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Baltimore Architecture: Then and Now Cohen Brothers, later Dr. Alexander C. Robinson Mansion, 230 North Charles and Saratoga Streets image info Architects: Parker, Thomas and Rice (1908) The first known house to have stood on this site at the southwest corner of Charles and Saratoga Streets was a building erected circa 1828 for the Cohen Brothers. Benjamin I. and David M. Cohen, both physicians, lived in the building until circa 1840. At that point the grounds to the south of the house, reportedly the first private residence in Baltimore, were constructed to be lit by gas. When the house was sold, it was left vacant until 1855 when it was purchased and occupied by another physician, Dr. Alexander C. Robinson (1810-1871).  His prodigal ways are said to have been responsible for his son's having taken control of the property, which was thereafter rented out for commercial purposes. In the wake of the 1904 Baltimore Fire, the Metropolitan Savings Bank, which had been burnt out of its original home, bought and demolished the "Robinson Building," replacing it with a banking house designed by Parker, Thomas and Rice. This domed structure opened in 1908 and was occupied by the bank until its 1957 merger with the nearby Savings Bank of Baltimore. The latter kept it opened as its "Metropolitan Branch" until 1962, but it was razed the following year for the Charles Center urban renewal project. The redevelopment of this portion of Charles Center, with low-rise brick shops facing Charles and Saratoga Streets, had been completed by 1967 and the space looked then much as it does today. Image information: left: (1): YMCA Building (1870's). Charles and Saratoga Sts. (2): The Metropolitian Savings Bank and Robinson Bldg. (1899-1905). (3): Current Site of 230 North Charles Center. (CC3009, MdHS/BCLM Photograph Collection). Photos courtesy of John Orrick, 2002. Previous Next Baltimore Architecture - Homepage Site Contents 1 Masonic Building 2 Enoch Pratt House 3 Graham-Hughes House 4 American Brewery 5 Belvedere Hotel 6 Camden Station 7 Alex Brown Building 8 Williams-Small House 9 Timanus Mill 10 The Pembroke Apartments 11 Merchant's Exchange 12 Old B and O Building 13 Denny & Mitchell Building 14 Guardian Trust Building 15 Old Post Office Building 16 St. Joseph's R.C. Church & Washington Firehouse 17 The Maryland Casualty Building 18 Church of the Redeemer Building 19 The Popplein Family Mansion/Marlborough Apartments 20 Samuel Hoffman, later the Dr. William Osler Mansion 21 Cohen Brothers, later the Dr. Robinson Building 22 Saint Peter's Catholic Church 1770 23 The Baltimore Humane Impartial Society Building 24 Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad Calvert Station 25 The Richmond Market Building Site 26 Dr. Charles Howard's Site and Mount Vernon Place M.E. Church 27 The Stephen Broadbent Mansion "Ever Green"

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