History of the Walbrook Branch

Walbrook has a long history with Baltimore. Starting in 1895 as an outreach program to the “Walbrook suburbs” it was located inside a school. When space became an issue Pratt later relocated the branch to a streetcar Waiting Station in January 1903. Real estate developer Francis A. White offered Pratt the use of a church called the Union Chapel in 1907; it was later enlarged in 1921 to accommodate the growing Walbrook community. For a while people was not sure if they were going to church or to the Library. However member of Temple Baptist Vacations Bible School took up a collection to purchase a sign that read “Library” to quell the confusion. As the community demographics changed and grew a new modern building was built to house the collection in 1957. This modern structure continues to serve the residents of Walbrook, Mt. Holly, Rosemont, and Coppin Heights communities.