Transformation of the Poe School Into the Maryland Bar Center

A Valuable Heritage Preserved

In 1985, the Poe School, located at the northeast corner of West Fayette and North Greene Streets, became the permanent home of the Maryland State Bar Association. Our association is housed in a three-story red brick building richly embellished with attractive gables, windows and stone sills, which was constructed by the City of Baltimore in 1880. Designed by the prominent local architect Francis E. Davis, it replaced an earlier school built in 1837 at the same location and functioned as a Male Grammar and Primary School. Its counterpart, located diagonally across the street, was the Female Primary and Grammar School No. 1 which had been built in 1875, but has since been demolished.

The establishment of the Maryland Bar Center on this site represents a continuation of the tradition of serving the needs of the community, both legal and urban.

One of the many special features of the MSBA headquarters is the conference room mural. This mural has come to symbolize the ideals of the MSBA. The mural includes images of the blindfolded Statue of Justice with Scales and Sword in an architectural setting. Other symbols associated with Maryland include the state flag, the Baltimore Oriole and the black-eyed Susan, along with the names of the twenty-three Maryland counties.