Bolton Hill Community Association Records

Originally known as the Mount Royal Improvement Association, the MRIA was organized and incorporated in 1928 by neighborhood residents to maintain and improve the appearance and values of neighborhood properties. It represented a geographical area of Baltimore City bounded by Druid Hill Park, Eutaw Place, Dolphin Street and Mount Royal Avenue.

The bulk of the collection pertains to the involvement of the MRIA with the projects and policies of the Baltimore Urban Renewal and Housing Agency (BURHA), a city agency. During the 1960s, BURHA had included the Mount Royal District within the designated Mount Royal-Fremont Urban Renewal Area. The MRIA became concerned about BURHA projects for the area, including the development of a shopping area, apartment projects, expressway construction, park development, urban beautification, housing inspection, and zoning.

The MRIA also became involved with locally established institutions, including the Maryland Institute College of Art, the Lyric Theatre, and area churches. The MRIA eventually restricted the scope of its activities to a subset of the Mount Royal District, Bolton Hill, which is a national historical preservation area. Records in the collection since 2018 document the activities of the MRIA's successor organization, the Bolton Hill Community Association.