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Carroll Park is a 117 acre park located near the Pigtown and Mt. Claire neighborhoods in west Baltimore. The park is very well equipped for athletics having six baseball fields, two softball fields, four basketball courts, a skate park, a golf course and a large playground. There is also a massive flat field that can be used for multiple sports at a time including soccer, football or lacrosse. Aside from recreational amenities, Carroll Park also has a historic mansion and a World War I memorial.

While Carroll Park is a well maintained athletics oriented park, its surroundings are unfortunate and segregates the park from the neighborhoods. In fact, the golf course is isolated from the rest of the park almost in its entirety. On the non-golf side of the park, three sides are surrounded by commercial interests – the west side of the park is entirely consumed by the Montgomery Park office complex, the south side is dominated by a large Maryland Transit Administration Campus and the north side has railroad tracks running parallel to the park. These commercial interests cut-off neighborhood access allowing only the neighborhood to the east to have practical access to the park.

Despite the lack of access, Carroll Park is a destination for baseball, basketball or softball leagues and tournaments, considering its well equipped fields, courts and field house facilities.

BRIEF HISTORY OF CARROLL PARK

The land on which Carroll Park sites has historic significance. Before becoming a park, the land that makes up the park today was a plantation and then a Union Army camp and later a private park before becoming a public park in 1890. An incredibly detailed history of the land can be found in Carroll Park’s Master Plan – where most of the information in this section comes from.

In the 1760s, Charles Carroll built a summer home called Mount Clare at the highest point of the park. At the time, the surrounding land was a working plantation. The name Mount Clare was given “in honor of his sister Mary Clare Carroll Maccubbin and their grandmother Clare Dunn Carroll.“

During the Civil War, the portion of the Carroll property to the southwest of the mansion was turned into Camp Carroll – a training camp for Union army soldiers. After the Civil War, between 1870 and 1889 the house and fifteen acres were leased to the West Baltimore Schutzen Association to be used as a park for its members. In 1890, the Carroll family heirs sold twenty acres to Baltimore to create Carroll Park – Baltimore’s third oldest park. Additional park land was eventually acquired to form the version of Carroll Park that exists today.

LOCATION

To get to the ball fields, skate park and playground side of the park, go to the intersection of Washington Blvd and Bayard St.

To get to the Mount Clare Mansion, drive to 1500 Washington Blvd inside the park.

The golf course is located at 2100 Washington Blvd.

Once inside the park, they have fantastic maps and signage located throughout the park providing details of where all amenities are located. To the extent you need it, a copy of the map is below.

AMENITIES

Carroll Park’s amenities are primarily based on recreation although it does have a couple of historic amenities.

Recreational Amenities

1. Baseball Fields / Softball Fields

Carroll Park has four nice baseball fields and two nice softball / little league fields that are all within one central location at the park. The fields all have outdoor lighting and excellent fencing, dugouts and backstops. When I visited, the infields were in poor shape as they had not received maintenance this year due to COVID-19 and the closing of the athletic fields. Although the fields missed this year’s maintenance, the infields can be restored relatively quickly with a minimal effort. Overall, these fields are in good condition and could serve baseball or softball tournaments with ease.

I noticed only one real negative about these fields – there is no shade for spectators. Despite that fact, temporary canopies could be used to provide some much needed shade.

2. Field House

Located near the baseball and softball fields is a field house. The field house has bathrooms and changing facilities along with some covered outdoor space that could provide shade during certain parts of the day. This field house can be a real asset to host organized sporting events at Carroll Park.

3. Basketball Courts

Carroll Park has four quality full size basketball courts all grouped together. The court surfaces are in relatively good condition, the courts have lighting and the fencing is decent. These courts would be great for a basketball tournament.

4. Skate Park

This is one of the few skate parks in the city. As you can see from the picture, the park is a concrete structure with various dips, edges and rails and the typical spray paint graffiti. When I arrived at the park, the only ones using the facility were bikers doing tricks off the top. I’m not a skater or biker, so its not clear to me if this skate park is a good or bad design, but the concrete and rails seemed to be in decent shape.

5. Playground

The playground at Carroll Park is massive and is in a very large fenced in space. The playground has three sections – a swing section, a toddler section and an older kids section. The playground surface is rubber matting and the equipment is in great condition.

6. Open Fields

On the southwest side of the park is a very large, flat open field which could be used for football, lacrosse or soccer. As there are no soccer or field goals on the fields, this could pose a challenge to organized sports leagues. It is likely these fields are only utilized for casual play.

7. Golf Course

As mentioned above, Carroll Park’s golf course is completely separated from the rest of the park. It is a nine hole course that is located at 2100 Washington Blvd. Hours of operation can be found here. The very affordable green and cart fees can be found here.

Historic Amenities

1. Mount Clare Mansion

Mount Clare Mansion was built in the 1760s and is Balitmore City’s oldest colonial structure. The house was originally built by Charles Carroll, the barrister, (not to be confused with his distance cousin Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence). Carroll, the barrister, was a framer of the Maryland Constitution and he built Mount Clare as a summer home on his plantation.

During the Civil War, the house was used to house Union soldiers. After the war, between 1865 and 1890, the was used as German beer garden. In 1890, Baltimore City purchased the mansion and 70 acres of property to form what is now known as Carroll Park.

On the back side of the mansion is a great view of the skyline of downtown Baltimore.

2. WWI Memorial

Just to the east of Mount Clare Mansion, is a small memorial to those who lived in the community who fought in World War I. The names of the men from the community who died during WWI are etched on one side of the monument with words of gratitude printed on the other.

FRIENDS OF CARROLL PARK

The Friends of Carroll Park was formed to advocate for implementation of recommendations made in the Carroll Park Master Plan along with preserving the history of the park including those that were enslaved on the property, indentured servants and American Indians.

They have open meeting the first Tuesday of every month at 7:00 at the Wayman Memorial AME Church at 1307 Washington Blvd.

CARROLL PARK MASTER PLAN

Carroll Park has a comprehensive Master Plan which can be found here. The plan was published in 2001 and made a series of recommendations to improve the park. It appears that a lot of those recommendations have been implemented including providing restrooms for the ball fields, adding a skate park, improving circulation and signage and upgrading ball fields and courts and preserving the history of the park through maintenance and signage.

Making improvements according to recommendations made in master plan in Baltimore is actually rare. That so much was accomplished is a real credit to the Friends of Carroll Park and the Recreation and Parks Department.

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