Take an audio tour of The Peale, Baltimore's Community Museum and the oldest museum building in the United States! Listen to WYPR's Aaron Henkin recount the fascinating stories that surround this historic building. Includes 16 stops.
In Rembrandt Peale's day, this room was used as a lecture hall and included risers and stepped seating. When the building became City Hall in 1830, the floor was leveled but it continued to serve as an assembly room for public meetings. The two branches of the city council met in the two largest galleries on the second floor.
When the building housed Male and Female Colored School No. 1, the third floor was used for storage, not classrooms, even though the lower two floors were crowded with up to 500 students. You can find out more about School 1 at the Peale in the exhibit on the ground floor and in its audio tour.
