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.
After opening in 1930, Baltimore’s Municipal Museum went on to serve as a leading cultural space in the city for more than six decades. It was the go-to place for residents and visitors wanting to learn about Baltimore history and explore the museum's archives and collection of important artworks by the Peales as well as 20th century artists.
The Peale Museum once again hosted ground-breaking shows, like "The Baltimore Rowhouse,” curated by Dr. Mary Ellen Hayward, and “Mermaids, Mummies, and Mastodons” about the Peale and early American museums. These shows are survived by publications by the same names, available in the Peale's shop today. The Peale Museum became the headquarters of the City Life Museums network, but was shuttered along with several other city-owned museums when, in 1997, it fell once again on financial hard times.
An attempt was made to give the building a new purpose as the Kurt Schmoke Conference Center, named after the then-mayor, but without an elevator the building became a storage space and dumping ground for unwanted city detritus.
After 20 years of vacancy, a group of volunteers incorporated as the Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture began renovating the historic museum building in 2017. It reopened in 2022 as Baltimore’s Community Museum and is known today as simply, “The Peale.” You can hear more about the Peale’s life in the 20th century from people who visited and worked here.
