A Black-owned barbershop in Baltimore is celebrating being in business for 100 years.
According to The Baltimore Banner, Warren’s Barbershop was opened by Julius Warren Sr. in Baltimore in 1924. It has been passed down through three generations and is believed to be Howard County’s first Black-owned barbershop. The place is now owned by Julius Warren Jr., known as Mr. Julius.
The 86-year-old Warren Jr. has been a linchpin for other barbers who opened their own shops after being mentored by him. Barber shops in Howard County like Prestige Barbers and Web Barber started under the tutelage of Mr. Julius, according to David Clark, who also got his start with Warren’s Barbershop.
“Mr. Julius gave me my first start,” Clark said. “He said, ‘Bring one of your family members in or a friend, and show me how you cut hair.’”
With this introduction, Clark took advantage and worked at the barber shop for about eight years before taking the entrepreneurial route with real estate and other local businesses. But now, Clark co-owns Warren’s Barbershop with Warren’s son, another namesake of the eldest Warren, Julius Warren III.
“One of the reasons I came back to barbering [was] in order to really keep the legacy going,” Clark told the media outlet. “The barbers come from the legacy of Warren’s Barbershop on Pennsylvania Avenue,” in Baltimore.
Although the barbershop is in its 100th year, it has been at several locations since opening. Warren’s Barbershop has been in Howard County since the 1940s. They had locations in Jessup and Columbia but now sit in the Owen Brown Village Center, in East Columbia, where it has been since the early 2000s.
“Being a barber was one of the best businesses to have back then,” said Mr. Julius, who started running the shop in 1981.
The shop is involved in local events and gives back to the community by incorporating back-to-school haircuts and joining other local events. A recent event was the Owen Brown Community Event, which focused on school year success and it also celebrated Mr. Julius’ legacy.
As people, including local politicians, continue to support the shop by getting their haircuts there, Mr. Julius still appreciates people bringing them business.
“You know, they call the barbershop the Black man’s country club,” Clark said. “I mean, you name it, they came through Warren’s Barbershop.”
