Portal:Baltimore

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The Baltimore Portal

A panoramic view of the Baltimore Inner Harbor

Baltimore 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 US city. Baltimore was designated an independent city by the Constitution of Maryland in 1851, and is the most populous independent city in the nation. As of 2020^[update], the population of the Baltimore metropolitan area was 2,838,327, the 20th-largest metropolitan area in the country. When combined the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area (CSA) had a 2020 population of 9,973,383, the third-largest in the country. Though the city is not located within or under the administrative jurisdiction of any county in the state, it is part of the Central Maryland region, together with the surrounding county that shares its name.

The land that is present-day 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 its fall to British troops, moved their deliberations to Henry Fite House on West Baltimore Street from December 1776, to February 1777, permitting Baltimore to serve briefly as the nation's capital, before it returned to Philadelphia in March 1777. The Battle of Baltimore was pivotal 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", designated as the 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. (Full article...)

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The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the American League's eight charter teams in 1901, the franchise spent its first year as a major league club in Milwaukee as the Milwaukee Brewers before moving to St. Louis to become the St. Louis Browns in 1902. After 52 years in St. Louis, the franchise was purchased in 1953 by a syndicate of Baltimore business and civic interests, led by attorney and civic activist Clarence Miles and Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. The team's current owner is David Rubenstein. The Orioles' home ballpark is Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which opened in 1992 in downtown Baltimore. The oriole is the official state bird of Maryland; the name has been used by several baseball clubs in the city, including another AL charter member franchise which folded after the 1902 season and was replaced the next year by the New York Highlanders, later the Yankees. Nicknames for the team include the "O's" and the "Birds".

The franchise's first World Series appearance came in 1944 when the Browns lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Orioles went on to make six World Series appearances from 1966 to 1983, winning three in 1966, 1970, and 1983. This era of the club featured several future Hall of Famers who would later be inducted representing the Orioles, such as third baseman Brooks Robinson, outfielder Frank Robinson, starting pitcher Jim Palmer, first baseman Eddie Murray, shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., and manager Earl Weaver. The Orioles have won a total of ten division championships (1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1983, 1997, 2014, 2023), seven pennants (1944 while in St. Louis, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1979, 1983), and three wild card berths (1996, 2012, 2016). The franchise was the last charter member of the American League to win a pennant, and the last charter member to win a World Series. (Full article...)

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Panorama at night of the Inner Harbor

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Hopkins, c. 1871

Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for most of his life.

Hopkins invested heavily in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), which eventually led to his appointment as finance director of the company. He was also president of Baltimore-based Merchants' National Bank. Hopkins was a staunch supporter of Abraham Lincoln and the Union, often using his Maryland residence as a gathering place for Union strategists. He was a Quaker and supporter of the abolitionist cause. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

... that one Baltimore Orioles player compared the 2024 Major League Baseball jerseys to knockoffs from TJ Maxx?
... that Richard Worley played in minor baseball leagues and is now the commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department?
... that a great-grandfather and a grandfather of a commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department also served in the department?
... that one of the items on display at the Baltimore Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts was George Washington's shaving brush?
... that the Harlem Park Three were awarded US$48 million, the largest sum in Baltimore history, after being falsely imprisoned for murder?

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The following are images from various Baltimore-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Child labor at J.S. Farrand Packing Company in Baltimore, 1909. Photo by Lewis Hine. (from History of Baltimore)
Image 2Simple row houses like these in Locust Point make up much of Baltimore's housing stock. (from Culture of Baltimore)
Image 3Baltimore Street Map, 1892 (from History of Baltimore)
Image 4An 1864 map of Baltimore (from History of Baltimore)
Image 5Marble steps, East Fort Avenue, Locust Point, August 2014 (from Culture of Baltimore)
Image 6South Baltimore (from List of Baltimore neighborhoods)
Image 7Baltimore railroad strike of 1877 (from History of Baltimore)
Image 8Some of the more upscale rowhouses in Baltimore, like these brightly painted homes in Charles Village, have complete porches instead of stoops (from Culture of Baltimore)
Image 9Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, looking West from East Pratt and North Gay Streets (from Great Baltimore Fire)
Image 10Storefront of establishment selling Lake Trout in Baltimore (from Culture of Baltimore)
Image 11An illustration of the aftermath of the Great Baltimore Fire in February 1904 (from Great Baltimore Fire)
Image 12Blue crabs (from Culture of Baltimore)
Image 13View of Baltimore by William Henry Bartlett (1809–1854) (from History of Baltimore)
Image 14Baltimore Street Map, 1838 (from History of Baltimore)
Image 15Mount Clare Mansion, known today as the Mount Clare Museum House, is the oldest Colonial-era structure in Baltimore. (from History of Baltimore)
Image 16West Baltimore (from List of Baltimore neighborhoods)
Image 17John E. Hurst Building, site of the fire's outbreak (from Great Baltimore Fire)
Image 18Map of Chesapeake Bay area by John Senex, 1719, with Baltimore County labeled near Maryland's border with Pennsylvania. (from History of Baltimore)
Image 19Baltimore & Ohio Railroad engine and passenger car from the 1830s. (from History of Baltimore)
Image 20Worker assembling an aircraft at the Glenn L. Martin plant in Baltimore (from History of Baltimore)
Image 21East Midway (from List of Baltimore neighborhoods)
Image 22Same view in 1906, 2 years after the fire (from Great Baltimore Fire)
Image 23View of Baltimore from Chapel Hill, by Francis Guy, 1802-03 (Brooklyn Museum) (from History of Baltimore)
Image 24The Baltimore riot of 1861 (from History of Baltimore)
Image 25Marylanders steam blue crabs, usually in water, beer and Old Bay Seasoning. (from Culture of Baltimore)
Image 26Francis Kenrick, the sixth Archbishop of Baltimore (1851–1863). (from History of Baltimore)
Image 27Sharp Street Church was established 1787, the existing building having been erected in 1898 (from History of Baltimore)

News

May 20, 2024 – Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse: The container ship Dali is freed from bridge debris since its initial collision on March 26 and is escorted by tugboats back to the port of Baltimore. (AP)
May 13, 2024 – Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse: The final remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, which killed six workers, are demolished with explosives. (East Bay Times)