Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum

About

Follow us on Twitter! @BabeRuthMuseum

Story

George Herman “Babe” Ruth was born February 6, 1895 at 216 Emory Street, a Baltimore row house that is now just a long fly ball from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The property was leased by Babe’s maternal grandfather, Pius Schamberger, who made his living as an upholsterer.

By the late 1960s, the property and adjoining three row-house structures had fallen into disrepair and were scheduled for demolition. Hirsh Goldberg, press secretary for Baltimore’s Mayor Theodore McKeldin, launched a successful campaign to save and restore the Birthplace, which opened to the public as a national shrine in July, 1974. The not-for-profit Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation, Inc. was formed to govern the operation. Exhibits depicting the Historic House and life and times of Babe Ruth were installed with the help of Babe’s widow, Claire; his two daughters, Dorothy and Julia; and his sister, Mamie, who was also born at 216 Emory Street.

In 1983, the operation expanded to become the official museum of the Baltimore Orioles, the team that signed Ruth to his first professional contract. At that time, the Foundation began formally operating as the Babe Ruth Museum. In 1985 the Mayor of Baltimore, William Donald Schaefer, designated the Museum as the official archives of the Baltimore Colts, who had departed the previous year for Indianapolis.

Impressum

The Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation
216 Emory Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
410.727.1539
www.baberuthmuseum.org

Executive Director: Mike Gibbons