337 East Hamburg

.....Built in 1810, this is one of the oldest houses in Federal Hill.  The side porches of the house originally afforded its owners a clear view of the Harbor to the East.  337 achieved notoriety serving as the headquarters for Union Army General Benjamin F. Butler.

Rebel spies were held prisoner in the basement of 337 Hamburg Street, and the General stood on the second story porch to watch their executions in the yard below.  When a Succession Bill was introduced in the State of Maryland Legislature, Butler traveled down to Annapolis, burst into the State House and escorted the politicians out of the Chambers at gunpoint.  Session over!

The majority of the houses on Hamburg Street were built for the working class between 1835 and 1845 by a Baltimore Banker named John Gittings.  Each house originally contained two rooms 11 by 12 feet deep on the first floor with a small kitchen.  There are two rooms of equal size on the second floor and a single room under the dormer.  Every house had (and most still do) a small back yard with an outdoor privy.  They originally sold for $700 - $900.