Lion Brothers Company Building is a historic factory located at 875 Hollins St, Baltimore, Maryland 21201. It is a multi-level building that once housed the operations of the Lion Brothers embroidery company. The original building was constructed in 1885 and expanded several times over the subsequent 75 years. In 1958 the Lion Brothers moved their production facility to another location allowing Marcus & Farber and Globe Screen Printing to move in. The building has been vacant since 2002 and Cross Street Partners has plans to restore the building as a local innovation center.HistoryThe Lion Brothers Company was established in 1899, and originally located in a loft building at 109 South Charles Street. At first, the company produced a wide range of products including blouses, skirts, and sailor caps. It was one clothing factory among many in an extensive garment industry in the western portion of downtown. Their factory was destroyed in the 1904 Baltimore Fire, causing them to relocated to 875 Hollins St. At the time, the building was occupied by the John Cowan livery stable and hall. Cowan was an undertaker with a funeral home across the street at 1901 Hollins Street.Lion Brothers purchased the livery building in 1911, roughly the same time that all operations were concentrated on Hollins Street and the company was no longer producing finished clothing, but instead specializing in embroidered emblems. The location of the company in the Poppleton area of West Baltimore was a departure from other garment related industries centered in the downtown area. This location had several advantages: (1) it was removed from the heavily built up downtown area that had suffered the devastating 1904 fire; (2) an ample working-class labor pool surrounded the factory; (3) it was close to the factory’s owners’ residences located in the vicinity of Eutaw Place; and (4) the production of embroidered emblems and insignias was a distinct specialty that did not require immediate proximity to other garment-related businesses.
