Charles Village, Baltimore

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Charles Village
Neighborhood of Baltimore
Country	United States
State	Maryland
City	Baltimore
Established	1897 as Peabody Heights 1967 as Charles Village[1]
Population  (2010)
• Total	8,267[2]
Demonym	Charles Villager
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	EDT
ZIP code	21218[3]
Area code	410, 443, and 667
Website	charlesvillage.net
Charles Village-Abell Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Guilford Avenue rowhouses
Location	Roughly bounded by University Parkway, Guilford Ave., and 25th, Mace, Charles, and Barclay Sts., Baltimore, Maryland
Coordinates	39°19′27″N 76°36′55″W / 39.32417°N 76.61528°W / 39.32417; -76.61528
Area	175 acres (71 ha)
Built	1868 (1868)
Architect	Multiple
NRHP reference No.	83003629[4]
Added to NRHP	December 15, 1983

Charles Village is a neighborhood located in the north-central area of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It is a diverse, eclectic, international, largely middle-class area with many single-family homes that is in proximity to many of Baltimore's cultural amenities. Nearby are the Baltimore Museum of Art, The Homewood campus of The Johns Hopkins University, Olmstead's Wyman Park, and the weekly Waverly Farmers Market, and the arts district, Station North. Homes are exemplary Baltimore brick and stone row houses, many dating from the 1890s. Running from downtown north is the historic boulevard, Charles Street, where Baltimore's Easter Promenade once took place.

The development of the neighborhood began in 1869 when 50 acres (200,000 m²) of land were purchased for development as "Peabody Heights." The land was divided and turned over to various builders who constructed home exteriors, leaving the interiors to be custom built according to buyer specifications. The area was first developed as a streetcar suburb in the early 20th century, and is thought to be the first community to employ tract housing tactics.^[5] At the time, the area was known as Peabody Heights; the moniker Charles Village, derived from Charles Street, the area's major north–south corridor, was coined in the 1970s as the beginning of a process of conceptually grouping a large and somewhat heterogeneous area. The neighborhood history has been researched and published by Gregory J. Alexander and Paul K. Williams in their book Charles Village: A Brief History (The History Press, 2009).^[6]

Charles Village in a strict sense consists of the area immediately to the east and south of the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus. However, smaller neighborhoods to the east of this area — including Abell and Harwood, are considered by residents and other Baltimoreans to be part of Greater Charles Village. The Charles Village Community Benefits District (CVCBD) covers a hundred-block area generally bounded by 33rd Street to the north, Greenmount Avenue to the east, 25th Street (east of Guilford) and 20th Street (west of Guilford) to the south, and Johns Hopkins and Howard Street to the west. This area contains over 14,000 people and 700 businesses. The Charles Village Community Benefits District Management Authority (CVCBDMA) is a public entity that provides services within the CVCBD.