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Alexandroffsky and The Crimea photograph album

 Collection
Identifier: PP 0127

Abstract

This collection contins photographs of the estates Alexandroffsky and The Crimea, both houses in Baltimore owned by railroad machinist Thomas DeKay Winans.

Dates

  • circa 1875

Conditions Governing Access

Physical access to this collection is restricted. See copy prints in the Subject Vertical File: Baltimore - Houses - Alexandroffsky and Crimea, circa 1875.

Conditions Governing Use

The reproduction of materials in this collection may be subject to copyright restrictions. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine and satisfy copyright clearances or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections. For more information visit the MCHC’s Rights and Permissions page.

Biographical / Historical

Alexandroffsky was the residence built in 1853 by Thomas DeKay Winans (1820-1878) on West Baltimore Street at Freemont Avenue in Baltimore City, razed in 1928. The Crimea was Winans' country house, overlooking Franklintown Road from Leakin Park. Built shortly before the Civil War, Crimea and surrounding property became city owned park land in the 1940s.

Thomas Winans, the eldest son of Ross Winans, was born in Sussex County, New Jersey and came to Baltimore in circa 1830 where his father was a machinist/engineer developing equipment for the Baltimore and Railroad. Thomas Winanas also trained as a machinist and soon went to work in the railroad industry, as did his brother William. Sent to Russia by their father in 1843 to work for the Nicolai Railroad, Thomas and William soon gained a contract to complete the railroad from Saint Petersburg to Moscow, in partnership with Joseph Harrison, and engineer from Philadelphia. Working in Russia off and on into the 1860s, the Winans brothers and their colleagues made sizeable fortunes from this work. Back in Baltimore, Thomas Winans pursued varied interests, especially mechanical inventions like the Cigar Boat and operated a soup house across the street from Alexandroffsky, which fed as many as 4,000 people daily in the early 1860s.

In 1847, Winanas married Celeste Revillon, a Russian woman of French and Italian descent, and they had four children. Winans was related by marriage to the family of artist James McNeill Whistler.

Extent

1.5 Linear Feet (1 flat Oversize box)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

The photographs remain in one 41 x 49 cm. album. Brown leather and gilt cover with gold lettering: "Views of Alexandroffsky and The Crimea." Contains 17 photographic prints.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Mrs. Reginald Winans Hutton and Miss Celeste Winans Hutton, 1948.

Related Materials

MS 916, Winans papers, 1828-1963

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of one box with one album containing 17 photographic prints. All images depict Winans' estates Alexandroffsky and The Crimea, circa 1875. Alexandroffsky views include the house, conservatory, gardens, gazebo, statuary, pond and foundation, varied plant materials, greenhouse, and an image showing men with scythes on the grounds. Views of The Crimea include the house, grounds, springhouse, and waterwheel. There is also a reproduction of a painting showing the Cigar Boat, an invention of Thomas, William, and Ross Winans.

Title
Guide to the Alexandroffsky and The Crimea photograph album
Status
Under Revision
Author
Katherine Cowan
Date
2000-02
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Revision Statements

  • 02-01-2020: Manually entered into ArchivesSpace by Mallory Herberger.

Repository Details

Part of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library Repository

Contact:
H. Furlong Baldwin Library
Maryland Center for History and Culture
610 Park Avenue
Baltimore MD 21201 United States
4106853750