One Calvert Plaza

Maryland, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

Find out more

One Calvert Plaza, a 16-story Beaux-Arts skyscraper in Baltimore, Maryland, was designed by D.H. Burnham and Company of Chicago and constructed in 1900–1901. Originally known as the Continental Trust Company Building, it rose 76 meters (249 feet) and featured steel structural members clad with terra cotta fireproofing and tile-arch floors. When completed, it was Baltimore's tallest building, a distinction it held until 1911 when surpassed by the Bromo-Seltzer Tower. The building survives the devastating Great Baltimore Fire of February 1904, which destroyed more than 100 acres in the downtown financial district. The Continental Trust Company, chartered in 1898, played a pivotal role in consolidating Baltimore's light and gas companies into a citywide system that eventually became the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, One Calvert Plaza remains a significant landmark within the Baltimore National Heritage Area.