Baltimore History

Maryland was a British colony founded in 1632 by the Calvert family and was named after Cecelius Calvert Lord Baltimore. Baltimore has always been a port city on the Chesapeake Bay, which is an estuary extending from the Susquehanna River North to the Atlantic Ocean on the South. The Maryland and Virginia shores lie to the east of the Chesapeake Bay, while Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington DC are on the west side of the bay.

The defining event in Baltimore history occurred in the early 19th century a mere thirty years after the Revolutionary war. Baltimore was a port city famous for producing the fastest sailing ships in the world. These Baltimore “clipper ships” sailed into the Atlantic Ocean and disrupted trade with British merchants. The British referred to Baltimore and Fells Point as a “Den of Pirates.” The pirating of British merchants contributed to the War of 1812.  During the war, British ships sailed up the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River and attacked Washington DC. After the famous “Burning of Washington” (including burning the White House to the ground), the British again set sail on the Chesapeake Bay heading for Fells Point. The British dropped off ground troops outside the city at North Point for the planned march on Baltimore.

The date was September 13, 1814. Francis Scott Key, a lawyer from Annapolis, had gone out to meet the British war ships to negotiate the release of his client. He was successful in getting his client released, but the British would not allow the young lawyer to leave due to their planned naval attack on Baltimore. As a result, Key was a witness to the great Battle of Baltimore as the British attacked Fort McHenry, which sits at the entrance to the port of Baltimore.  Sitting outside the range of the Fort McHenry artillery, the British ships bombarded the fort all night.

In the morning after the bombardment, the American troops raised an American flag at the fort, signaling they had survived the battle. George Armistead, the leader of the Baltimore troops, had ordered the flag months before the battle.  Bearing 15 stars and 15 stripes, the flag was 42-feet by 30-feet, large enough to be seen from a great distance. When Francis Scott Key saw the raised flag, he wrote the poem that became our National anthem.

To commemorate those who died in the battle, the citizens of Baltimore erected the “Battle Monument,” and since 1827 the Battle Monument has been the official symbol of Baltimore. Today, the monument is located on Calvert Street in front of the Baltimore District Court, and it is featured on both Baltimore city’s seal and flag.  Fort McHenry is a National monument and shrine, managed by the National Park Service.

In the next century, Baltimore grew through its port and the important Baltimore and Ohio or “B&O” railroad.  The railroad started in the 1820’s and was the first of its kind in the United States. The combination of the rail lines and the port made Baltimore an ideal location for bringing products from the Midwest to the Eastern United States and Europe.

In addition to freight, Baltimore was the nation’s second largest port of entry for immigrants in the mid-19th century.  European immigrants could buy a combination ticket that allowed them to steam into Baltimore where they were met on the dock by a rail car for travel west. The B&O Railroad Museum in West Baltimore is part of the Smithsonian, but the influence of the railroad remains to this day.

The Orioles stadium at Camden yards and its famous warehouse were once part of the railroad yards. In addition, Johns Hopkins was a merchant who invested heavily in the B&O Railroad. His railroad fortune allowed him to found our great Hospital and University.

The first bloodshed of the civil war took place in Baltimore due to a quirk in the railroad system.  Maryland was a border state with Southern sympathizers. During the Civil War there were two competing rail lines in Baltimore, and in order to go from North to South passengers had to travel on foot from a rail station in East Baltimore to the other station.

On April 19, 1861 one week after the battle of Fort Sumter, a mob of Confederate sympathizers attacked Union troops as they were marching through the city from one station to the other.  The attack angered Washington, and the city was placed under martial law. Union cannons were placed on top of Federal Hill and were aimed directly at City Hall, with the promise to shoot if Baltimore seceded.  Due to the attack, Baltimore briefly got the nickname “Mob Town.”