The Garrett Jacobs Mansion is the largest and most expensive townhouse ever built in Baltimore. Designed by architects Stanford White and John Russell Pope in the early 1900's, the Mansion was the home of Robert Garrett, President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and his wife Mary Frick Garrett. Her second husband, Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs, was also influential in the style and aesthetics of the house and the neighborhood. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the historic Mount Vernon Place district, which also includes the adjacent Peabody Conservatory, Walters Art Gallery and the original Washington Monument, the Mansion has been a part of Baltimore's social scene for over 100 years. As an Associate Organization of The Engineering Society of Baltimore, the Baltimore Chapter of ASHRAE is fortunate to hold many of its monthly meetings in this grand historical building.

The Baltimore Chapter of ASHRAE began in the mid 1930's as the Air Conditioning, Heating and Ventilating Engineers of Baltimore (ACH & VEB). It featured monthly meetings with dinner speakers at the Engineers Club located on West Fayette Street near Charles Street. After some time, its name was changed to the Hot and Cold Society. In 1939, a similar organization, the Baltimore-Washington Section of the American Society of Refrigerating Engineers (ASRE) was established and monthly meetings alternated between Baltimore and Washington. On October 17, 1949 a formal petition for charter was granted and the Baltimore Chapter of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (ASHVE) was born with Mr. Ed Crosby, then President of Henry Adams, Inc., as Chapter President and 73 members. Over time, members of the Hot and Cold Society and ASRE joined ASHVE and the Hot and Cold Society ceased to exist. In 1959, the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers merged with the American Society of Refrigeration Engineers to form the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers Ð today's ASHRAE. The first President of the Baltimore Chapter was Mr. S. Yeardly Smith, an expert on cryogenics, who served 1959-60. During the next 40 years, the Baltimore Chapter grew to over 700 members, but meeting at The Engineering Society of Baltimore brings us back to our roots.

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