Lanahan Building
| Lanahan Building | |
|---|---|
| |
| Site Information | |
| Address | 22 Light Street |
| Geo-reference | 39°17′18″N 76°36′50″W / 39.28839°N 76.61402°W |
| Building Data | |
| Building Type | Commercial |
| Design | |
| Architect | Theodore Wells Pietsch |
| Architecture Firm | Simonson & Pietsch |
| Construction | |
| Completed | 1906 |
William Lanahan Sr started selling rye whiskey in the early 1850s. He registered his product federally as “Hunter Pure Rye” in 1855, later changing it to “Hunter Baltimore Rye.” After William Lanahan Sr died in 1868, his son, William Lanahan Jr, took over the business and expanded their operations. From the beginning, Hunter Baltimore Rye advertised itself to a world of aristocratic pretensions. Labels and advertisements featured a man dressed in fox-hunting garb, astride a horse, with a top hat raised high with one hand. Below this figure was the slogan, “The American Gentleman’s Whiskey.” As early as 1870, William Lanahan Jr started doing business at what’s now 22 Light Street. The company was at this location during the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904. Their building burned down, though shortly after, they received permission to rebuild on Light Street, which had been widened during the period of reconstruction, and by 1906, the company resumed operations in the fireproof, six-story Lanahan Building, which was designed by Simonson & Pietsch. Today it’s being used as an apartment building with one-, two-, and three-bedroom units.
This building was featured in Recent Works of Simonson & Pietsch, published in 1906 (Enoch Pratt Free Library Archives).
