Maryland Historical Society Library - Views of Alexandroffsky and the Crimea Album - PP127

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VIEWS OF ALEXANDROFFSKY
AND THE CRIMEA ALBUM

ca. 1875

PP127

PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION
MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
201 W. MONUMENT ST.
BALTIMORE, MD 21201

Finding aid created by Katherine Cowan
with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
January 2000

History

Alexandroffsky was the residence built in 1853 by Thomas DeKay Winans (1820-1878) on W. Baltimore St. at Fremont Ave. in Baltimore City, razed in 1928. The Crimea was Winans' country house, overlooking Franklintown Rd. from Leakin Park. Built shortly before the Civil War, Crimea and surrounding property became city-owned park land in the 1940s.

Thomas Winans, the eldest son of Ross Winans, was born in Sussex Co., N.J. and came to Baltimore in ca. 1830 where his father was a machinist/engineer developing equipment for the B and O Railroad. Thomas Winans also trained as a machinist and soon went to work in the railroad industry, as did his brother William. Sent to Russia by their father in 1843 to work for the Nicolai Railroad, Thomas and William soon gained a contract to complete the railroad from St. Petersburg to Moscow, in partnership with Joseph Harrison, an engineer from Philadelphia. Working in Russia off and on into the 1860s, the Winans brothers and their colleagues made sizeable fortunes from this work. Back in Baltimore, Thomas Winans pursued varied interests, especially mechanical inventions like the "Cigar Boat", and operated a soup house across the street from Alexandroffsky which fed as many as 4,000 people daily in the early 1860s.

In 1847, Winans married Celeste Revillon, a Russian woman of French and Italian descent, and they had 4 children. Winans was related by marriage to the family of artist James McNeill Whistler.

Collection Origin

Gift of Mrs. Reginald Winans Hutton and Miss Celeste Winans Hutton, 1948 (51271).

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of 1 box with 1 album containing 17 photoprints. All images depict Winans' estates Alexandroffsky and The Crimea, ca. 1875. Alexandroffsky views include the house, conservatory, gardens, gazebo, statuary, pond and fountain, varied plant materials, greenhouse, and an image showing men with scythes on the grounds. Views of the Crimea include the house, grounds, springhouse, and waterwheel. There is also a reproduction of a painting showing the "Cigar Boat", an invention of Thomas, William, and Ross Winans.

Note: Related materials are found in the Maryland Historical Society. In the Manuscripts Department: MS. 916, the Winans Papers; in the Vertical File of the Prints and Photographs Division; and a duplicate of the album is held in the Baltimore City Life Museum Collection.

Digital Images

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Arrangement

The photographs remain in 1 album.

Container List
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1 Album
41 x 49 cm. Brown leather and gilt cover with gold lettering: "Views of Alexandroffsky and The Crimea". 17 photoprints, ca. 1875.

PP127.1 - Alexandroffsky, garden with eagle sculpture, house in background.

PP127.2 - Alexandroffsky, view of house with garden and fountain in foreground.

PP127.3 - Alexandroffsky, building with sculpture of human figure.

PP127.4 - Alexandroffsky, general view of house.

PP127.5 - Alexandroffsky, view of house showing semi-circular conservatory and bay, sculptures in foreground.

PP127.6 - Alexandroffsky, sculptures on ground: deer and bust, house in background.

PP127.7 - Alexandroffsky, garden with gazebo and sculptures of human figures, house at right.

PP127.8 - Alexandroffsky, garden with pond and sculpture.

PP127.9 - Alexandroffsky, garden with sculptures.

PP127.10 - Alexandroffsky, garden showing various plant materials.

PP127.11 - Alexandroffsky, grounds showing men with scythes, greenhouse at right, house in background.

PP127.12 - The Crimea, grounds showing trees, buildings in background.

PP127.13 - The Crimea, house seen from lawn. Dup/copy neg Z24.1176.

PP127.14 - The Crimea, general view of house. Dup/copy neg Z24.1177.

PP127.15 - The Crimea, springhouse. Dup/copy neg Z24.1178.

PP127.16 - The Crimea, waterwheel.