Whites Hall

Not to be confused with Whitehall (Annapolis, Maryland).
Whites Hall
Drone scan of Whites Hall by Preservation Maryland
Location2173 Johns Hopkins Road
Gambrills, Maryland 21054
Coordinates39°01′15″N 76°40′20″W / 39.020839°N 76.672314°W / 39.020839; -76.672314
Area13 acres (5.3 ha)
Built1784
Architectural style(s)Georgian Architecture
Governing bodyPrivate
Whites Hall is located in Maryland
Whites Hall
Location of Whites Hall in Maryland
Whites Hall is located in the United States
Whites Hall
Whites Hall (the United States)

Whites Hall, also referred to as Whiteshall or Whites Hall Farm, is the birthplace and boyhood home of Maryland native Johns Hopkins. Whites Hall is located in Gambrills, Maryland.

History

Whites Hall was originally part of an 1,800-acre land grant to Colonel Jerome White in 1665. The house itself was constructed between 1780 and 1784.[1] The home was designed as a two-story, brick side passage double pile plan dwelling, and was listed on the Maryland Historic Site inventory in 1969.[2]

Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins was born at the home on May 19, 1795, to Samuel Hopkins (1759–1814) and Hannah Janney (1774–1864).[3] A family of Quakers, the Hopkins family were slaveholders before freeing theirs in 1807 in accordance with their local Quakers' decree.[4] Johns Hopkins lived on the property until 1812, when he left for Baltimore at the age of 17.

The property remained in the Hopkins family until they sold it in 1910.[5] Today, the previous manor house is surrounded by residential development and the Walden Golf Club,[5] and is within the planned community of Crofton.

Planned demolition and preservation

In 2016, Millersville-based housing developer Polm Companies planned to demolish the historic home for additional space for residential lots.[6][7] Its potential demolition galvanized an effort by preservation and historic activists, who worked with the developer in an effort to save the mansion.[8]

In 2017, the Maryland nonprofit organization, "The Johns Hopkins House, Inc.," was organized to save and restore Whites Hall.[9] It is recognized as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Johns Hopkins' Birthplace In Gambrills on Market For $700K". 15 April 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Maryland Historical Trust" (PDF). mht.maryland.gov. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  3. ^ Jacob, Kathryn A. "Mr. Johns Hopkins." Mr. Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins University, n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. [https://web.archive.org/web/20151017100509/http://old.library.jhu.edu/collections/specialcollections/archives/jacob.html Archived 2015-10-17 at the Wayback Machine>
  4. ^ (20240116: link fails to resolve, as do others in the Reference section) Hopkins Thom, Helen (1929), Johns Hopkins: A Silhouette, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, retrieved 2009-10-04; note: the first and only book-length biography on Johns Hopkins. Used as source by Jacob cited above, Findalibrary.
  5. ^ a b "Development Sprouts Around First Johns Hopkins Home". 25 February 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  6. ^ Yeager, Amanda. "Demolition Proposed for Johns Hopkins Birthplace". Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  7. ^ Inc., Donohue Consulting. "Polm Companies Recently Completed Home Communities in Crofton and Severn, Maryland". www.polm.com. Retrieved 6 January 2018. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  8. ^ Maryland, Preservation (14 April 2016). "Preservation Maryland & Polm Companies Announce Joint Effort to Preserve Whites Hall, Johns Hopkins Boyhood Home". Preservation Maryland. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  9. ^ Krol, Melissa Driscoll (August 13, 2018). "Descendant of Whites Hall residents on mission to save Johns Hopkins' birthplace". Capital Gazette. Baltimore Sun Media Group. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  10. ^ "The Johns Hopkins House, Inc. Given Tax-Exempt Status by the IRS". The Johns Hopkins House, Inc. April 17, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2020.