The center became known for providing the LGBTQ community with early anonymous HIV testing and treatment, as well as compassion and care during a dark time. Standing at the intersection of West Chase and Brexton streets, the unassuming commercial building was at the forefront of Baltimore’s AIDS crisis in the early 1980s. Vernon that later developed into what is now Chase Brexton Health Care. 3 in West Baltimore-where Black LGBTQ social events and drag performances happened in the early-20th century-and a former gay clinical site in Mt. Among them are Leon’s, the Monumental Elks’ Lodge No. To that end, Ferentinos is now working on behalf of Preservation Maryland to nominate three Baltimore sites to the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Services. Preservation Maryland’s president Nicholas Redding agrees: “It’s important that all Americans from every walk of life are reflected in the places that we recognize as historic,” he adds. “What makes historic is what it meant to the community and to the neighborhood,” Ferentinos says, “and what happens there.” She makes the point that a building can be historically important, but also non-descriptive. Susan Ferentinos, the author of the study and a historian consultant brought on by Preservation Maryland to lead the project, says that a lot of people equate historic buildings with beautiful buildings. And many sites-such as the Gallery One Bar in Station North and Black LGBTQ activist Louis Hughes’s former house near Hollins Market-are as quotidian as Leon’s. In fact, a statewide LGBTQ historic context study published last fall by Preservation Maryland -a Baltimore-based preservation nonprofit-has listed more than 200 sites in Baltimore City and Baltimore County that are important to Maryland’s LGBTQ history. Lurking beneath their mundane, or even lackluster, semblances, these places have witnessed the trajectory of Baltimore’s LGBTQ community and its fight for equality. Like Leon’s, there are many other places in the city-from old churches to corner bars to ordinary rowhomes-that have played significant roles in Baltimore’s LGBTQ history. “It’s kind of off the beaten path,” says Tina Wallace, who has been a bartender at Leon’s for six-and-a-half years, and plans to stick around for the long haul. The TVs and the digital Jukebox mounted on the wall are the only reminders that you are still in the 21st century. Hanging out there is like being inside the bowel of a ship-even the brightest summer light can barely penetrate through the hovering black ceiling and blue-and-black painted walls. With the oval-shaped bar filling the room, red-and-black tile floor that has seen better days, and vinyl-sealed bar stools that are threadbare, Leon’s is the quintessential dive. For as long as Vitrano can remember, Leon’s has always been a neighborhood spot at heart. “You can tell right away there are lots of regulars,” says Frank Vitrano, who himself has been a regular of Leon’s since 1982. Vernon’s artists and hippies, started to promote itself as “gay friendly.” Now, it’s believed to be the longest continuously running gay bar in Baltimore. In 1957, Leon’s, a bohemian hangout for Mt. Coming out of Prohibition, Leon Lampe purchased the bar in the 1930s and gave it its name, which has remained ever since. The two-story building that houses Leon’s was occupied by its forerunner, Georgia’s Tap Room, in the 1890s.
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But locals are already drinking inside.Īnd they have been for more than a century. From outside, it’s hard to tell if the tiny corner bar tucked in between Park Avenue and Tyson Street is open for business. The day is still young, and the streets are barely awake, with only a small crew of road workers and a few brunchers on the block. Vernon has opened its doors at 12 p.m.-four hours earlier than usual-in celebration of Pride.
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It’s a hot Saturday in June, and Leon’s in Mt.