My mother (nee Catherine Streb) worked there at the Maryland Title Guarantee Company and when Charles Lindbergh flew over Baltimore in 1927, she went to the roof to see Lindy and the Spirit of St. Louis.

On a clear day, from a central room on a top floor of the Calvert, one could catch a glimpse of the Olmsted.

This is the corner where the Calvert Building once stood. The Calvert may have stood for only 70 years, but the two buildings to the left of it in the 1906 photograph are still there. Check the band of Greek meandering on the building furthest left (across the street from the Calvert), and the stonework and number of stories on the building next door.

It's pretty windy out there!

The Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse is still there. You just see the corner of it on the far left of the photo.

I've always been mystified by how skyscrapers, so grand and sturdy, seem to nearly always last well less than a century. (My own house was built in 1912, so it is now 110 years old ... and is more valuable than ever!) I understand that skyscrapers are "business," and that business isn't big on appreciating that which is "old" -- not like how religious temples and cathedrals are treated (or houses in desirable neighborhoods). But, still: this one only lasted 70 years!

So I looked it up: "what is the average lifespan of a skyscraper?"

The answer: 41 years. Yikes.