South Baltimore Learning Center
The Former Southern District Police Station
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The Southern District Police Station at the corner of East Ostend and Patapsco streets was constructed in 1896. The building was designed by local architect Jackson Coale Gott. Born in 1829, Gott established his own firm in 1863, joined the American Institute of Architects in 1871. His works include the Maryland Penitentiary completed in 1894, two years before the police station. For close to a century, the building served as a police station complete with holding cells and a courtroom until the station closed in 1980.
In 1999, the building was given new life when it was bought and renovated by the South Baltimore Learning Center (SBLC). The police station still holds its original floors, a jail cell, and even bullet holes in the former shooting gallery. In their historic building turned state-of-the-art learning center, SBLC educates over a thousand adults each year with a variety of adult education and related life-skills training focusing on adult literacy and helping students achieve a Maryland High School Diploma.
