The Baltimore Exchange and Its Meanings

ABSTRACT: The Baltimore Exchange (1815–1820) was one of the most important buildings in the oeuvre of Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764–1820), and the history of its design has been fully elucidated. However, there remains unexplored how the building functioned and what it meant to the patrons, architect, Baltimoreans, and tourists of early nineteenth-century Baltimore. This paper looks at the multiple meanings of the Exchange in terms of its function, aesthetics, aspirations, and symbolism from the perspectives of these different constituencies. The Baltimore merchants, the patrons who commissioned the project and operated it, sought to construct a building at par with its global counterparts. The architect aspired to find a building form that would embody principles that were functionally appropriate to the building. The United States Customs Service, whose agency filled one wing of the Exchange, desired a building that reflected the authority of the federal government. Baltimoreans and visitors to the city interpreted the building as a landmark and icon of the city. These multiple interpretations contribute to a rich chronicle of the Baltimore Exchange in the history of the merchants’ exchange as a building type and the development of early Baltimore.