Thank you!! to everyone who came to the Secret Garden this past Sunday, April 28th – it was so much fun to connect, and we are so happy to be neighbors.

Our Summer 2024 members’ meeting will be held on Sunday, July 14th, from 6pm-8pm. It’s Bastille Day, so we’ll bring wine! 🙂 Exact location TBD – somewhere in the neighborhood, or online if it’s raining – but we’ll post an update here & on the calendar when we have that figured out.

To reach the board with your ideas or concerns, get on our mailing list, or to simply introduce yourself, email us hmrta-board@googlegroups.com and we’ll get back to you.

About Us: The Historic Mount Royal Terrace Association (HMRTA) is an active, 501(c)(3) community organization based in the Reservoir Hill neighborhood of Baltimore City, incorporated in 1999.

As per our bylaws, “Any resident residing in the area bounded by the centerlines of North Avenue, Park Avenue and Mount Royal Terrace (MRT) may become a Member of the Corporation.” Membership is free. There are no dues, or requirements beyond being a resident of our district.

Our Mission:

HMRTA aims to positively impact the lives of residents living within its boundaries (MRT, North Ave, Park Ave) by actively participating in neighborhood and city-wide civic affairs; sharing information and resources; working to enhance neighborhood safety and preserve its historic character; and strengthening community partnerships.

Who We Are:

We are an all-volunteer organization with a DIY spirit who advocate for ourselves at the local, state, and federal level. Our members build our own little free libraries, help clean our streets, care for our neighbors and show up for other community associations, including the Reservoir Hill Association (RHA), an umbrella that unites all the neighborhood groups across Reservoir Hill. We have worked in partnership with the Upper Eutaw-Madison Neighborhood Association (UEMNA), Bolton Park Neighbors, Newington Neighbors, Residents Against the Tunnels (RATT), and more.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected our neighborhood in a huge way. Many longtime residents moved out, and many new residents moved in. In 2020, our last elected president and longtime HMRTA member Amelia Trevelyan passed away; in 2022, we also lost Elizabeth Schaaf, a beloved member of our board and founder of the Lennox Street community garden.

In 2023, we elected five new members to the board, and established a long-term calendar of public meetings, board meetings, and community goals.

Historic Mount Royal Terrace Association Board of Directors:
2023-2024
Barbara Bourland, President
Angel St. Jean, Vice President
Jason Stover, Treasurer
Carl Young, Secretary
Karen Bendersky
Freda Fanning
Lars Peterson
Brandy Savarese
Bettie Williams

Contact the board: If you’d like to get an issue on the agenda, share an event with our membership, or invite us to a party 🙂 you can reach the entire board with one email: hmrta-board@googlegroups.com. Reach out anytime, and one of us will get back to you.

Membership: If you’d like to be a part of HMRTA, we’d love to have you. Submit the form on our membership page to join our organization. You’ll be added to our Google Group, which you can use to communicate with other members.

How we came about: In the 1970s, founding members of HMRTA received two HCD Community Block Grants to install a sound screening berm and landscaping (designed by the neighborhood design center). These grants also allowed for the installation of the ‘Lady Baltimore’ statue, urns and the stone plaza of which materials were provided by the city, but all of the labor was provided by neighbors. HMRTA evolved in the mid-1980s from that group, and was incorporated in its current form in 1999. The park was dedicated by Mayor William Donald Schaefer in 1980 and thus celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2020.

Over the past three decades, neighbors have worked together through the HMRTA to help each other complete CHAP applications, find grants and funding, maintain plantings and prunings of our green spaces, pick up trash, and communicate about the issues that affect all of us.

In recent years, HMRTA have been the beneficiaries of both Parks & People funding as well as Partnership for Parks funding to enhance and maintain the beauty of our 120 year old community.