Mount Vernon Place

Long cherished as the cultural heart of Baltimore, Mount Vernon Place arose in the wake of a contested idea: the construction of America's first freestanding monument to George Washington. Responding to opposition from local residents, Revolutionary War hero and Federalist statesman John Eager Howard offered part of his wooded estate as an alternative site for this bold and graceful Doric column. After its dedication in 1829, Howard's heirs developed the area into public parks and individual building lots. Mount Vernon Place became an early and successful model of nlightened civic virtue and shrewd commercial enterprise. Noted writer John Dorsey observes, It is the history, the accumulated life, that gives the Place its depth of sensation. Images of America: Mount Vernon Place explores this depth and chronicles the growth of this gracious urban space from its 19thcentury origins to the present day.

Bill Wierzalis, a longtime resident of Baltimore, has exhibited his photographs in many East Coast galleries and fine arts festivals. A selection of his images of Baltimore is available on his Web site, http: www.italyincolor.com. Baltimore native John P. Koontz lives in New Jersey. He is treasurer of the Bernard Shaw Society, and he writes reviews and articles for its journal, The Independent Shavian.