Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower

Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower
Interactive map of the Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower area
Alternative namesBromo-Seltzer Arts Tower
General information
TypeCommercial offices
Architectural styleRenaissance Revival
Location21 South Eutaw St., Baltimore, Maryland
Coordinates39°17′15.7″N 76°37′14.3″W / 39.287694°N 76.620639°W / 39.287694; -76.620639
Construction started1907
Construction stopped1911
OwnerCity of Baltimore
ManagementBaltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts
Height
Roof88 m (289 ft)
Technical details
Floor count15
Grounds0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
Design and construction
ArchitectJoseph Evans Sperry
Website
www.bromoseltzertower.com
DesignatedJune 4, 1973
Reference no.73002184
Designated1975
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The Emerson Tower (often called the Bromo-Seltzer Tower or the Bromo Tower) is a 15-story, 88 m (289 ft) clock tower in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. Erected in 1907–1911 at 21 South Eutaw Street, at the northeast corner of Eutaw and West Lombard Streets, it was the tallest building in the city from 1911 to 1923, when it was supplanted by the Citizens National Bank building. It was designed by local architect Joseph Evans Sperry (1854–1930) for Isaac Edward Emerson (1859–1931), who invented the Bromo-Seltzer headache remedy.

For years, the landmark tower was surrounded by and part of the Emerson Drug Company with its office headquarters and manufacturing plant for the carbonated headache pain relief tablets or powder Bromo-Seltzer. Later, the Emerson building around it was razed and replaced by the Baltimore City Fire Department's John Steadman Fire Station, which serves the west side of downtown Baltimore. The Steadman Station combined several earlier engine and truck companies in firehouses on the west side. Built in the Brutalist architecture style of poured concrete, the station has lines echoing the surviving tower to its south and west.