Clifton Mansion: 200 Years of History and Service

Clifton Mansion is nestled inside rambling green Clifton Park with a popular public golf course , city farms for urban gardeners and historic Mothers’ Garden. The mansion was home to a hero of the War of 1812 named Captain Henry Thompson before it was sold to Johns Hopkins, the great benefactor of the college and hospital named after him.

Inside the mansion are a number of exhibits, including one about the philanthropists whose contributions funded development of many city institutions and another about the bicentennial commemoration of the War of 1812 emphasising First Baltimore Horse Artillery of which Captain Thompson was a leader.

There are programs like the one I went to recently where slides were shown from the A. Aubrey Bodine collection while his daughter described living with the famous photographer who often put getting a picture ahead of almost everything else, including his own personal safety.

Before that program began in the room Johns Hopkins considered his back porch, a group of us were led on a tour of the mansion all the way up the tall tower from which Johns Hopkins could watch ships come into the Port of Baltimore. The views in all directions were spectacular! As was the view of sunset from the “back porch” space now fully enclosed with many windows from which the sky changed colors in the west as the sun went down. Click on the website at the end of this blog to discover when upcoming tours are scheduled and be sure to bring your camera.

The best part of Clifton Mansion I saved for last. It is not a building just gathering dust and it is most certainly not stuck in the past! It is the home of one of the city’s most active and energetic volunteer organizations - CivicWorks - roaming Baltimore taking on community service projects you can explore at www.cvicworks.com