Betsy Stone, leasing administrator at the Bromo Seltzer building, stands in the clock tower. The building was built by Isaac Edward Emerson and has been a Baltimore landmark since 1911. The clock is currently being refurbished in Maine.
Camden Yards is seen from the upper floors of the Bromo Seltzer Tower.
Bromo Seltzer bottles are part of the museum's collection at the Bromo Seltzer Tower.
The Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower is located at 21 S. Eutaw St. downtown.
Tommy Roberts paints a portrait in the studio he shares with another artist.
This reference dial on the original clock mechanism showed what time the arms outside displayed.
Photos and text by Barbara Haddock Taylor
The Baltimore Sun
The Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower has been one of Baltimore’s iconic landmarks since its construction in 1911. Originally called Emerson Tower, it was built by Isaac Edward Emerson, the chemist and business tycoon who invented Bromo Seltzer.
The building’s architect, Joseph Sperry, modeled it on the Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall of Florence, Italy.
A giant Bromo Seltzer bottle, nearly 70 feet tall, 20 feet in diameter and weighing 17 tons, once graced the top of the tower. The steel, wood and copper bottle rotated there until 1936, when it had to be taken down because its weight was placing too much stress on the building itself.
Today the building is home and studio for a number of writers, jewelers, artists and photographers who have dramatic views of the city from every angle.
Seth Thomas designed the beautiful clock, which has been in the process of refurbishment since 2015. The Balzer Family Clockworks of Freeport, Maine, has rebuilt, repainted and made new hands for the clock, which will be returned to its home atop the tower in late April.
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