Hotel for Weary Urbanites
Day trippers took horse-drawn omnibuses and later, electric trolleys to get to the Hall Springs Hotel for picnicking, fishing and good food!
Initially called the Herring Run Tavern, the Hall Springs Hotel was established on the Baltimore County lands of Benedict William Hall around 1815. The hotel was in the area of the park now known as Hall Springs. The Hall family constructed and owned the establishment, but they leased its operation to tenants.
Beginning in the 1860s, day trippers living south of the city line at North Avenue took horse-drawn omnibuses and later, electric trolleys to visit the Hall Springs Hotel, which served as a rural retreat for many residents of Baltimore. It was also a great stop for traveling truck farmers. The Hall Springs Hotel was known for its comfortable accommodations, good food, great fishing, and as a delightful picnicking spot on the banks of the Herring Run. Hall Springs became one of the earliest stops on the Harford Road line of the Baltimore City streetcar system when it was established in 1894.
After the deaths of Benedict William Hall and his second wife in the mid-19th century, their Eutaw Farm, which included the hotel, was divided among his five surviving children. In 1879, Elizabeth B. Hall and her husband, Horatio Whitridge, received the Hall Springs portion. In 1886, the couple sold the property to Thomas Harrison Garrett who, in turn, leased the property and hotel to the Society for the Protection of Children. Eleven years later, in 1897, the Garrett family regained control of the hotel and property, which they managed until it was sold to the City of Baltimore for the establishment of Herring Run Park in 1908.
The Hall Springs Hotel fell into disrepair and due to safety concerns and the prohibitive cost of rehabilitation, it was eventually torn down.
Sources:
Holcomb, E.L. (2005). The City as Suburb: A history of northeast Baltimore since 1660. Center for American Places: Sante Fe, New Mexico
Herring Run Archeology Project https://herringrunarchaeology.org/category/hall-springs-hotel/
Baltimore Heritage Inc. https://baltimoreheritage.org/programs/broads-choice-eutaw-farm-hall-springs-early-history-herring-run-park/
Day trippers took horse-drawn omnibuses and later, electric trolleys to get to the Hall Springs Hotel for picnicking, fishing and good food!
Initially called the Herring Run Tavern, the Hall Springs Hotel was established on the Baltimore County lands of Benedict William Hall around 1815. The hotel was in the area of the park now known as Hall Springs. The Hall family constructed and owned the establishment, but they leased its operation to tenants.
Beginning in the 1860s, day trippers living south of the city line at North Avenue took horse-drawn omnibuses and later, electric trolleys to visit the Hall Springs Hotel, which served as a rural retreat for many residents of Baltimore. It was also a great stop for traveling truck farmers. The Hall Springs Hotel was known for its comfortable accommodations, good food, great fishing, and as a delightful picnicking spot on the banks of the Herring Run. Hall Springs became one of the earliest stops on the Harford Road line of the Baltimore City streetcar system when it was established in 1894.
After the deaths of Benedict William Hall and his second wife in the mid-19th century, their Eutaw Farm, which included the hotel, was divided among his five surviving children. In 1879, Elizabeth B. Hall and her husband, Horatio Whitridge, received the Hall Springs portion. In 1886, the couple sold the property to Thomas Harrison Garrett who, in turn, leased the property and hotel to the Society for the Protection of Children. Eleven years later, in 1897, the Garrett family regained control of the hotel and property, which they managed until it was sold to the City of Baltimore for the establishment of Herring Run Park in 1908.
The Hall Springs Hotel fell into disrepair and due to safety concerns and the prohibitive cost of rehabilitation, it was eventually torn down.
Sources:
Holcomb, E.L. (2005). The City as Suburb: A history of northeast Baltimore since 1660. Center for American Places: Sante Fe, New Mexico
Herring Run Archeology Project https://herringrunarchaeology.org/category/hall-springs-hotel/
Baltimore Heritage Inc. https://baltimoreheritage.org/programs/broads-choice-eutaw-farm-hall-springs-early-history-herring-run-park/
PO Box 16167
Baltimore, MD 21218 410-417-8565 |