The Peale: America's First Purpose-Built Museum

With a storied legacy that spans 208 years, The Peale is Baltimore's community museum that showcases the history, culture, people and traditions that define our beloved city. When it opened in 1814 as Peale's Museum and Gallery of the Fine Arts, it was the first purpose-built museum in the Western Hemisphere. Today, after a five-year, $5.5 million renovation, a new chapter begins for this Holliday Street landmark, located just 2 miles from the historic Rachael's Dowry Bed and Breakfast.

The museum's founder and namesake was American artist and inventor Rembrandt Peale (1778–1860). His family is considered to be the first family of American artists, and his father, Charles Willson Peale, was a portrait artist and patriot who painted the likeness of numerous Founding Fathers, including George Washington, who he painted 60 times. Some of those paintings were among the first pieces of art to be displayed in the museum. In addition to being an art gallery, Peale's Museum was also a natural history exhibit, and among its fossil collections was the complete skeleton of a prehistoric mastodon exhumed by the elder Peale in 1801 in New York. Also of note, the museum was the first building in Baltimore to have gas lighting.

Due to financial difficulties, the building was sold and the museum's contents disbursed. In 1830, the City of Baltimore acquired the building, which served as City Hall until 1875, after which it became the Male and Female Colored School No. 1 from 1878 to 1887. In the years following, it was home to a number of businesses including an organ factory and a machine shop. The building was renovated and rededicated in 1931 as the Municipal Museum of Baltimore, but it ultimately fell vacant in 1997.

This piece of Baltimore history is getting new life as a museum once again, thanks to the preservation efforts of a civic-minded citizens group. Over the last five years, the building and grounds have undergone extensive renovation and restoration. The exterior saw a new roof, repaired masonry and garden restoration. Interior work included major repairs to plasterwork, lighting, heating and ventilation, flooring, woodwork, and the installation of ramps and an elevator. The work was completed in 2022 and The Peale's grand reopening was held in August 2022, 208 years to the month of its original opening.

The Peale is open Thursdays through Sundays to highlight community-driven exhibitions, giving Baltimoreans a space to unleash their creativity and connect and collaborate with other artists. The Peale is a non-collecting museum, meaning its programs and exhibits will be ever-changing, giving visitors reason to explore the museum time and time again to see what's new at The Peale.