Last updated on March 3, 2026
Athol, an 1881 mansion in Baltimore, Maryland, later adapted as a sanitarium and psychiatric hospital, burned on September 27, 2021.
Athol, an 1881 mansion in Baltimore, Maryland, later adapted as a sanitarium and psychiatric hospital, burned on September 27, 2021. The fire was reported shortly after 1:30 a.m.; by morning, the structure had been largely destroyed.
The residence was constructed in 1881 for Charles J. Baker, proprietor of the Baltimore Window-Glass, Bottle & Vial Company, later Baker Bros. & Company. Baker also held interests in the Baltimore Car Wheel Company, the St. Clair-Scott Manufacturing Company, the Franklin Bank, and the Canton Company. At Canton, he helped secure construction of the Union Railroad and Tunnel, providing the Northern Central and Western Maryland railroads with access to tidewater terminals.
In 1900, the property was acquired by Dr. Alfred Gundry and his sister, Edith E. Gundry, who converted the house into the Gundry Sanitorium. The institution treated women described at the time as suffering from “nervous prostration” or “nervous exhaustion,” reflecting prevailing medical language of the early twentieth century.
Glass Hospital acquired the facility in February 1988. Renamed Gundry–Glass Hospital, it operated as a 29-bed inpatient center for children ages 4 to 12 with acute psychiatric conditions. The hospital closed on August 17, 1997, resulting in the layoff of 130 employees. The building remained vacant for years before the 2021 fire ended its standing presence in the city.
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