Hampden Hall

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Hampden Hall was an important part of Baltimore even before the neighborhood of Hampden was a part of Baltimore. Six years before Hampden was incorporated into Baltimore City, Hampden Hall was constructed as a meeting hall for Civil War veterans in 1882. It was later used as a town hall and a venue for dances and concerts, among other events. Later as Baltimore City moved into the Progressive Age (1890-1920), Hampden Hall also changed with the times.

The Progressive Age is marked, in part, with an increase in commercialization. Baltimore businessman Theodore Cavacos, who owned a pharmacy that operated in Hampden Hall, bought the building in 1913. He expanded the hall by building storefronts along 36th Street. The Cavacos family owned the building until 2004. In 1975, the family worked with artist Bob Hieronimus and the city of Baltimore to create a large mural on the north side of the building that celebrates Hampden and two Medal of Honor winners, Lieutenant Milton Ricketts and Private First Class Carl Sheridan, from the neighborhood.

Lieutenant Ricketts was awarded his Medal of Honor for his service in the Navy in the Pacific Theater of World War II. While serving on the U.S.S. Yorktown in the Battle of the Coral Sea on May 8, 1942, a bomb exploded directly beneath Ricketts and mortally wounded him. However, before he died, he was able dampen the fire. This courageous action undoubtedly prevented the rapid spread of the fire to other parts of the ship.

Private First Class Sheridan won his Medal of Honor for his service in an attack on the Frezenberg Castle in Germany on November 26, 1944. With complete disregard for his own safety, he blasted a hole through a heavily-fortified door. Sheridan charged into the gaping entrance and was killed by the enemy fire that met him. The Sheridan-Hood Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3065 in Hampden was founded in 1945 and is named in memory of Carl Sheridan.