University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County is celebrating the history of the campus and community in 2016—fifty years after the University welcomed its first students on September 19, 1966. This tour of UMBC campus buildings, public art and other landmarks was created by Baltimore Heritage in partnership with the UMBC Department of History and the UMBC Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery, Special Collections.
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True Grit Statue: Nitty Gritty, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever in Bronze
On a blustery winter day in December 1987, a small crowd of spectators gathered around the Field House at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). They had assembled for the unveiling of a…
The University Center: The Center of a Cohesive Community
When the University Center, known on campus as “the UC,” opened its doors in 1982 it definitively moved student life to the academic center of UMBC’s campus with a goal of cultivating a cohesive,…
Biological Sciences (Academic Building 1)
When freshmen students arrived for the opening of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus in September 1966, the university had only three buildings: Lecture Hall, Gym I, and Academic I. …
The Quad at UMBC: A Place for Quadmania and More
University of Maryland, Baltimore County shares in a unique American college phenomenon of open or green spaces. Campus open spaces—places set aside for students, faculty and staff to gather…
The Commons
By 1990, administrators at University of Maryland, Baltimore County faced a problem. The student body had outgrown the University Center within just a decade of its opening. They considered the…
Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery: A Library that Grew with the University
Constructed of tooled Indiana limestone, glass, steel, concrete, and granite, the Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery is at the center of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus both…
Mnemonic (1976): A Sculpture by Marc O’Carroll
In the summer of 1976, Marc O’Carroll, a student and artist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), designed and installed the Mnemonic sculpture next to the campus’ Fine Arts…
Joseph Beuys Sculpture Park
The Joseph Beuys Sculpture Park was established in April 2001 as part of a larger tree-planting effort that supported projects across the Baltimore region. Designer Renee van der Stelt, project…
Baltimore Manual Labor School: A Free Boarding School for Indigent Boys
More than a century before UMBC situated itself on Hilltop Circle another educational institution formed here; its mission was to advance the reformation of a poor lot of "indigent boys" from Baltimore.
UMBC Research Park
In 1990, Catonsville resident Charlie Kucera discovered an illegal garbage dump at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County where the bwTech@UMBC Research and Technology Park is located today. The…
UMBC Silo: A Memory of Spring Grove Farm
Visitors and students driving onto the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus often wonder about the unexpected white silo that stands near the entrance to I-95. The silo is one of few…Special thanks to Dr. Denise Meringolo, Lindsey Loeper, Sarah Huston, and student contributors for their contributions to this tour.