History and Pre-settlement
– Baltimore was designated an independent city in 1851.
– The population of Baltimore was 585,708 in 2020.
– The Baltimore metropolitan area has an estimated population of 2,838,327.
– The Washington-Baltimore combined statistical area has a population of 9,973,383.
– Baltimore was used as hunting ground by Paleo-Indians and later by the Susquehannock.
– Native Americans have inhabited the Baltimore area since at least the 10th millennium BC.
– Several Woodland period Native American artifacts were found in Baltimore dating 5,000 to 9,000 years ago.
– The Potomac Creek complex resided in the Baltimore area during the Late Woodland period.
– The Baltimore vicinity was sparsely populated by Native Americans in the early 1600s.
– The Piscataway tribe inhabited the north bank of the Potomac River in the Baltimore area.
Founding and Growth in the 17th and 18th centuries
– Baltimore is named after Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore.
– The Calverts took the title Barons Baltimore from Baltimore Manor in Ireland.
– Baltimore is an anglicization of the Irish name ‘Baile an Tí Mhóir,’ meaning town of the big house.
– The Susquehannock used the Baltimore County area as hunting grounds.
– The Piscataway tribe inhabited the coastal areas south of the Fall Line.
– European colonization of Maryland began in 1634.
– Baltimore County was settled by Europeans.
– Baltimore’s streets were named to show loyalty to England.
– Baltimore became known as a major transportation hub with the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1830.
– Baltimore’s Inner Harbor was a major port of entry for immigrants.
– Baltimore was a significant manufacturing center.
– The Pratt Street Riot of 1861 occurred in Baltimore during the American Civil War.
– Baltimore is home to the headquarters of major organizations and government agencies.
19th century development and challenges
– The Battle of Baltimore in 1814 inspired Francis Scott Key to write ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’
– Baltimore pioneered the use of gas lighting in 1816.
– The city’s population grew rapidly after the construction of the National Road and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
– Baltimore experienced riots in 1835, leading to the nickname ‘Mobtown.’
– Maryland remained part of the Union during the Civil War, with Baltimore experiencing clashes between Union soldiers and secessionist mobs.
– The Great Baltimore Fire in 1904 destroyed over 1,500 buildings in the downtown area.
– Lessons from the fire led to improvements in firefighting equipment standards.
– Baltimore implemented a segregation ordinance in 1910, the first of its kind in the United States.
– The city grew in area through annexation of new suburbs until 1918.
– Streetcars enabled the development of distant neighborhoods and commuting to downtown.
Modern-day Baltimore
– Baltimore is known for its unique skyline peppered with churches and monuments.
– Lexington Market, founded in 1782, is one of the oldest continuously operating public markets in the United States.
– Baltimore has a rich cultural heritage and is home to institutions like the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery.
– The city has faced challenges such as riots and economic downturns throughout its history.
– Baltimore continues to evolve and adapt, with ongoing efforts to revitalize neighborhoods and promote economic growth.
– The black population of Baltimore grew from 23.8% in 1950 to 46.4% in 1970.
– Real estate blockbusting techniques led to the rapid transformation of white areas into all-black neighborhoods by 1970.
– The Baltimore riot of 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., resulted in a state of emergency and $10 million in damages.
– Strikes by teachers, municipal workers, and police officers occurred in 1974.
– Efforts to revitalize the city began in the 1970s with the redevelopment of the Inner Harbor area.
Geography and Cityscape
– Baltimore is located on the Patapsco River, close to the Chesapeake Bay.
– The city’s elevation ranges from sea level at the harbor to 480 feet in the northwest.
– Baltimore has a total area of 92.1 square miles, with 12.1% being water.
– It is politically independent of Baltimore County and bordered by Anne Arundel County to the south.
– The city showcases various architectural styles, with notable buildings like the Baltimore Basilica and Phoenix Shot Tower.
– Developers began building British-style rowhouses in the mid-1790s.
– Rowhouses became the dominant house type in the city in the early 19th century.
– Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the National Aquarium helped revive the Inner Harbor area.
– The University of Baltimore School of Law awarded the German firm Behnisch Architekten 1st prize for its design.
– Baltimore Heritage honored the newly rehabilitated Everyman Theatre at the 2013 Preservation Awards Celebration.
– Transamerica Tower is the tallest building in Baltimore at 529 feet.
– The Bank of America Building stands at 509 feet.
– 414 Light Street is a 500-foot tall building.
– The William Donald Schaefer Tower was originally the Merritt S. & L. Tower.
– Baltimore is officially divided into nine geographical regions.
– Central Baltimore stretches north of the Inner Harbor up to the edge of Druid Hill Park.
– Downtown Baltimore has experienced a 130 percent population growth between 2000 and 2010.
– It is the city’s main commercial area and business district.
– Central Baltimore is home to Baltimore’s sports complexes and attractions in the Inner Harbor.
– The region is also home to the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and Lexington Market.
– Historic neighborhoods in North Baltimore include Govans, Roland Park, and Guilford.
– Charles Village, Waverly, and Mount Washington are large neighborhoods in this district. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,_Maryland
Baltimore (/ˈbɔːltɪmɔːr/ BAWL-tim-or, locally: /ˌbɔːldɪˈmɔːr/ BAWL-dih-MOR or /ˈbɔːlmər/ BAWL-mər) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census, it is the 30th-most populous city in the United States. Baltimore was designated an independent city by the Constitution of Maryland in 1851, and today it is the most populous independent city in the nation. As of the 2020 census, the population of the Baltimore metropolitan area was estimated to be 2,838,327, making it the 20th-largest metropolitan area in the country. When combined with the larger Washington metropolitan area, the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area (CSA) has a 2020 U.S. census population of 9,973,383, the third-largest in the country.
Baltimore | |
|---|---|
| Nicknames: Charm City; B'more; Mobtown | |
| Motto(s): "The Greatest City in America", "Get in on it.", "Believe" | |
 Interactive map of Baltimore | |
  Baltimore Location in Maryland  Baltimore Location in the United States | |
| Coordinates: 39°17′22″N 76°36′55″W / 39.28944°N 76.61528°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Maryland |
| City | Baltimore |
| Historic colony | Province of Maryland |
| County | None (Independent city) |
| Founded | August 8, 1729 |
| Incorporated | 1796–1797 |
| Independent city | 1851 |
| Named for | Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor–council |
| • Body | Baltimore City Council |
| • Mayor | Brandon Scott (D) |
| • City Council | Council members
|
| • Houses of Delegates | Delegates
|
| • State Senate | State senators
|
| Area | |
| • Independent city | 92.05 sq mi (238.41 km2) |
| • Land | 80.95 sq mi (209.65 km2) |
| • Water | 11.10 sq mi (28.76 km2) 12.1% |
| Elevation | 0–480 ft (0–150 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Independent city | 585,708 |
| • Estimate (2021) | 576,498 |
| • Rank | 76th in North America 30th in the United States 1st in Maryland |
| • Density | 7,235.43/sq mi (2,793.74/km2) |
| • Urban | 2,212,038 (US: 20th) |
| • Urban density | 3,377.5/sq mi (1,304.1/km2) |
| • Metro | 2,844,510 (US: 20th) |
| Demonym | Baltimorean |
| GDP | |
| • Independent city | $54.9 billion (2022) |
| • Baltimore (MSA) | $241.4 billion (2022) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Codes | ZIP Codes |
| Area codes | 410, 443, and 667 |
| Congressional districts | 2nd, 7th |
| GNIS feature ID | 597040 |
| Website | City of Baltimore |
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The land that is now Baltimore was used as hunting ground by Paleo-Indians. In the early 1600s, the Susquehannock began to hunt there. People from the Province of Maryland established the Port of Baltimore in 1706 to support the tobacco trade with Europe, and established the Town of Baltimore in 1729.
During the American Revolutionary War, the Second Continental Congress, fleeing Philadelphia prior to the city's fall to British troops, moved their deliberations to Henry Fite House on West Baltimore Street from December 20, 1776, to February 27, 1777, permitting Baltimore to serve briefly as the nation's capital before the capital returned to Independence Hall in Philadelphia on March 5, 1777. In the mid-18th century, the first printing press and newspapers were introduced to Baltimore by Nicholas Hasselbach and William Goddard.
The Battle of Baltimore was a pivotal engagement during the War of 1812, culminating in the failed British bombardment of Fort McHenry, during which Francis Scott Key wrote a poem that would become "The Star-Spangled Banner", which was eventually designated as the American national anthem in 1931. During the Pratt Street Riot of 1861, the city was the site of some of the earliest violence associated with the American Civil War.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the nation's oldest railroad, was built in 1830 and cemented Baltimore's status as a major transportation hub, giving producers in the Midwest and Appalachia access to the city's port. Baltimore's Inner Harbor was once the second leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States. In addition, Baltimore was a major manufacturing center. After a decline in major manufacturing, heavy industry, and restructuring of the rail industry, Baltimore has shifted to a service-oriented economy. Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins University are the city's top two employers. Baltimore and its surrounding region are home to the headquarters of a number of major organizations and government agencies, including the NAACP, ABET, the National Federation of the Blind, Catholic Relief Services, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, World Relief, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Social Security Administration. Baltimore is also home to the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball and the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League.
Many of Baltimore's neighborhoods have rich histories. The city is home to some of the earliest National Register Historic Districts in the nation, including Fell's Point, Federal Hill, and Mount Vernon. These were added to the National Register between 1969 and 1971, soon after historic preservation legislation was passed. Baltimore has more public statues and monuments per capita than any other city in the country. Nearly one third of the city's buildings (over 65,000) are designated as historic in the National Register, which is more than any other U.S. city. Baltimore has 66 National Register Historic Districts and 33 local historic districts. The historical records of the government of Baltimore are located at the Baltimore City Archives.
