If you happen to be in Fells Point, consider a stroll past the Caulkers Houses on S. Wolfe St. You won't be able to go inside (it's only open a few times a year), but this is a peek into the past, when Fells Point was a thriving ship building community. Frederick Douglass was a caulker and lived and worked close by. There's a plaque in front of the houses that gives some history, and explains how these little structures were constructed. This isn't a major attraction by any means, just a fascinating little dilapidated gem. Worth the detour from all the bars and shops just to get a look at the old warped shingled roof covered with moss.

Located in Fells Point, these two houses were built around 1797 and were part of a structure with four living spaces, called a quadplex. These houses are what remain of one such quadplex. It is believed there were five such structures on the west side of the 600 block of South Wolfe Street. Each living space was a story and a half tall, one room down and one room up. A six foot open space separated each structure from the other. They were made with common materials of light timber frame with brick nogging and a lime rendering on the exterior. According to the city directories in the late 1830s, 1840s and 1850s, these houses were occupied by “Colored Households” with the occupations of ship caulkers. (Frederick Douglass worked as a ship caulker in the Gardner shipyard in the late 1830s.) The shipyard was less than two blocks from the Wolfe Street properties, and he would have been familiar with them. When we visited them last Saturday, it was obvious these homes are in dire need of renovation and preservation; which we hope that they can do to insure that these homes will be here for future generations to see.