy noted that it would be impossible for Poppleton residents to always have a voice regarding their neighborhood's redevelopment and that some negotiations would have to leave certain parties out.

Despite these setbacks, these community-produced maps have become a vital tool for social justice in the Poppleton neighborhood. They represent the collective possible future envisioned by those in the neighborhood, one that combats the settler colonial style of blanket neoliberal redevelopment proposed by La Cité and city officials. In this way, maps become a critical visual representation of home for residents in Poppleton. The neighborhood came together to determine what was important to them and visualize it so that people inside and outside of Poppleton could understand what this neighborhood meant to those who maintained their ties to it. The physical erasure of the neighborhood mirrors, whether intentional or not, other instances of colonial land displacement across the globe through the distinct destruction of the neighborhood's identifiable image. The future that La Cité envisions is that of a Poppleton disentangled from its past, one that can be sanitized and commodified in such a way that it's new image is unrecognizable and disconnected from the neighborhood that came before.

These maps show the resilience of many residents, both physically and emotionally, in their fight to preserve their homes and maintain their metaphorical place on the map. Poppleton residents envision a more collaborative future, one that seeks to have everyone's voice at the decision making table. The places depicted on these community maps exude the stories that make them extremely meaningful to residents, whether they currently live in Poppleton or not. This story map was made specifically to elaborate on these impactful place stories that characterize Poppleton, while acting as a repository for them to be shared to a wider audience. Mapping Poppleton became a way for residents to show others who they were, what was meaningful to them in their neighborhood, and, most importantly, that they wanted a voice in the ongoing redevelopment of the place they call home, a place called Poppleton.

A project to create signage for the historic community assets of Poppleton is underway and the Poppleton Now Community Association wants feedback from residents and local faith communities on what they would like to see to honor the bright future of the community assets in Poppleton. Below are several signs highlighting important community assets that could soon appear in Poppleton.

“I feel as though the love that I get there is – I can’t get that nowhere else... The amount of love that the adults give to me, the amount of love that the adults give to everybody, and the amount of attention, it’s like you’re never alone. It’s always someone there to help you. It’s just, it feels like home. I would say it is home actually.” – TyJuan Hawkins, Youth Leader & Board Member

SLYC is a collaborative of West Baltimore families working together to provide youth with critical resources, life-enriching experiences, and a safety-net of support. The SLYC Collaborative was founded by a Franklin Square Elementary Middle School teacher, classroom parent, grandparent volunteer, and school social worker who were all acutely aware of the devastating impact of poverty and trauma on young people’s capacity to meet academic and social expectations. SLYC began in 2015 and continues to grow through collaborative efforts of individuals and organizations that provide critical resources, life-enriching experiences, and a safety net of support - building the foundation on which our youth can thrive. SLYC’s homebase is at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Cultural Site.

Present-day Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood High School opened in 1951 under the name “Fannie L. Barbour Elementary School for Colored Students” at 1001 W Saratoga. It was the first Black school built in the 20th century. The name honored Fannie L. Barbour, Baltimore's first Black woman teacher. Operating through 1978, the school closed due to declining enrollment. Eventually, the school reopened under the name Francis M. Wood Alternative High School. Wood, whom the school was named for, was head of Baltimore City Black Schools from 1925 until his death in 1943. Wood was a renowned leader and prominent figure in the Black education system. In 2008 the school was renamed Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood High School as part of the No Child Left Behind federal program but continued to struggle. In 2018, the United Way Neighborhood Zone was established in Poppleton. The United Way Family Center at Excel Academy supports ongoing work to address many years of disinvestment in Poppleton, West Baltimore, and public schools. 

Allen African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church stands for service and community in the Poppleton neighborhood. Originally founded in 1860 as Allen Chapel AME Church on Stockton Street, Allen AMEC has withstood the pressures of neighborhood redevelopment and has proven to be a bulwark of spiritual and community unity in Poppleton. Having partnered with community leaders, local companies, and city officials, Allen AMEC seeks to provide a space for community-building and facilitate conversations between city officials and community residents surrounding Poppleton’s continuing redevelopment.

After being appointed in 2017 by Bishop James Levert Davis, Rev. Brenda D. White has led Allen AMEC to become an asset to Poppleton as a whole and not just its church members. Under her leadership, the Allen AME Church is experiencing transformational spiritual growth through its teaching, ministries, and community engagement. Rev. White has led initiatives to keep green spaces clean, organize food and medicine drives, facilitate school materials donations, and host educational programs at Allen AMEC. Though the fight for preservation is not over, Allen AME Church is here to stay and has cemented itself as an asset for community organization and community service.

The Sarah Ann Alley Houses are an iconic and endangered architectural style of homes built in 1870. The houses were financed by the wealthy Baltimorean merchant Miles White, brother-in-law of Johns Hopkins. The Sarah Ann Alley Houses have provided affordable housing for Black and working-class Baltimoreans for over 150 years. 

Some of the earliest homeowners included Black women, such as Catherine Kennedy, who bought her home in 1873, and Luberta Williams in 1905. Carolyn Shoemaker, Robert Estreet, and other long-time tenants at Sarah Ann Street constructed a park and playground for local kids in 2000. 

After Baltimore City acquired the alley houses in 2020 through the use of eminent domain, the people of Poppleton fought to preserve the homes. After years of protest and calls for preservation from the community, Mayor Brandon Scott signed the Sarah Ann Street Local Historic District into legislation in April 2023. Shelley Halstead of Black Women Build Baltimore is renovating the homes for affordable homeownership.

On June 21, 1976, the Greater Model Community Recreation Center opened in the Poppleton neighborhood to great excitement. The Rec Center was funded by President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Model Cities program. The indoor community spaces, outdoor fields, and pool provided countless activities for people of all ages in Poppleton and surrounding neighborhoods. The Rec Center offered an opportunity for togetherness, comradery, and safety. Sadly, these fun times came to an end just 20 years later in the late 1990s as the Rec Center closed down due to budgetary constraints and disinvestment in the neighborhood. This closure left a void within the Poppleton community. Due to the hard work and organizing of residents along with outside partners, the Southwest Partnership, a non-profit organization focused on community building, acquired the lease for the Rec Center and worked with residents and faith communities to reopen this community asset. Southwest Sports & Fitness Alliance Executive Director Anthony Hudgins will be overseeing the operations at the Rec Center when it reopens in 2024 as a bright space for community members of all ages, especially local youth.

-Written by Tristan Diaz

I wish to end this StoryMap with a more critical theoretical discussion of the situation in Poppleton, but first, I wish to provide some positionality for myself. My name is Tristan Diaz, and I come to Poppleton as an outsider, having grown up in Glyndon on the outskirts of Baltimore City. My training as an undergrad is that of the methods, theories, and tools used by cultural anthropologists to make sense of the world around them, of which I am still a novice. Regardless, the two-decade-long redevelopment of Poppleton exemplifies a rather depressing, yet still hopeful, reality that many residents experience daily across Baltimore City when faced with outside redevelopment.

While La Cité presented their redevelopment plans as a boon for Baltimore City, ultimately, their plans fell apart and left a neighborhood in ruins. Not only were large sections of Poppleton demolished, but they were then left empty for nearly two decades, as La Cité continued to say that great new things were just around the corner. As this was going on, residents who were displaced and initially given the right to return, watched as the neighborhood they once lived in fell into disrepair, ruin, and near abandonment. At the same time, La Cité and Baltimore City planned from afar various initiatives that never really came to fruition in Poppleton.

Residents have described Poppleton's situation as a form of Death. Sonia Eaddy famously said, "Losing my house is like a death to me. Eminent Domain law is violent." Diane Bell described losing her house and business as "No amount of money can change what happened to me… they took my life." Jamaal Griffen recounts his displacement as "It hurts, just the fact that you never think this would happen to a human being. Like, who forces a person out of where you call home? And you can't get time to take any of your things." Angela Banks remarked, "They didn't just take them houses from people, they took people's livelihoods away. They took families away. They took piece of minds away. They took their security blanket away. They took so much away from people."

Poppleton seems to be experiencing not just a devastating form of settler colonial redevelopment, but more so a particular form of necropolitics that Dr. Lauren Berlant calls Slow Death. Firstly, necropolitics is a term coined by anthropologist Achille Mbembe to describe instances where social and political power is used to dictate when people live and when people die. This idea is an outgrowth of the Foucodian idea of biopower, where political and social forces are used to determine how people may live their lives. Slow Death is the further evolution of these two schools of thought. Berlant describes Slow Death as "the physical wearing out of a population and the deterioration of people in that population that is very nearly a defining condition of their experience and historical existence." In this way, Slow Death relies on the mundane aspects of life becoming utilized to slowly wear down "undesirable" groups in a way that becomes naturalized by those in power.

I believe that Poppleton and its residents have been marked for a Slow Death by those seeking to redevelop their land, without regard to the wants or needs of the neighborhood. Living in the neighborhood has turned into a drawn-out fight for survival for those seeking to remain in their homes. The ruin and seeming abandonment of Poppleton fits in with this notion of Slow Death, be it unintentionally, through the current neighborhood redevelopment practices. There is no time frame for development, no rush to start construction, and the neighborhood is left nearly empty for two decades, with those fighting to remain simply fighting to live in many instances. Living in Poppleton has become challenging due to the stagnated redevelopment, as the very act of living has been attacked through eminent domain and the demolition of people's homes.

The point of this essay is not to lament in the despair created by this rather grim picture of life in Poppleton, but instead to talk about the hope that is created in the fight against this Slow Death. Though it has been nearly 20 years since the beginning of this fight, it is still going strong and only gaining momentum. The organizing work of Poppleton Now is seeing tangible results with the creation of a local historic district in Poppleton and the increased awareness surrounding the issues with redevelopment in the neighborhood. While the fight has been described as a fight for land, it has transformed into a fight for sovereignty and a right to live. The residents of Poppleton recognize that they have been dealt a lousy hand by those who were supposed to represent them; now, they are taking matters into their own hands to reclaim sovereignty over their own lives.

Eminent Domain is a tool of Slow Death, but the residents of Poppleton will not go quietly into the night. Residents must be consulted in redevelopment plans in order for them to be equitable. Just as Poppleton represents an example of redevelopment becoming a form of violence against residents, the organizing efforts of various community groups, as exhibited throughout this story map, represent a possible redevelopment future that sees community members brought into the conversation to ensure no one is harmed as a result of redeveloping a neighborhood.

Poppleton is not yet lost, and neither is Baltimore.