Patterson Park

The Best Backyard in Baltimore

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Patterson Park Map

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A jogger pushes herself along a cobblestone path, an energetic chocolate lab takes his owner for a quick walk, a young couple relaxes underneath a canopy of maple trees, a coffee shop percolates with patrons, and a pickup soccer game goes on until dusk. These are all common everyday scenes in Baltimore's popular Patterson Park, which has seen a resurgence in recent years that rivals its heyday from the early 20th century.

The park sprawls out over a gently sloping 155 acre plot of land in the middle of Southeast Baltimore. It is mostly used by the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods of Upper Fells Point, Butcher's Hill, Highlandtown, Patterson Place, and Canton for what The Friends of Patterson Park refer to as Baltimore's best backyard. However savvy visitors looking for a place to relax off of the beaten path will be pleased with their new discovery of this urban oasis. The park has a good mix of quiet open space and recreation areas. The East side of the park is where most of the action is. Several baseball diamonds, soccer / football / lacrosse fields, basketball and tennis courts, join a public pool and a covered ice skating rink. The West side of the park is more relaxing with quiet open space made for unwinding from the fast pace of city living. You can find pavilions, benches, winding walking paths, plenty of trees, and views that take your breath away.

Patterson Park is a great place to spend an afternoon, but it's also an important historical site whose history stretches back to the colonial era. Several families privately owned the land prior to the American Revolution. The park's namesake William Patterson purchased the land at auction in 1792. 22 years later the invading British forces of the War of 1812 looked up to where the pagoda now stands and they were greeted by 20,000 Baltimorean defenders. Outnumbered and out positioned the British troops retreated back to their fleet and left. A few years after the Battle of Baltimore Patterson donated the first parcel of land to Baltimore City to be used as park space. Additional parcels were were acquired throughout the 19th and 20th centuries to eventually form the park that's recognizable today.

Over the years the park has had its ups and downs. After the Civil War the park was in great disrepair after being used as a Union Army camp and hospital. Park planners took the opportunity to mold it into the Victorian inspired splendor of which elements continue to this day. The park thrived for a hundred years after the Civil War when in the late 1960's the park began to mirror the local area's ails of urban decay. The maintenance of the park slowed down, buildings were lost to neglect and fire, while crime entrenched itself in the park and surrounding neighborhoods. This went on until the 1990's when successful urban renewal efforts by community and business leaders, developers, and the local government began to turn things around. The 21st century has witnessed the acceleration of the park's rebirth with many projects restoring cherished treasures of the park and the construction of new elements. Thanks to public funding, private grants, and a partnership between volunteer organizations, non profit groups, and local residents Patterson Park is once again in full bloom.