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.
A big draw at Peale’s Baltimore Museum was the new technology of gaslight, which allowed Rembrandt Peale to keep his museum open after dark. BGE's Steve Pedri and Mike Borli with Dave Conrad from Baltimore Foundry Works created this replica of Peale's "Ring of Fire," the kind of gaslight chandelier Peale used to illuminate his galleries. Peale manufactured the gas by burning pitch in a shed in the Museum's back yard, and it was piped to the city’s streetlights and other buildings in wooden pipes. You can learn more about this history and Peale’s founding of the Baltimore Gas and Light Company – now BGE – in the Peale Gallery on the ground floor.
