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In the Heart of it All

Bawlmer, Baldamore, Baltimore: Home of Natty Boh, inventors of the umbrella and “O!” Say Can You See. We gave you "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the chicken box. Thurgood Marshall, Frederick Douglass, Billie Holiday and Edgar Allan Poe each called our streets home. We're more than The Wire and more authentic than House of Cards. We're a true city of neighborhoods where everyone knows your name (and where your barber is married to that shop owner that went to (high) school with your best friend).

586k
Residents
81
Square Miles
279
Neighborhoods

Welcome to Baltimore, a city of proud and influential residents...

Thurgood Marshall, first African-American U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Michael Phelps, most decorated Olympic athlete of all time
Billie Holiday, legendary jazz musician
Jada Pinkett Smith, actor, singer, songwriter, and businesswoman

...with a history of making history.

1729

Baltimore is born! Sixty lots are divided and awarded to new residents.

1782

Lexington Market opens. By the early 1900's, 11 public markets are open across Baltimore City.

1789

The first Roman Catholic diocese in the U.S. is established in Baltimore.

1797

Baltimore is officially incorporated as a city.

1807

University of Maryland's College of Medicine is founded as the fifth medical school in the country.

1812

Francis Scott Key writes the Star-Spangled Banner as U.S. forces protect Fort McHenry.

1815

Baltimore's Washington Monument is dedicated as the first to honor President George Washington.

1817

The Maryland General Assembly passes a bill moving the city line to East Avenue.

1829

The B&O Railroad completes the Mount Clare Station—the first of 32 later buildings.

1849

Edgar Allan Poe dies under mysterious circumstances in Baltimore.

1860

Baltimore creates its first park board and opens Druid Hill Park.

1861

The first blood of the Civil War is shed during a riot in Downtown Baltimore.

1876

Johns Hopkins University is founded.

1886

The Enoch Pratt Free Library opens as the first citywide library system in America.

1892

The Baltimore Afro-American Newspaper is established.

1894

The Lyric Opera House opens.

1904

The great Baltimore fire destroys nearly all of Downtown Baltimore.

1911

Pennsylvania Station is constructed.

1913

William Oktavec begins painting window screens.

1918

The city stretches to its current borders, completing its third annexation.

1931

Philanthropist Henry Walters dies leaving behind his international art collection.

1939

The Senator Theatre opens on York Road.

1947

Baltimore’s Miracle on 34th Street begins in Hampden.

1952

Baltimore Polytechnic Institute is integrated, predating Brown v. Board of Education by two years.

1954

The Baltimore Orioles play their first MLB season.

1955

Read’s Drug Store is integrated after Morgan State students lead successful sit-ins.

1962

The Jones Falls Expressway opens.

1966

The Baltimore Orioles win their first World Series title.

1967

Thurgood Marshall, of Baltimore, is appointed as the first African-American Supreme Court Justice.

1979

Baltimore School for the Arts is founded. Notable alumni include Tupac Shakur and Jada Pinkett Smith.

1980

Harborplace opens, making Baltimore’s Inner Harbor the City's biggest attraction.

1981

The National Aquarium in Baltimore opens.

1982

Artscape—the largest free arts festival in America—debuts in Baltimore.

1983

The Baltimore Metro Subway begins operating.

1986

The NAACP relocates its headquarters to Baltimore.

1992

Light Rail begins operating as a modern streetcar.

1996

The Baltimore Ravens play their first NFL season.

1997

Live Baltimore is founded.

2001

The Baltimore Ravens win their first Super Bowl.

2005

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History & Culture opens.

2014

Mr. Trash Wheel debuts as an innovation to achieve a healthy harbor.

2015

Devin Allen’s photo of the Baltimore Uprising is published on the cover of Time Magazine.

2016

Native son Michael Phelps becomes the most decorated Olympian of all time with 28 medals.

2017

Baltimore makes Zagat’s list of 30 most exciting food cities in the U.S.

2019

Mobtown Brewing opens—the first brewery to operate in the Brewers Hill neighborhood in 50 years.

Baltimore is home to creatives, foodies, athletes, academics, and others...

...who invented a word to describe just how tightknit we are.

Smalltimore
[smawl-tuh-mawr]
noun
that feeling when you know that person from that other place in Baltimore; an only-in-Baltimore coincidence. "I used to work with your new girlfriend. Smalltimore!"

Surprise Me, Baltimore!

Mill Hill

Deck of Cards Historic District

The 2600 block of Wilkens Avenue in Mill Hill is the city's longest block of rowhouses, stretching for more than 1,800 feet!

Dunbar-Broadway

The Johns Hopkins Hospital

The Johns Hopkins Hospital was the first major medical school in the United States to admit women, to use rubber gloves during surgery, and to develop renal analysis and CPR. The world-renowned teaching hospital is the largest employer in Baltimore City.

Patterson Park

Hampstead Hill

Before it became a public park, the land that is now Patterson Park played a major role in the War of 1812. It served as the grounds where American troops stood ready during the decisive battle of North Point at Hampstead Hill. The Patterson Park Pagoda now sits at the top of this hill providing amazing views of Downtown, the Patapsco River, the Key Bridge and Fort McHenry.

Fells Point

Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park Museum

The first black-owned shipyard in the U.S. was in Fells Point at the current site of the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park Museum. The famous orater and freedman escaped slavery in Maryland to become a prominent leader of the abolitionist movement.

Jonestown

The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House

In this house in 1813, the Pickersgill family and indentured servant Grace Wisher sewed the flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore, inspiring the creation of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Leakin Park

Carrie Murray Nature Center

This nature center is a hidden gem located within the largest urban wilderness park east of the Mississippi River, Leakin Park. Programming includes forest immersion for preschoolers, summer camps, nature hikes and more!

Mount Vernon

The Washington Monument

Baltimore’s homage to the nation’s first president predates the construction of the monument in Washington, D.C. by more than 30 years. Architect Robert Mills designed both. You could say we have the Baltimore original.

Moravia-Walther

Snowballs

The Baltimore snowball predates the snow cone, water ice, and similar frozen treats of other states. Made of finely shaved ice, the refreshing, summertime dessert is covered with flavored syrup and often topped with marshmallow cream. Walther Gardens, which opened in 1933, is thought to be the oldest snowball stand in the country.

University of Maryland

Edgar Allan Poe’s grave

Many cities claim fame from their ties to the famed macabre writer, but it’s in our streets that Poe met his mystifying end. His remains are buried at Westminster Hall and Burying Grounds on the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus near Downtown.

Hampden

Toilet Bowl Races

Each year at Hampdenfest, racers descend on Chestnut Avenue riding contraptions that incorporate a “human defecation device.” Toilets, diapers, urinals and potty seats have all been strapped to wheeled vessels of varying shapes, types and sizes for a friendly race. Only in Baltimore.

Oliver

The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum

This wax museum features prominent African-American historical figures, including Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Locust Point

Fort McHenry

The Battle of Baltimore at this Civil-War era fort was the inspiration for Francis Scott Key to pen the Star-Spangled Banner.

Live Baltimore offers all the resources you need to find your home in the city.

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