Baltimore ( ), or often by
local folk ( ), is an independent
city and the largest city and cultural center of the U.S. state of Maryland
.
The city
is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the
Patapsco
River
, an arm of the Chesapeake
Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as
Baltimore City in order to distinguish it from
surrounding
Baltimore
County. Founded in 1729, Baltimore is a major U.S.
seaport and is situated closer to major
Midwestern markets than any other
major seaport on the
East Coast.
Baltimore's Inner Harbor
was once the second leading port of entry for
immigrants to the United States and a major manufacturing
center. The harbor is now home to the Harborplace
, a shopping, entertainment, and tourist center, and
the National Aquarium in
Baltimore. After a decline in manufacturing industries,
Baltimore shifted to a
service
sector-oriented economy.
Johns
Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital
are now the city's largest employers.
As of 2008, the population of Baltimore was 636,919. The
Baltimore Metropolitan Area has
approximately 2.7 million residents; the
20th largest in the
country. Baltimore is also the largest city in the surrounding
Baltimore Metropolitan
Area of 2,668,056 and in the
associated combined
statistical area of approximately 8.3 million residents.
The city is named after
Lord Baltimore in the
Irish House of Lords, the
founding proprietor of the
Maryland
Colony.
Baltimore himself took his title from a place
in
Bornacoola parish, County Leitrim
and County Longford
, Ireland. Baltimore is an anglicized form of the Irish Baile an Tí Mhóir, meaning
"Town of the Big House", not to be confused with Baltimore,
County Cork
, the Irish name of which is Dún na
Séad.
History
The
Maryland colonial General Assembly created the Port of
Baltimore
at Locust
Point in 1706 for the tobacco trade. The Town of
Baltimore was founded on July 30, 1729, and is named after Lord
Baltimore (
Cecilius Calvert), who
was the first
Proprietary
Governor of the
Province of
Maryland.
Cecilius Calvert was a son of George Calvert, who
became the First Lord Baltimore of
County
Cork
, Ireland
in
1625. Baltimore grew swiftly in the 18th century
as a granary for sugar-producing colonies in the Caribbean
. The profit from sugar encouraged the
cultivation of cane and the importation of food.
Baltimore played a key part in events leading to and including the
American Revolution. City
leaders such as
Jonathan Plowman
Jr. moved the city to join the resistance to British taxes and
merchants signed agreements to not trade with Britain. Congress met
in the Henry Fite House from December 1776 to February 1777,
effectively making the city the
capital of the United
States during this period.
After the war, the Town of Baltimore, nearby
Jonestown, and an area known as
Fells
Point
were incorporated as the City of Baltimore in
1797. The city remained a part of
Baltimore County until 1851 when
it was made an
independent
city.
The city was the site of the
Battle
of Baltimore during the
War of 1812.
After
burning Washington,
D.C., the British attacked Baltimore on the night of September
13, 1814.
United States forces from Fort McHenry
successfully defended the city's harbor from the
British. Francis Scott Key,
a Maryland lawyer, was aboard a British ship where he had been
negotiating for the release of an American prisoner, Dr. William
Beanes. Key witnessed the bombardment from this ship and later
wrote "
The Star-Spangled
Banner", a poem recounting the attack. Key's poem was set to a
1780 tune by British composer
John
Stafford Smith, and the Star-Spangled Banner became the
official
National Anthem of the
United States in 1931.

Sixth Regiment fighting railroad
strikers, July 20, 1877
Following the Battle of Baltimore, the city's population grew
rapidly. The construction of the Federally-funded
National Road (presently
U.S. Route 40)
and the private
Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad (B&O) made Baltimore a major shipping and
manufacturing center by linking the city with major markets in the
Midwest. A distinctive
local culture started to take shape, and unique skyline developed
peppered with churches and monuments. Baltimore acquired its
moniker, "The Monumental City" after an 1827 visit to Baltimore by
President
John Quincy Adams. At an
evening function Adams gave the following toast: "Baltimore: the
Monumental City- May the days of her safety be as prosperous and
happy, as the days of her dangers have been trying and
triumphant.". Baltimore suffered one of the worst riots of the
antebellum south in 1835, when bad investments led to
Baltimore Anti-bank riot.
Maryland did not secede from the Union during the
American Civil War, however, when
Union soldiers marched
through the city at the start of the war, Confederate sympathizers
attacked the troops, which led to the
Baltimore riot of 1861. Four soldiers
and 12 civilians were killed during the riot, which caused Union
troops to occupy Baltimore. Maryland came under direct federal
administration — in part, to prevent the state from
seceding — until the end of the war in April 1865.
Following an economic depression known as the
Panic of 1873, the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad company attempted to lower its workers wages, leading to
the
Great Railroad Strike
of 1877.
On July 20, Maryland Governor John Lee Carroll called up the 5th and 6th
Regiments of the National
Guard to end the strikes, which had disrupted train service at
Cumberland
in western Maryland. Citizens sympathetic
to the railroad workers attacked the national guard troops as they
marched from their armories in Baltimore to Camden
Station
. Soldiers from the 6th Regiment fired on the
crowd, killing 10 and wounding 25. Rioters then damaged B&O
trains and burned portions of the rail station. Order was restored
in the city on July 21–22 when federal troops arrived to protect
railroad property and end the strike.
On February 7, 1904 the
Great
Baltimore Fire destroyed over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours and
forced most of the city to rebuild. Two years later, on September
10, 1906, the
Baltimore
American newspaper reported that the city had risen from
the ashes and "one of the great disasters of modern time had been
converted into a blessing." The city grew in area by annexing new
suburbs from the surrounding counties, the last being in 1918. A
state constitutional amendment approved in 1948, requires a special
vote of the citizens in any proposed annexation area, which
effectively prevents any future expansion of the city's
boundaries.
The
Baltimore riot of 1968
occurred following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis,
Tennessee
on April 4, 1968. Coinciding with riots in
other cities, public order was not restored until April 12, 1968.
The Baltimore riot cost the city of Baltimore an estimated $10
million (US$ million in ). Maryland National Guard troops and 1,900
federal troops were ordered into the city. Lasting effects of the
riot can be seen on the streets of
North Avenue,
Howard Street, and
Pennsylvania Avenue where long stretches
of the streets remain barren.
During
the 1970s, Baltimore's downtown area known as the Inner Harbor
, had been neglected and was only occupied by a
collection of abandoned warehouses. Efforts to redevelop
the downtown area started with the construction of the Baltimore
Convention Center
, which opened 1979. Harborplace
, an urban retail and restaurant complex opened on
the waterfront in 1980, followed by the National Aquarium in
Baltimore, Maryland's largest tourist destination, and the
Baltimore
Museum of Industry
in 1981. In 1992, the Baltimore Orioles baseball team moved from Memorial
Stadium
to Oriole Park at Camden Yards
, located downtown near the harbor.
Six years
later the Baltimore Ravens football team moved into M&T Bank
Stadium
next to Camden Yards.
In July
2001, the city center was virtually shut down for a few days by the
Howard
Street Tunnel fire
caused by a train derailment.
On January 17, 2007,
Sheila Dixon
became the first female Mayor of Baltimore.
The city has a number of properties on the
National Register of Historic Places.
Geography

Eastward view along Baltimore
harbor
Baltimore
is in north-central Maryland on the Patapsco River
close to where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay. The city is also
located on the
fall line between the
Piedmont Plateau and the
Atlantic Coastal Plain, which
divides Baltimore into "lower city" and "upper city". The city's
elevation ranges from sea level at the harbor to in the northwest
corner near
Pimlico.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ,
of which, of it is land and of it is water. The total area is 12.24
percent water.
Climate
Baltimore lies within the
humid subtropical climate zone
(
Cfa), according to the
Köppen classification.
July is typically the hottest month of the year, with an average
high temperature of and an average low of . Summer is also a season
of very high humidity in the Baltimore area. The record high for
Baltimore is , set in 1985. January is the coldest month, with an
average high of and an average low of . However, winter warm fronts
can bring periods of springlike weather, and Arctic fronts can drop
nighttime low temperatures into the teens. The record low
temperature for Baltimore is , set in 1934. Baltimore rarely
experiences temperatures below or above . Due to an
urban heat island effect in the
city proper and a moderating effect of the
Chesapeake Bay, the outlying, inland,
and higher elevation parts of the Baltimore metro area are usually
several degrees cooler at night than the city proper and the
coastal towns.
As is typical in most
East Coast cities,
precipitation is generous and very evenly spread throughout the
year. Every month typically brings 3-4 inches of precipitation,
averaging around annually. Spring, summer and fall bring frequent
showers and
thunderstorms, with an
average of 105 sunny days a year. Winter often brings lighter rain
showers of longer duration, and generally less sunshine and more
clouds. Snowfall occurs occasionally in the winter, while heavy
snows are rare. Baltimore averages 2–3 snowfalls per year. In the
northern and western suburbs, the climate begins to transition to a
subtropical highland climate, and
thus winter snowfall amounts are usually higher, with some towns
annually receiving . Freezing rain and sleet occurs a few times
each winter in Baltimore, as warm air over rides cold air at the
upper levels of the atmosphere. The cold air gets trapped against
the mountains to the west and the result is freezing rain or
sleet.
The city lies in between two peculiar physical features that
protect it from extreme weather and account for the relatively
tempered seasons.
The Appalachian Mountains
protect central Maryland
from much of the harsh northern winds and
accompanying lake effect snow, and the
Delmarva
Peninsula
protects Baltimore from many of the tropical storms that affect the immediate
coast.
The average date of first freeze in Baltimore is November 13, and
the average last freeze is April 2.
Cityscape
Architecture

Washington Monument, in the Mt.
Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore
Baltimore exhibits examples from each period of architecture over
more than two centuries, and work from many famous architects such
as
Benjamin Latrobe,
John Russell Pope,
Mies Van Der Rohe and
I. M. Pei.
The city has architecturally important buildings in a variety of
styles.
The Baltimore Basilica
(1806–1821) is a neoclassical design by Benjamin Latrobe, and also the oldest
Catholic Cathedral in the United States. In 1813 Robert Cary
Long, Sr. built for
Rembrandt Peale
the first substantial structure in the United States designed
expressly as a museum.
Restored, it is now the Municipal Museum of
Baltimore, or popularly the “Peale Museum
”. The McKim Free School founded and endowed
by John McKim, although the building was erected by his son
Isaac in 1822 after a design by William
Howard and William Small. It reflects the popular interest in
Greece when the nation was securing its independence, as well as a
scholarly interest in recently published drawings of Athenian
antiquities.
The Phoenix Shot Tower
(1828), at tall, was the tallest building in the
United States until the time of the Civil war. It was
constructed without the use of exterior scaffolding. The Sun Iron
Building designed by R.C. Hatfield in 1851, was city’s first
iron-front building and it was a model for a whole generation of
downtown buildings.
Brown
Memorial Presbyterian Church
, built in 1870 in memory of financier George Brown, has stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany and has been
called "one of the most significant buildings in this city, a
treasure of art and architecture" by Baltimore
Magazine. The 1845 Greek Revival style Lloyd Street
Synagogue
is one of the Oldest synagogues in the
United States. The Johns Hopkins Hospital
, designed by Lt. Col. John S. Billings in 1876 was a considerable
achievement for its day in functional arrangement and fire
proofing.
I.M.Pei's
World Trade
Center
(1977) is the tallest equilateral pentagonal
building in the world at 405 feet (123.4 m)
tall.
Future
contributions to Baltimore's skyline include plans for a
717 foot (218.5 m) tall
structure known as "10 Inner Harbor
". The building was recently approved by
Baltimore's design panel and will be completed around the year
2010. It will include luxury condominiums, a hotel, restaurants,
and shopping centers. The Naing Corporation has approved a tower of
50-60 floors for the lot at 300 Pratt street, with the design
currently being finalized. The Inner Harbor East area will see the
addition of two new towers which have started construction: a
24-floor tower that will be the new world headquarters of
Legg Mason, and a 21 floor Four Seasons Hotel
complex.
The streets of Baltimore are organized in a
grid pattern. The streets are lined with tens of
thousands of brick and
Formstone faced
rowhouses. Many consider the rowhouse
the architectural form most closely associated to the city. Some
rowhouses are dated as far back as the 1790s.
Oriole Park
at Camden Yards
is considered by many to be the most beautiful
baseball park in Major League Baseball, and has
inspired many other cities to build their own versions of this
Retro-Style Ballpark.
Camden Yards along with the
National Aquarium have helped
revive the Inner Harbor from what once was an
industrial district full of dilapidated
warehouses, into a bustling commercial district full of bars,
restaurants and retail establishments.
Tallest buildings
Neighborhoods
Baltimore is officially divided into nine geographical regions:
Northern, Northwestern, Northeastern, Western, Central, Eastern,
Southern, Southwestern, and Southeastern, with each patrolled by a
respective
Baltimore Police
Department district. However, it is not uncommon for locals to
divide the city simply by East or West Baltimore, using
Charles Street or
I-83 as a dividing line, and/or into North and
South using
Baltimore Street as a
dividing line.
The Central region of the city includes the
Downtown area which is the location of
Baltimore's main commercial area.
Home to Harborplace
, The Camden Yards Sports Complex (Oriole Park
at Camden Yards
and M&T Bank Stadium
), the Convention Center
, and the National Aquarium in
Baltimore, the area also includes many nightclubs, bars and
restaurants, shopping centers and various other attractions.
It is also serves as the home to many of Baltimore's key business
such as
Legg Mason and
Constellation Energy. In addition, the
University of
Maryland, Baltimore campus is housed in this area, with the
long-associated
University of Maryland
Medical System adjacent to the school. The downtown core has
mainly served as a commercial district with limited residential
opportunities. However, since 2002 the population in the downtown
has doubled to 10,000 residents with a projection of 7,400
additional housing units coming available by 2012.
The Central region
also includes the areas north of the downtown core stretching up to
the edge of Druid Hill
Park
. Included in the more northern part of the
Central region are the neighborhoods of Mount
Vernon
, Charles North, Reservoir Hill
, Bolton Hill
, Druid Heights, as well as several other
neighborhoods. These neighborhoods include many residential
options and are home to many of the city's cultural opportunities.
Maryland
Institute College of Art
, the Peabody Institute
of music, the Lyric Opera House
, The Walters Art Museum
, The Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony
Hall
, as well as several galleries are all located in
this region. Crime in the Inner Harbor
and Mount Vernon neighborhoods of the Central
District became of greater concern in 2009, as an increasing number
of random assaults on tourists were reported.
The Northern region of the city lies directly north of the Central
region and is bounded on the East by The Alameda and on the West by
Pimlico Road.
It is a suburban residential area, home to
many of the city's upper class residents in neighborhoods including
Roland
Park
, Homeland
, Guilford
, and Cedarcroft
. The Northern region is home to many of
Baltimore's notable universities such as Loyola
University Maryland
, The Johns
Hopkins University and College of
Notre Dame of Maryland
.
The Southern region of the city, a mixed industrial and residential
area, consists of the area of the city below the Inner Harbor east
of the B&O railroad tracks.
It is a mixed socio-economic region
consisting of working class ethnically mixed neighborhoods such as
Locust Point; the recently
gentrified Federal Hill
area, home to many working professionals, pubs and
restaurants; and low-income residential areas such as Cherry
Hill
.
The Eastern part of the city consists of the Northeastern, Eastern,
and Southeastern regions of the city.
Northeastern
Baltimore is primarily a residential neighborhood home to Morgan State
University
bounded by the city line on its Northern and
Eastern boundaries, Sinclair Lane, Erdman Avenue, and Pulaski
Highway on its southern boundaries and The Alameda on its western
boundaries. It has undergone demographic shifts over many
years and remains a diverse but predominantly
African American region of the city.
The
Eastern region is the heart of what is considered "East Baltimore"
and is home to Johns Hopkins Hospital
and Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine. Located below Erdman
Avenue and Sinclair Lane above Orleans Street, it is almost an
exclusively
African American area
home to low-income residential neighborhoods, several of which
constitute many of Baltimore's high crime areas.
The Southeastern region of the city is located below Orleans Street
bordering the Inner Harbor on its western boundary, the city line
on its eastern boundaries and the Baltimore harbor on its southern
boundaries is a mixed industrial and residential area. Home to many
young professionals and working class people, it is an ethnically
rich section of Baltimore home to many
Polish Americans,
Greek Americans,
African Americans, and
Italian Americans.
Upper Fells
Point
is the center of the city's steadily growing
Latino population.
The Western part of the city consists of the Northwestern, Western,
and Southwestern regions of Baltimore.
The Northwestern
region of the city bounded by the county line on its northern and
western boundaries, Gwynns Falls
Parkway on the south and Pimlico Road on the East is a
predominantly residential area home to Pimlico Race
Course
, Sinai Hospital
and several of Baltimore's Synagogues. Once the center of
Baltimore's
Jewish community, it has
undergone
white flight since the 1960s
and has become an almost exclusively
African American area. It is home to many
suburban residential areas primarily located above Northern Parkway
and several lower-income areas below Northern parkway.
The Western region of the city located west of downtown is the
heart of "West Baltimore" bounded by Gwynns Falls Parkway, Fremont
Avenue, and Baltimore Street.
Home to Coppin State University
and Pennsylvania Avenue, it has been the center
of Baltimore's African American
culture for years home to many of the city's historical African American neighborhoods and
landmarks. Once home to many middle to upper class
African Americans, over the years,
the more affluent African American
residents have since left migrating to other sections of the city
in addition to areas such as Randallstown
and Owings Mills
in Baltimore County and Columbia in
Howard
County
. The area now constitutes a deprived
socio-economic group of
African
American residents and like "East Baltimore", it is known for
its high crime rates. Television series, such as
The Wire, that concern themselves with
Baltimore's crime problems have been based on events that took
place in West Baltimore.
The Southwestern region of the city is bounded by Baltimore County
to the west, Baltimore Street to the north, and downtown and the
B&O railroad to the east. A mixed industrial and residential
area, it has gradually shifted from having a predominantly White to
a predominantly
African American
majority.
Adjacent communities
The City of Baltimore is bordered by the following communities, all
unincorporated
census-designated
places.
All are in adjacent Baltimore County, except Brooklyn
Park and Glen Burnie, which are in adjacent Anne Arundel
County
. In addition, the southern part of the city
is bordered by another unincorporated part of northeastern Anne
Arundel County.
Culture

The Washington Monument
a working-class port town, Baltimore has sometimes been dubbed a
"city of neighborhoods," with over 300 identified districts
traditionally occupied by distinct ethnic groups.
Most notable today
are three downtown areas along the port: the Inner Harbor
, frequented by tourists due to its hotels, shops,
and museums; Fells Point
, once a favorite entertainment spot for sailors but
now refurbished and gentrified (and featured in the movie
Sleepless in Seattle);
and Little
Italy
, located between the other two, where
Baltimore's Italian-American community is based – and where
current U.S. House Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi grew up.
Further inland, Mt.
Vernon
is the traditional center of cultural and artistic
life of the city; it is home to a distinctive Washington Monument,
set atop a hill in a 19th century urban square, that predates the
more well-known monument in Washington, D.C. by several
decades.
The traditional local accent has long been noted and celebrated as
"
Baltimorese" or "Bawlmorese." One thing
outsiders quickly notice is that the locals refer to their city as
"Bawlamer," dropping with the "t" for the most part.
The dialect is
similar to that of many Marylanders and Pennsylvanians; it may
reflect the region's roots in Cornwall
and the English West Country, as many of the
original settlers of the Chesapeake Bay area came from this area in
colonial times (Traditionally, many Marylanders call their state
"Merlin"--and likewise, many Pennsylvanians call their state
"Pennsavania," dropping the "l"). However, Baltimore's local
accent also reflects the rich mix of ethnic groups from Ireland,
Germany, and southern and eastern Europe who immigrated to the city
during the industrial era. More recently, references like "B-More"
have become common. Baltimore has typically been pronounced
"Baldimore" by its residents, changing only the hard "T" sound to a
softer, "D" sound. "Bawlamer" pronunciations are used by a very
small subclass of individuals, most of them now living outside of
Baltimore, in surrounding areas like Dundalk and Essex. Newer
residents of Baltimore have found ways to profit from the
quaintness of the "Bawlamerese" business, and it has become a
widespread misunderstanding.
As Baltimore's demographics have changed since World War Two, its
cultural flavor and accents have evolved as well. Today, after
decades of out-migration to suburbs beyond its corporate limits and
significant in-migration of black Americans from Georgia and the
Carolinas, Baltimore has become a majority black city with a
significantly changed, but still regionally distinctive, dialect
and culture.
Recently, neighborhoods such as Federal
Hill
and Canton
have undergone extensive gentrification and have proven to be popular
places for young professionals and college students to
reside. In addition, Latinos are making their mark,
notably in Upper Fells
Point
.
Much of Baltimore's black American culture has roots that long
predate the 20th century
"Great Migration" from
the
Deep South.
Like Atlanta, Georgia
and Washington, D.C.
, Baltimore has been home to a successful black
middle class and professional community for centuries .
Before the Civil War, Baltimore had one of the largest
concentrations of free black Americans among American cities .
In the
twentieth century, Baltimore-born Thurgood Marshall became the first black
American justice of the U.S.
Supreme
Court
.Baltimore's culture has been famously
celebrated in the films of
Barry
Levinson, who grew up in the city's Jewish neighborhoods. His
movies
Diner,
Tin Men,
Avalon, and
Liberty Heights are inspired to varying
degrees by his life in the city.
Baltimore native
John Waters
parodies the city extensively in his films, including the 1972 cult
classic
Pink Flamingos. His
film
Hairspray and
its
Broadway musical remake are
also set in Baltimore.
Each year
the Artscape takes place in the
city in the Bolton Hill
neighborhood, due to its proximity to Maryland
Institute College of Art
. It is known as the 'largest free arts
festival in America'.
See
List of films
shot in Baltimore
Performing arts
The
Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra is an internationally-renowned orchestra, founded in
1916 as a publicly-funded municipal organization. The current Music
Director is
Marin Alsop, a protégé of
Leonard Bernstein. Center Stage is
the premier theater company in the city and a regionally
well-respected group. The
Baltimore Opera was an important
regional opera company, though it filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and
is not currently performing.
The
Baltimore Consort has been a leading early music ensemble for
over twenty-five years. The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center,
home of the restored
Thomas W.
Lamb-designed Hippodrome
Theatre
, has afforded Baltimore the opportunity to become a
major regional player in the area of touring Broadway and other
performing arts presentations.
Baltimore also boasts a wide array of professional (non-touring)
and community theater groups. Aside from Center Stage, resident
troupes in the city include
Everyman Theatre and Baltimore
Theatre Festival. Community theaters in the city include Fells
Point Community Theatre and the Arena Players, which is the
nation's oldest continuously operating African American community
theater.
Baltimore is home to the
Pride
of Baltimore Chorus, a 3-time International silver medalist
women's chorus, affiliated with
Sweet Adelines
International.
Notable persons
- See List of people
from Baltimore
Economy
Once a major industrial town, with an economic base focused on
steel processing, shipping, auto manufacturing, and transportation,
the city suffered a deindustrialization which cost residents tens
of thousands of low-skill, high-wage jobs. While it retains some
industry, Baltimore now has a modern
service economy providing a growing
financial, business, and health service base for the southern
Mid-Atlantic region.
Greater Baltimore is home to six
Fortune
1000 companies:
Constellation
Energy,
Grace Chemicals
(in Columbia),
Black & Decker
(in Towson),
Legg Mason,
T. Rowe Price,
and
McCormick & Company
(in Hunt Valley). Other companies that call Baltimore home include,
AAI Corporation (in Hunt Valley), Brown Advisory,
Alex. Brown & Sons, a subsidiary of
Deutsche Bank (of Baltimore origin,
and at the time of its acquisition, the oldest continuously-running
investment bank in the United States), FTI Consulting, Vertis,
Thomson Prometric, Performax,
Sylvan Learning/Laureate Education,
Under Armour, DAP, 180°,
DeBaufre Bakeries,
Wm.
T. Burnett & Co, Old
Mutual Financial Network, and
Advertising.com.
The city
is also home to the Johns Hopkins Hospital
, which will serve as the center of a new
biotechnology park, one of two such projects currently under
construction in the city.
Demographics
After
New York
City
, Baltimore was the second city in the United States
to reach a population of 100,000, (followed by New
Orleans
, Philadelphia
, Boston
).
In the
1830, 1840, and 1850 censuses of the United States of America
, Baltimore was the second-largest city in
population, surpassed by Philadelphia in 1860. It was among
the top 10 cities in population in the United States in every
census up to the 1980 census, and after World War II had a
population of nearly a million. The city and metropolitan area
currently rank in the top 20 in terms of population.
In the 1990s, the US
Census reported that Baltimore ranked as one of the largest
population losers alongside Detroit
and Washington D.C.
, losing over 84,000 residents between 1990 and
2000.
As of the 2005-2007
American
Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau,
White Americans made up 31.4% of Baltimore's
population; of which 30.4% were non-Hispanic
whites.
Blacks or
African Americans made up 63.8% of
Baltimore's population; of which 63.6% were non-Hispanic blacks.
American Indian
made up 0.3% of the city's population; of which 0.2% were
non-Hispanic.
Asian Americans made up
1.9% of the city's population.
Pacific Islander Americans made up
less than 0.1% of the city's population. Individuals from some
other race made up 1.3% of the city's population; of which 0.2%
were non-Hispanic. Individuals from
two or more races made up 1.3% of the
city's population. In addition,
Hispanics and Latinos made up
2.4% of Baltimore's population.
As of 2006, the
population was 637,455.
The Baltimore–Towson metropolitan area, as of 2004, was estimated
to have a population of 2.6 million. The
population density was 8,058.4 people per
square mile (3,111.5/km²). There were 300,477 housing units at an
average density of 3,718.6/sq mi (1,435.8/km²). The racial
makeup of the city was 64.85%
African American, 31.28%
white, 0.32%
native American, 1.53%
Asian,
0.03%
Pacific
islander, 0.67% from
other races, and 1.47% from two
or more races. 1.70% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race. This census,
however, does not accurately represent the city's Latino
population, which, over the past few years, has been steadily
increasing. This growth is mainly seen in the southeastern
neighborhoods around Upper Fells Point, Patterson Park, and
Highlandtown, and in the city's Northwestern neighborhoods such as
Fallstaff, as well as various neighborhoods of Northeastern
Baltimore. 6.2% of the population were of
German ancestry according to
Census 2000.
There were 257,996 households, out of which 25.5% had children
under the age of 18 living with them, 26.7% were
married couples living together, 25.0% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 43.0% were non-families.
34.9% of all households are made up of individuals, and 11.3% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.42, and the average family size was
3.16.
In the city, the population age spreads were 24.8% for persons
under the age of 18, 10.9% for ages 18 to 24, 29.9% for ages 25 to
44, 21.2% for ages 45 to 64, and 13.2% were 65 years of age or
older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there
were 87.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were
82.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,078, and the
median income for a family was $35,438. Males had a median income
of $31,767 versus $26,832 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$16,978. About 18.8% of families and 22.9% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 30.6%
of those under age 18 and 18.0% of those age 65 or over.
Crime
According to crime statistics there were 276 homicides in Baltimore
in 2006, the second-highest homicide rate per 100,000 of all U.S.
cities of 250,000 or more population.
Though this is
significantly lower than the record-high 379 homicides in 1993, the
homicide rate in Baltimore is nearly seven times the national rate,
six times the rate of New York City
, and three times the rate of Los
Angeles
.
Although other categories of crime in Baltimore have been
declining, overall crime rates in Baltimore are still high compared
to the national average. The rate of forcible rapes has fallen
below the national average in recent years; however, Baltimore
still has much higher-than-average rates of aggravated assault,
burglary, robbery, and theft.
City officials have come under scrutiny from Maryland legislators
regarding the veracity of crime statistics reported by the
Baltimore Police Department. In
2003, the FBI identified irregularities in the number of rapes
reported, which was confirmed by then-Mayor
Martin O'Malley. The number of homicides in
2005 appeared to exhibit discrepancies as well. The former police
commissioner stated upon interview that the administration
suppressed corrections to its crime reports;however, many of the
charges made by the police commission now appear to be politically
motivated. Under the administration of Mayor
Sheila Dixon and a new police commissioner,
crime rates have been reduced, including a 17% reduction in the
number of homicides from 2007 to 2008. For 2008 Baltimore had 234
homicides, down from 282 in 2007.
Government
Baltimore is an
independent
city – not part of any
county. For
most governmental purposes under Maryland law, Baltimore City is
treated as a "county"-level entity. The
United States Census Bureau uses
counties as the basic unit for presentation of statistical
information in the United States, and treats Baltimore as a county
equivalent for those purposes.
Baltimore has been a
Democratic stronghold for
over 150 years, with Democrats dominating every level of
government.
Mayor

Baltimore City Hall
- For a full list of mayors who served the city, see List of Baltimore Mayors.
On December 1st, 2009 incumbent Mayor
Sheila Dixon was found guilty on extortion of
government funds. As stated in Maryland Constitution any official
found guilt of a misdemeanor shall be suspended from office. With
Mayor Dixon's suspension
City
Counsel President Stephanie
Rawlings-Blake with be interim Mayor until final decision is
reached.On November 6, 2007, incumbent Democratic Mayor
Sheila Dixon was
elected Mayor. Dixon, as
former City Council President, had assumed the office of Mayor on
January 17, 2007 when former Mayor
Martin O'Malley took office as the Governor
of Maryland.
Baltimore City Council
Grassroots pressure for reform, voiced as
Question P, restructured the city council in
November 2002, against the will of the mayor, the council
president, and the majority of the council. A coalition of union
and community groups, organized by
ACORN,
backed the effort.
The
Baltimore City Council is
now made up of 14 single member districts and one elected at-large
council president.
Stephanie
Rawlings Blake is the council's president and Robert W. Curran
is the Vice President.
State government
- See also: Baltimore
City Delegation
Prior to 1969, some considered Baltimore and its suburbs to be
particularly underrepresented in the
Maryland General Assembly, while
rural areas were heavily overrepresented. Since
Baker v. Carr in 1962, Baltimore and its suburbs
account for a substantial majority of seats in the state
legislature; this has caused some to argue that rural areas are now
underrepresented. Baltimore's steady loss of population, however,
has resulted in a loss of seats in the Maryland General Assembly.
Since 1980, Baltimore has lost four senators from the 47-member
Maryland State Senate and
twelve delegates from the 141-member
Maryland House of
Delegates.
State agencies
Several state agencies are headquartered in Baltimore. Executive
departments include the
Department of Aging, the
Department
of Business and Economic Development, the
Department of
Disabilities, the
State Department of
Education, the
Department of the
Environment, the
Department of General
Services, the
Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene, the
Department of Human
Resources, the
Department of Juvenile
Services, the
Department
of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and the
Department of
Planning.
In addition the
Department of
Budget and Management, the
Department
of Housing and Community Development, the
Department of
Information Technology, the
Maryland
Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, and the
Department of
Veterans Affairs have offices in Baltimore.
Independent agencies headquartered in Baltimore include the
Maryland
Commission on Human Relations, the
Maryland Health Care
Commission, the
Maryland
Lottery, and the
Maryland Tax
Court.
Federal government
Three of the state's eight
congressional districts include
portions of Baltimore: the 2nd, represented by
Dutch Ruppersberger; the 3rd,
represented by
John Sarbanes; and the
7th, represented by
Elijah Cummings.
All three are Democrats; a
Republican has not
represented a significant portion of Baltimore since 1931 and has
not represented any of Baltimore since 2003.
Both of Maryland's
Senators,
Ben Cardin and
Barbara Mikulski, are from Baltimore.
Coincidentally, both represented the 3rd District before being
elected to the Senate. Mikulski represented the 3rd from 1977 to
1987, and was succeeded by Cardin, who held the seat until his
election and inauguration to the Senate in 2007.
The
United States Postal
Service operates post offices in Baltimore. The Baltimore Main
Post Office is located at 900 East Fayette Street in the
Jonestown area.
Law enforcement
- The Baltimore City Police Department is the
primary law enforcement agency servicing the citizens of Baltimore:
see main article here.
- The Baltimore City Sheriff's Office (BSO) is
the enforcement arm of the Baltimore court system. Deputy Sheriffs
are sworn law enforcement officials with full arrest authority as
granted by the constitution of Maryland, the MPCTC
and the Sheriff of the City of Baltimore.
- Organization-The current Sheriff is John W.
Anderson. The BCSO is divided into several sections as follows:
- Field Enforcement Section
- District Court Section
- Child Support (Civil) Section
- Child Support (Warrant) Section
- Transportation Unit
- Warrant Unit
- Special Response Team
- K-9 Team
- Witness Protection Team
-
- Duties-The Sheriff is responsible for the
following: security of city courthouses and property, service of
court-ordered writs, protective and peace orders, warrants, tax
levies, as well as prisoner transportation and traffic
enforcement.
Transportation
The
interstate highway
serving Baltimore are
I-70,
I-83 (the
Jones Falls Expressway),
I-95 (the
John F. Kennedy Memorial
Highway),
I-395,
I-695 (the
Baltimore Beltway),
I-795 ,
I-895 , and
I-97. Several of the city's interstate
highways, e.g. I-95, I-83, and I-70 are not directly connected to
each other, and in the case of I-70 end at a park and ride lot just
inside the city limits, because of
freeway revolts in the City
of Baltimore. These revolts were led
Barbara Mikulski, now
United States Senator, which resulted
in the abandonment of the original plan.
U.S. highways and state
routes that run to and through downtown Baltimore include
US 1,
US 40 National Road, and the
Baltimore-Washington
Parkway.
There are two tunnels traversing the
Baltimore
harbor
within the city limits: the four-bore Fort McHenry
Tunnel
(served by I-95) and the two-bore
Harbor
Tunnel
(served by I-895). The Baltimore Beltway crosses south of
Baltimore harbor over the Francis
Scott Key Bridge
.
Baltimore is a top destination for
Amtrak
along the
Northeast Corridor.
Baltimore's Penn
Station
is one of the busiest in the country. In
2005, it ranked 8th in the United States with a total ridership of
910,523.
Just outside the city, Baltimore/Washington International
Thurgood Marshall Airport Rail Station
is another popular stop. Amtrak's
Acela Express,
Palmetto,
Carolinian,
Silver Star,
Silver Meteor,
Vermonter,
Crescent, and
Regional trains are the scheduled
passenger train services that stop in the city.
Additionally,
MARC commuter rail service connects the
city's two main intercity rail
stations, Camden Station
and Penn Station
, with Washington, D.C.
's Union Station
as well as stops in between.
Public transit in Baltimore is provided by the
Maryland Transit
Administration.
The city has a comprehensive bus network, a small light rail network connecting
Hunt Valley in the north to
BWI airport
and Cromwell in the south, and a subway line between Owings
Mills
and Johns Hopkins Hospital. A proposed bus rapid
transit or rail line, known as the Red Line, which would link the Social
Security Administration to Fells Point
and perhaps the Canton and Dundalk
communities, is under study as of 2007; a proposal
to extend Baltimore's existing subway line to Morgan State
University
, known as the Green Line, is in the planning
stage.
Baltimore
is served by Baltimore-Washington International
Thurgood Marshall Airport
, generally known as "BWI," which lies about to
the south in neighboring Anne Arundel County
, and by Martin State Airport
, a general aviation
facility, to the north in Baltimore County. BWI and
Martin State airports are operated by the Maryland Aviation
Administration, which is part of the
Maryland Department of
Transportation. In terms of passenger traffic, BWI is the 24th
busiest airport in the United States.
Downtown Baltimore is
connected to BWI by two major highways (I-95 and the Baltimore-Washington
Parkway via Interstate
195), the Baltimore Light
Rail, and Amtrak and MARC commuter rail service between Baltimore's
Penn Station and BWI Rail
Station
. Martin State Airport
is linked to downtown Baltimore by two major
highways, I-95 and U.S. Route 40, and
MARC commuter rail service between Baltimore's
Penn Station and its nearby Martin State Airport MARC Train
stop.
Port of Baltimore
The port was founded in 1706, preceding the founding of Baltimore.
The Maryland colonial legislature made the area near
Locust Point as the
port of entry for the
tobacco trade with England.
Fells
Point
, the deepest point in the natural harbor, soon
became the colony's main ship building center, later on becoming
leader in the construction of clipper ships. After the
founding of Baltimore, mills were built behind the wharves. The
California Gold Rush led to
many orders for fast vessels; many overland pioneers also relied
upon canned goods from Baltimore. After the civil war, a coffee
ship was designed here for trade with Brazil. At the end of the
nineteenth century, European ship lines had terminals for
immigrants. The
Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad made the port a major
transshipment point.
Currently the port has major
roll-on
roll-off facilities, as well as bulk facilities, especially
steel handling.Water taxis also operate in the Inner Harbor.
Governor Ehrlich participated in naming the port after
Helen Delich Bentley during the 300th
anniversary of the port.
In 2007, Duke Realty Corporation began a new development near the
Port of Baltimore, named the Chesapeake Commerce Center. This new
industrial park is located on the site of a former General Motors
plant. The total project comprises in eastern Baltimore City and
the site will yield of warehouse/distribution and office space.
Chesapeake Commerce Center has direct access to two major
Interstate Highways (I-95 and I-895) and is located adjacent to two
of the major Port of Baltimore Terminals. The Port of Baltimore is
the furthest inland port in the U.S. with a dredge to accommodate
the largest shipping vessels.
Education
Colleges and universities
Baltimore is the home of numerous places of higher learning, both
public and private. Among them are:
Private
Public
Primary and secondary schools
The
city's public schools are operated by the Baltimore City Public School
System and include the historic Frederick
Douglass High School, which is the second oldest African
American high school in the United States, Baltimore City College
, the third oldest public high school in the
country, and Western High
School, the oldest public all girls school in the
nation. Baltimore City College (also known as "City") and
Baltimore Polytechnic
Institute (also known as "Poly") share the nation's
second-oldest high school
football rivalry.
Private schools
These
private schools are within the
city:
Parochial schools
Media
Baltimore's main newspaper is
The
Baltimore Sun. It was sold by its Baltimore owners in 1986
to the Times Mirror Company, which was bought by the
Tribune Company in 2000. Baltimore is the
26th-largest
television market and
21st-largest
radio market in the
country.
Like many cities well into the 20th Century, Baltimore was a
two-newspaper town until the Baltimore News American ceased
publication in 1986.
In 2006, the Baltimore Examiner was launched to compete with The
Sun. It was part of a national chain that includes the San
Francisco Examiner and the Washington Examiner. In contrast to the
paid subscription Sun, the Examiner was a free newspaper funded
solely by advertisements. Unable to turn a profit and facing a deep
recession, the Baltimore Examiner ceased publication on February
15, 2009.
Sports teams
Baltimore has a long and storied sporting history encompassing many
teams from many different eras. The
Baltimore Orioles have represented
Major League Baseball locally
since 1954 when the St. Louis Browns moved to the city of
Baltimore. The Orioles won three World Series Championships (1966,
1970, and 1983), advanced to the World Series in 1969, 1971, and
1979, and made the playoffs all but one year from 1969 through
1974. In 1995, local player (and later Hall of Famer)
Cal Ripken, Jr. broke
Lou Gehrig's "unbreakable" streak of 2,130
consecutive games played (for which he was named the
Sportsman of the Year by
Sports Illustrated magazine).
Six
former Orioles players have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
.
The "
Baltimore CFLers", or
Baltimore CFL Colts were an expansion
professional football team that joined the
CFL in 1994. The CFLers remained in
Baltimore for two seasons before relocating to Montreal after the
1995 season to become the
Montreal
Alouettes. The CFLers posted the best two season starts of any
CFL expansion team and are
the only U.S. based team in the CFL to have won the
Grey Cup, the league's playoff championship, by
upsetting the heavily favored
Winnipeg Blue Bombers in their final
season in Baltimore. Even with their short tenure, the
Baltimore CFLers had the best attendance
figures of any U.S. based CFL franchise, and one of the top in the
entire league.
Professional football returned to Baltimore
a year after the CFLers left. The
Baltimore Ravens have represented the
National Football League
since relocating from Cleveland in 1996. The team has had great
success, including a
Super Bowl
Championship in 2001, two
division
championships (2003 and 2006), and two
AFC Championship appearances in 2001
and 2009.
Other current teams include:
Baltimore Blast,
National Indoor Soccer League
since 1998;
Crystal Palace
Baltimore,
USL Second
Division since 2006;
Baltimore
Mariners,
American Indoor Football
Association since 2008;
Baltimore
Burn,
National
Women's Football Association since 2004;
Baltimore Nighthawks,
Independent Women's Football
League since 2001; and the
Charm City Roller Girls Women's Flat Track Derby
Association since 2006. Area fans are known for their passion
and reverence for historical sports figure who played in the city
or were born there.
Wild Bill Hagy is
an example of a famous fan.
Sister cities
- Alexandria
, Egypt
(1995)
- Ashqelon
, Israel
(2005)
- Bremerhaven
, Germany
(2007)
- Gbarnga
, Liberia
(1973)
- Genoa
, Italy
(1985)
- Kawasaki,
Japan
(1978)
- Luxor
, Egypt
(1982)
- Odessa
, Ukraine
(1974)
- Piraeus
, Greece
(1982)
- Rotterdam
, Netherlands
(1985)
- Xiamen
, People's Republic of China
(1985)
See also
References
- Map shows the demarcation point between tidal and non-tidal
portions of the Patapsco River.
- As a goodwill gesture, and based on this historic link, a
statue of Lady Baltimore was sent back to Ireland in 1974 and
erected there some years later. See
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URL retrieved March 29, 2007.
-
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/34gcw3dk9780252034800.html
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- Emporis -
Legg Mason Building. Retrieved 1 November
2007.
- Emporis -
Bank of America Building. Retrieved 1 November
2007.
- Emporis -
William Donald Schaefer Tower. Retrieved 1
November 2007.
- Emporis -
Commerce Place. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
- Emporis -
100 East Pratt Street. Retrieved 1 November
2006.
- Emporis -
World Trade Center. Retrieved 1 November
2007.
- Emporis -
Tremont Plaza Hotel. Retrieved 1 November
2007.
- Emporis -
Charles Towers South Apartments. Retrieved 1
November 2007.
- Emporis -
Blaustein Building. Retrieved 1 November
2007.
- Emporis -
250 West Pratt Street. Retrieved 1 November
2007.
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Sun, January 30, 2007
- Baltimore's African American Heritage and
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- "Top 50 Cities in the U.S. by Population and Rank (2005
Census)". infoplease.com. 2005. Retrieved August 1, 2006
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http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=16000US2404000&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=Baltimore&_cityTown=Baltimore&_state=&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null®=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=
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http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=16000US2404000&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_DP3YR5&-ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-_sse=on
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and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2004
(CBSA-EST2004-01)
- , WBAL-TV (February 14, 2006)
- , WBAL-TV (February 14, 2006)
- , WBAL-TV (February 22, 2006)
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Department of Business and Economic Development. Retrieved
on March 23, 2009.
- " Welcome to the Maryland Department of Disabilities."
Maryland Department of
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Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Retrieved on
March 23, 2009.
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Human Resources. Retrieved on March 23, 2009.
- " Contact Us." Maryland Department of
Juvenile Services. Retrieved on March 23, 2009.
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Regulation." Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and
Regulation. Retrieved on March 23, 2009.
- " Contact Us." Maryland Department of
Planning. Retrieved on March 23, 2009.
- " Contact Us." Maryland Department
of Budget and Management. Retrieved on March 23,
2009.
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Department of Housing and Community Development. Retrieved
on March 23, 2009.
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Department of Information Technology. Retrieved on March
23, 2009.
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Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
Retrieved on March 23, 2009.
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2009.
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United States Postal
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2007.
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Delich Bentley, Tesla Memorial Society of New York.
-
http://www.lib.umd.edu/RARE/MarylandCollection/NewsAmerican/Index.html
External links