The Peale

Step into the first building in the Americas built to be a museum, now a free community museum of Baltimore stories, art and history.

225 Holliday Street, Baltimore, MD 21202 · Baltimore, MD

About The Peale

Painter Rembrandt Peale opened his museum here in 1814, in the first building in the Americas designed and built specifically as a museum. The building later served as Baltimore's City Hall and as an early school for Black students, then sat empty for 20 years after the city museum closed in 1997. It reopened in 2017 as The Peale, a community museum with rotating exhibitions by Baltimore artists, neighborhood stories, audio tours and an urban garden. Admission is free, and the elevator entrance is down Watchhouse alley.

#museum
#baltimore history
#community art
#historic building
#downtown

What's around here?

The closest stops to The Peale, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

Sightseeing
Iconic
Baltimore, Maryland
No admission fee
Maryland's largest city, known for its historic Inner Harbor, rowhouse neighborhoods, and blue-crab dining scene.
Transit: reachable by public transit
Right next doorSwitch it up: Sightseeing
Sightseeing
History Buff
Battle Monument
Check prices
See the 39-foot marble column downtown that honors every man who died defending Baltimore in 1814, the figure on the city's seal and flag.
Steps awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
Museums
Historic Ships in Baltimore
Under $25
A group of historic naval and maritime vessels at Baltimore's Inner Harbor, open to visitors for self-guided and guided exploration.
0.4 mi awayMore like this
Museums
Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture
Under $25
Baltimore museum focused on the history and culture of African American Marylanders.
0.4 mi awayMore like this
Museums
Rainy-Day Pick
The Walters Art Museum
No admission fee
Wander free galleries of art spanning Egyptian mummies, medieval ivories, armor and Old Master paintings in Mount Vernon.
Transit: reachable by public transit
0.5 mi awayMore like this
Sightseeing
History Buff
Washington Monument at Mount Vernon Place
Under $25
Climb 227 marble steps up Baltimore's 1829 column to Washington for a lookout over Mount Vernon Place and the city.
0.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing