What Makes the Residents of Johnston Square Want to Stay?

Johnston Square is a walkable and historic neighborhood in East Baltimore where residents can easily enjoy a nice view of downtown. The Live Baltimore team had the privilege of receiving a guided walking tour of the neighborhood and some experienced insight as to why many residents have chosen to stay for decades. Keep reading to find out what we learned on our tour.

Many Ways to Connect With Nature

The first stop on our tour was the Johnston Square Farm & Garden, managed by an organization called The 6^th Branch, which hosts a weekly produce giveaway for the neighborhood.

“So we have Fresh Farms day where they have watermelons, sweet potatoes, cantaloupes, and tomatoes. This place is BOOMING by the end of the summer.”

-Mrs. Priscilla Eaddy

In addition to this garden, residents can enjoy either Greenmount Park or Henrietta Lacks Educational Park, and have access to a community swimming pool on Eager Street.

Community Focused

A major community organizer in the Johnston Square neighborhood is the Rebuild Johnston Square Neighborhood Organization, founded by Regina Hammond. In collaboration with BUILD, Baltimoreans United In Leadership Development, the RJSNO is focused on continued improvements and investment in its neighborhood. Our team also noticed all the colorful murals throughout the neighborhood. Many of the murals feature butterflies, sunflowers, and bees, recurring symbols found on signs and homes throughout the neighborhood.

[Pictured: “Bee on your Journey” mural by Jaz Erenberg]

Ongoing Investment & Growth

Thanks to ReBUILD Metro, Johnston Square residents can look forward to improvements in Greenmount Park, the Mura Street Homes project, a community-driven revitalization that will convert 18 blighted rowhouses into 10 new homes for sale, as well as several other completed and in-progress housing developments. One of their latest developments, “Teacher’s Square,” is an affordable, fully furnished housing development located on Biddle Street, whose design elements also incorporate the neighborhood’s bee symbolism. The Enoch Pratt Free Library is also in the process of building a new Johnston Square branch, which will be located on the first floor of a new 109-unit apartment building on Biddle Street and Greenmount Avenue.

Our tour guide, Mrs. Priscilla Eaddy, was full of niche neighborhood facts and history from her 40 years of residency. If we decided to share it all here, you’d be reading for a few days. But when asked what she would tell someone considering the Johnston Square neighborhood as their home, she simply said:

“It’s friendly, it’s accessible from all directions…and there’s a lot going on. There’s a lot of development that’s happening in this community.”

If you want to see more photos from our tour, visit our Johnston Square Facebook Album. To learn more about this historic and walkable neighborhood, visit our Johnston Square neighborhood page.