Mondawmin Featured Apartment:
Baltimore-Mondawmin - We've got a newly-renovated one bedroom unit in Mondawmin that has a great layout for roommates who need their privacy but also need a one-bedroom sized rent. In this apartment, we've put a door on the living room, so it can be used as a second bedroom. View More Listings -->
About Mondawmin
Mondawmin is a neighborhood located in the United States city of Baltimore, Maryland. The neighborhood is surrounded by Druid Hill Park and the Whitelock Community. Included within its boundaries are Frederick Douglass High School, and Mondawmin Mall. The Baltimore Metro Subway serves the neighborhood, with a station at Mondawmin Mall that is also a hub for several bus routes.
The neighborhood is bounded by Longwood Street and Hilton Parkway to the west,
Liberty Heights Avenue and Druid Park Drive to the north, Druid Hill Park and
Fulton Avenue to the east, and North Avenue to the south. It occupies part or
all of the zip codes 21215, 21216, and 21217.
Mondawmin is perhaps the most diverse square mile in Baltimore. It is a mixed
community community composed of young professionals, retirees, and working
people, where each block has its own character. Some streets are lined with
trees and marble steps, front porches and gardens. The neighborhood clusters
around Mondawmin Mall, General Growth Properties' pioneer urban shopping mall,
and features schools ranging from elementary to four-year college, green
residential areas on wide boulevards and small streets, convenient small
businesses, many active churches and dedicated neighborhood associations.
Mondawmin is a community rich in character and history.
Most of the neighborhood's residential areas consist of brick rowhouses. Those
built before World War II have large front porches and in some cases Victorian
styling. Those built after the war tend to be two-story brick structures on
wider lots than found in the inner city. A few single dwellings near the
Walbrook area reflect their origins as summer homes in the early 20th century.
The area was estate countryside in the 19th century, characterized by large
homes built by prominent city residents on the hilly countryside several hundred
feet above the Inner Harbor area. Mondawmin takes its name from the estate owned
by Dr. Patrick Macaulay (1795-1849), physician, city councilman, B&O Railroad
director and patron of the arts. Tradition relates that Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow visited Dr. Macaulay, who asked him what to name his home, then
surrounded by corn fields. The poet allegedly looked around and replied, "Why
not Mondamin, after the Indian corn god?" (Mapmakers later added a "w" to the
name, and it stuck.) The area known as Southern Mondawmin prides itself on a
long history of stable homeownership. Many residents moved into the community in
the late forties and early fifties as the area developed as the cultural and
education center for African Americans. Robert W. Coleman, one of the
community's renowned residents, established the first school for the blind for
African Americans. Because of those early pioneers and the stability of the
community, Southern Mondawmin was never designated as an urban renewal area.
While the community has changed over the past 15 years, residents, churches,
businesses, and community associations are diligently working to return the area
to its early luster. Recently, Southern Mondawmin was chosen by Baltimore city's
government as one of six Healthy Neighborhoods. Parts of the community are
included as part of the empowerment zone.