{{Short description|Private social club in Baltimore, Maryland, United States}} {{Infobox organization | name = Maryland Club | native_name = | native_name_lang = | named_after = | image = Maryland Club.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = A view of the Maryland Club in Baltimore | map = | map_size = | map_alt = | map_caption = | map2 = | map2_size = | map2_alt = | map2_caption = | abbreviation = | predecessor = | merged_into = | successor = | formation = {{start date|1857|df=y}} | founder = | founding_location = | extinction = <!-- use {{end date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | merger = | type = | tax_id = <!-- or | vat_id = (for European organizations) --> | registration_id = <!-- for non-profit org --> | status = | purpose = | headquarters = | location = Baltimore, Maryland | coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LON|display=inline,title}} --> | region_served = | services = | products = | methods = | fields = | membership = | num_members_year = | language = | owner = <!-- or | owners = --> | secretary_general = | leader_title = | leader_name = | leader_title2 = | leader_name2 = | leader_title3 = | leader_name3 = | leader_title4 = | leader_name4 = | board_of_directors = | key_people = | main_organ = | parent_organization = | subsidiaries = | secessions = | affiliations = | budget = | budget_year = | revenue = | revenue_year = | disbursements = | expenses = | expenses_year = | endowment = | num_staff = | num_staff_year = | num_volunteers = | num_volunteers_year = | slogan = | mission = | website = {{URL|www.marylandclub1857.org}} | remarks = | former_name = | footnotes = {{Infobox NRHP | name = The Maryland Club | embed = yes | nrhp_type = | image = | caption = | location = 1 East Eager St.<br>Baltimore, Maryland | coordinates = {{coord|39|18|04|N|76|36|56|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = United States Baltimore#Maryland#USA | built = 1891 | builder = | architect =Josias Pennington | architecture = | added = January 29, 2024 | area = Less than one acre | refnum = 100009814 }} }} The '''Maryland Club''' is a private social club in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857 as an exclusive men's club, it is today one of the oldest surviving such clubs. Its 1891 Romanesque clubhouse, located at 1 East Eager Street in the Mount Vernon neighborhood, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2024.<ref name=NRHP>{{cite web|url=https://apps.mht.maryland.gov/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-1618.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: The Maryland Club|date=April 2023|access-date=2026-01-18|author=Jonathan H. Poston|publisher=Maryland Historical Trust|archive-date=2026-03-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260312222937/https://apps.mht.maryland.gov/Medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-1618.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Club’s members have traditionally been among the region’s prominent business, professional, civic and nonprofit leaders. Membership is by invitation only. The Club's website says it accepts a diverse membership of outstanding individuals regardless of race, gender, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Home - Maryland Club|url=https://www.marylandclub1857.org/|access-date=2021-06-04|website=www.marylandclub1857.org}}</ref>
In 1861, the Club supported the secession of the Confederate States of America.<ref name=Club-hist>{{cite web|title=History|publisher=Maryland Club|url=https://www.marylandclub1857.org/History-(2).aspx|access-date=2020-01-02|archive-date=2020-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102015643/https://www.marylandclub1857.org/History-(2).aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> The Club was closed by Union troops during the American Civil War. General Lew Wallace outraged local residents by turning the clubhouse building into a shelter for homeless former slaves.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brugger|first1=Robert J.|title=Maryland, A Middle Temperament: 1634-1980|date=1988|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore, Maryland|page=364|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNspu2FxwUwC&dq=%22Maryland%20Club%22%20Baltimore&pg=PA364|accessdate=15 July 2015|isbn=9780801854651}}</ref> The Club re-opened after the war.<ref name=Club-hist/> The Club opposed Prohibition and flouted the law through the use of private lockers.<ref name="Club-hist" /> After a 1995 fire nearly destroyed its building, the Club restored its architectural and aesthetic elements. In 2019, a major renovation added squash facilities, improved the exercise area, added a bistro-style restaurant, and made other {{clarify span|text=system upgrades.|date=July 2025}}{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gunts |first=Ed |date=2016-04-13 |title=Baltimore Fishbowl {{!}} Maryland Club Plans to Add Fitness Center, Squash Court - |url=https://baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/maryland-club-plans-add-fitness-center-squash-court/ |access-date=2026-01-11 |website=Baltimore Fishbowl |language=en-US |archive-date=2025-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250317103426/https://baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/maryland-club-plans-add-fitness-center-squash-court/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 1988, the Club began accepting Jewish members.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pietila|first1=Anteri J.|title=Not in My Neighborhood How Bigotry Shaped a Great American City Maryland, A Middle Temperament: 1634-1980|date=2010|publisher=Ivan R. Dee Publisher|location=Chicago, Illinois|page=140|isbn=978-1-56663-843-2}}</ref> In 2021, the Club began admitting women as members through its regular admission process. Women have since been elected to the formerly all-male Board of Governors of the Club.{{cn|date=April 2026}}
The club operates under laws for 501(c)(7) Social and Recreation Clubs; in 2025 it claimed total revenue of $5,855,267 and total assets of $16,829,122.<ref>{{cite web |title=Maryland Club |url=https://app.candid.org/profile/7746077/maryland-club-52-0403190 |website=candid.org |publisher=Candid. |access-date=8 April 2026}}</ref> The separate Maryland Club Preservation Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Public Charity; in 2025 it claimed total revenue of $138,149 and total assets of $444,576.<ref>{{cite web |title=Financials for Maryland Club Preservation Foundation |url=https://app.candid.org/profile/7792068/maryland-club-preservation-foundation-52-2273194 |website=candid.org |publisher=Candid. |access-date=8 April 2026}}</ref>
==Notable members== *Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte, the first president of the club<ref>{{cite book|author1=Gunning, Brooke|author2=O'Donovan, Molly|title=Baltimore's Halcyon Days|date=2000|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|page=75|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oY9TN1vNoa8C&dq=%22Jerome%20Napoleon%20Bonaparte%22%20%22Maryland%20Club%22&pg=PA75|accessdate=15 July 2015|isbn=9780738506319}}</ref> *William Cabell Bruce<ref>{{cite book|last1=Steiner|first1=Bernard C.|title=Men of Mark in Maryland: Biographies of Leading Men of the State|date=1907|publisher=Johnson-Wynne Company|location=Washington, D.C.|page=69|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVFKAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Maryland%20Club%22%20governor%20-soccer%20-coach%20-tennis%20-lacrosse&pg=PA69|accessdate=15 July 2015}}</ref> *Charles W. Field<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shepherd|first1=Henry Elliot|title=History of Baltimore, Maryland|date=1893|publisher=S.B. Nelson|page=865|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgUyAQAAMAAJ&dq=Maryland%20Club%20of%20Baltimore&pg=PA864|accessdate=15 July 2015}}</ref> *Charles F. Mayer<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shepherd|first1=Henry Elliot|title=History of Baltimore, Maryland|date=1893|publisher=S.B. Nelson|page=953|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgUyAQAAMAAJ&dq=Maryland%20Club%20of%20Baltimore&pg=PA952|accessdate=15 July 2015}}</ref> *Charles F. Mayer (railroad president), nephew of the above *45th governor of the State of Maryland, Edwin Warfield<ref>{{cite book|last1=Steiner|first1=Bernard C.|title=Men of Mark in Maryland: Biographies of Leading Men of the State|date=1907|publisher=Johnson-Wynne Company|location=Washington, D.C.|page=30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVFKAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Maryland%20Club%22%20governor%20-soccer%20-coach%20-tennis%20-lacrosse&pg=PA30|accessdate=15 July 2015}}</ref> *James T. Woodward<ref name=woody>{{cite news | title =James T. Woodward, The Banker, Is Dead | pages = | date =April 11, 1910 | url =https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/04/11/105077610.pdf | newspaper =New York Times | access-date =15 July 2015 | archive-date =13 December 2022 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20221213102801/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/04/11/105077610.pdf | url-status =live }}</ref> *Glenn L. Martin<ref>The Maryland Club, A History of Food and Friendship in Baltimore, 1857-1997; Pg 90, Robert J. Brugger</ref>
==See also== *Knickerbocker Club *Metropolitan Club *Union Club of the City of New York
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{MHT url|id=1732|title=The Maryland Club, Baltimore City}}, at Maryland Historical Trust
{{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland}}
Category:Gentlemen's clubs in the United States Category:1857 establishments in Maryland Category:Baltimore Category:Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore