Patterson Park is a public park in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. The park is bordered by East Baltimore Street on the north, Eastern Avenue on the south, South Patterson Park Avenue on the west, and South Linwood Avenue on the east. The Patterson Park extension lies to the east of the main park, and is bordered by East Pratt Street on the north, South Ellwood Avenue on the east, and Eastern Avenue on the south.
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Bikers, joggers, and all pedestrians can take advantage of the park's admirably smooth pathways. The star attractions are the boat lake (in which people are allowed to fish, if you have a license, although this is rarely enforced), the marble fountain, the General Casimir Pulaski Monument, and the Pagoda, also known as the Patterson Park observatory, which has a great view of the city and is considered to be a very nice building aesthetically. The sports fields are open for use to anyone who wants to play a game, and there are public tennis courts as well. Two playgrounds are also in the park, and there is a swimming pool open during the summer, and a skating rink during winter. During the summer and early autumn, several festivals are hosted at the park. The area surrounding the park is part of an innovative urban renewal campaign by the city and neighborhood leaders.
There are no heavily forested areas of Patterson Park; however, there are plenty of open spaces. Bird watchers will still have a good time, though, as there are plenty of birds in the park. The boat lake, recently reconstructed, is inhabited mostly by mallard ducks, but also is visited by other birds, including American coots and wood ducks. There are also fish, frogs, and turtles in the lake. If you are lucky, you may see a Great Blue Heron or Great Egret fishing around.
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.[1][2][3]
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.[4] 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.[5] 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[6] 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.[7]