So Long Club One

Club One at 300 E. Saratoga Street closed earlier this year after a long notorious life. Billed as Baltimore's "premier night spot" and "upscale club", it was the spot of at least one stabbing and one shooting (plus another incident of gunfire that did not result in any injuries) during it's time. Today brings the end of the actual building.


Work starts right before sunrise

 

Demolition claw gnawing at the roof.

More roof demolition

Tear down the back wall.

Bringing down the Saratoga Street entrance.

Second floor mostly crushed.

The club originally composed of three older formstoned rowhomes plus a small addition along Saratoga St. These three buildings represent the last remnants of the houses, buildings, and warehouses that lined the eastern side of Guilford Avenue along the Jones Falls and across from the Northern Central Railroad tracks whose remains are now underneath the elevated JFX. Until 1950, the Guilford Avenue Elevated brought streetcars right past these houses as they descended down to street level at the corner of Saratoga. As a last gasp of the onetime impressiveness of these houses, a lone wrought iron handrail and boot scraper are still attached to the long worn marble steps that lead to the street. In time these too while be gone to join the rest of what was on Guilford into the collective memory of Baltimore past.