MedChi's "School" Building

MedChi’s 1205 Cathedral Street and 1204 Maryland Avenue buildings were designed in 1898 by Joseph Evans Sperry, who also designed the Bromo-Seltzer Tower. The exterior façades of the buildings are brick, brownstone and terracotta done in a Romanesque design. The original design and detail on the exterior remains intact.

The buildings were the home of Col. William Marston’s University School for Boys, later the University School. The building on Cathedral Street served as the school, while the Maryland Avenue building was the gymnasium. 

In 1908, the school moved to Charles Street and North Avenue, and then to Riderwood. It closed in the late 1930’s, after Marston’s death.

 In 1909, Baltimore City purchased the building for $50,000 to use as a public school. The school was named for Robert E. Lee, “Engineer, Soldier and Teacher” as it said on the bronze plaque. By 1910, the school had almost 400 students and twelve teachers, and only one was male. School 49 was for accelerated students who completed three years of schooling in two years.

After WWII, the University of Baltimore used the school in the evenings to accommodate the influx of students returning from the war and attending college on the GI Bill.

 In 1954, School 49 was integrated. According to students at the time, it was a seamless process, unlike at other schools. In 1969, the school closed. But in 1970, it re-opened as a school for teenage mothers so they could complete their high school education.

 The school closed in 1977 and in 1978, MedChi bought the building from Baltimore City for $1.00. Construction began in 1984 and the two buildings were finally linked. The transformation to offices was completed the following year. MedChi uses the building for offices for itself and several  regional and component societies of the organization.