Patterson Park - History

History

The high ground at the northwest corner of Patterson Park, called Hampstead Hill, was the key defensive position for U.S. forces against British ground forces in the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. The redoubt was known as Rodgers Bastion, and was the centerpiece of the earthen line dug to defend the eastern approach to Baltimore, from the outer harbor in Canton north to Belair Road. On September 13, 1814, the day after the Battle of North Point, some 4,300 British troops advanced north on North Point Road, then west along the Philadelphia Road toward Baltimore, forcing U.S. troops to retreat to the defensive line. When the British began probing actions, the American line was defended by 100 cannon and more than 10,000 troops. The American defenses were far stronger than anticipated, and U.S. defenders at Fort McHenry successfully stopped British naval forces from advancing close enough to lend artillery support, and British attempts to flank the defense were countered. Thus, before dawn on September 14, 1814, British commander Colonel Arthur Brooke decided the land campaign was a lost cause, and ordered the retreat back to the ships, and the United States was thus victorious in the Battle of Baltimore.

William Patterson, a Baltimore merchant, donated 5 acres (20,000 m2) to the city for a public walk in 1827, and the city purchased 29 acres (120,000 m2) additional from the Patterson family in 1860. Additions and improvements to the park made after 1859 were funded through the city's "park tax" on its streetcars, which was initially set at 20% of the fare. During the Civil War, the site was used as a Union troop encampment. Additional purchases in later years increased the park size to its present 137 acres (0.55 km2). The 60-foot (18 m) Pagoda, designed by Charles H. Latrobe, was built on Hampstead Hill in 1891 and has been recently refurbished along with other park structures. Several public accommodations at the park such as the swimming pools, picnic pavilions, and playgrounds were managed as "separate but equal" until they were desegregated in 1956. The park is included in the Baltimore National Heritage Area.