Mount Vernon Cultural Walk: Alex. Brown Building

Be Here Stories

The Mount Vernon Cultural Walk is created by The Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA), which promotes, preserves, and enhances Baltimore's historic and cultural legacy and natural resources for current and future generations. A walking tour of this and other destinations is available at www.explorebaltimore.org/tours. Located at 135 East Baltimore Street Alex. Brown and Sons was America's first investment bank (the dot in the name is part of the company's name). Founded by Irish immigrant Alexander Brown in 1800, it underwrote the nation's first public offering, the Baltimore Water Company. For decades, it led in financing Baltimore's development while becoming a major force in international trade and finance. A significant portion of the company's early profits derived from slavery. Heavily involved in the cotton and tobacco trades as a financer, broker, and shipper. It became a leading exporter of cotton to England in the 1820s. It acquired and operated plantations across the South when their owners defaulted on their loans. Profits from these activities were invested in a range of Baltimore institutions, from the B&O Railroad to Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church. In 1901, the firm built a new brick stone and copper headquarters, which famously survived the great 1904 fire while taller buildings around it burnt down. The mixed Georgian- and Renaissance-style structures features a magnificent stained glass dome. Alex. Brown moved out of the building in the 1990s and merged with other financial institutions.