- Henry Fite House
-
Henry Fite House Alternative names Old Congress Hall General information Type tavern Town or city Baltimore Country USA Coordinates 39°17′19″N 76°37′8″W / 39.28861°N 76.61889°WCoordinates: 39°17′19″N 76°37′8″W / 39.28861°N 76.61889°W Completed 1770 Destroyed February 8, 1904 Technical details Floor count 3 Design and construction Owner Henry Fite The Henry Fite House, located on Baltimore Street between Sharp and Liberty Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, was the meeting site of the Second Continental Congress from December 20, 1776 until February 22, 1777.[1] Built as a tavern in 1770 by Henry Fite (1722-1789), the building became known as Congress Hall during its brief use by Congress, and later as Old Congress Hall. It was destroyed by the Great Baltimore Fire in 1904.[2]
Congress moved from Philadelphia to Baltimore in the winter of 1776 to avoid capture by British forces, who were advancing on Philadelphia. As the largest building in Baltimore, Henry Fite's tavern provided a comfortable location of sufficient size for Congress to meet; its site at the western edge of town was beyond easy reach of the British. A visitor described the tavern as a "three-story and attic brick house, of about 92 feet front on Market Street, by about 50 or 55 feet depth on the side streets, with cellar under the whole; having 14 rooms, exclusive of kitchen, wash-house and other out-buildings, including a stable for 30 horses."[2][3]
Thus, Baltimore became the nation's capital for a two-month period. While meeting here on December 27, 1776, Congress conferred upon George Washington "extraordinary powers for the conduct of the Revolutionary War."[4][2]
The Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution placed a bronze memorial tablet in front of the Henry Fite House on February 22, 1894, describing the building's brief service to the nation. An inscription on the tablet proclaimed to visitors, "On this site stood Old Congress Hall, in which the Contenental Congress met". Ten years later, only the memorial tablet remained after the fire on February 8, 1904.[2][3]
In her 1907 biography of the Fite family, Elizabeth Fite corrected earlier historians who mistakenly reported Jacob Fite as owner of the house. She explained that while Henry's son, Jacob, lived in the house, he was a child when the building was occupied by Congress and never actually owned the building. After Henry died on October 25, 1789, his estate was distributed among his seven surviving children; the Henry Fite House became the property of his eldest daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, George Reinicker.[2]
When philanthropist George Peabody moved to Baltimore in 1816, the Henry Fite House served as his home and office for the next 20 years.[5] Peabody left Baltimore for London in 1837.
The former location of the Henry Fite House is currently occupied by the 1st Mariner Arena, originally known as the Baltimore Civic Center when it was built in 1962.
See also
References
- ^ "Henry Fite's House, Baltimore". U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/buildings/section4. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
- ^ a b c d e Elizabeth Mitchell Stephenson Fite (1907). The biographical and genealogical records of the Fite families in the United States. The Greenwich Printing Company, New York. pp. 106–112. http://books.google.com/books?id=jD9MAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA106&lpg=PA106&dq=Henry+Fite+house&source=bl&ots=WHiiPpcpcB&sig=hk8vxmOdnL-dO2FI63XNeKjMIcU&hl=en&ei=3FKKTdb6BOSY0QGqxfT6DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=Henry%20Fite%20house&f=false. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
- ^ a b "A Tablet for Congress Hall: Baltimore's Historic Building to be Appropriately Marked". New York Times. February 21, 1894. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F4091EFA345D15738DDDA80A94DA405B8485F0D3. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ John Montgomery Gambrill (1903). Leading events of Maryland history. Ginn & Company, Boston. p. 119. http://books.google.com/books?id=SPMXAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=old+congress+hall+baltimore&source=bl&ots=VPS0co_DIe&sig=04Sa87Doobzsy4mT47I2RmOD74g&hl=en&ei=3EyLTeXgLOTk0gHVh7nmDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&sqi=2&ved=0CDgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=old%20congress%20hall%20baltimore&f=false. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "George Peabody: Founder of the Peabody Institute". Maryland State Archives. November 13, 2001. http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/stagser/s1259/143/ghexhibit/onlinebio.html. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
Categories:- 1770 architecture
- Continental Congress
- Former buildings and structures of the United States
- History of Baltimore, Maryland
- Houses in Baltimore, Maryland
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
