Baltimore: History

Pre-20th-Century History

When the USA declared war on Great Britain in 1812, a British admiral proclaimed that 'Baltimore is a doomed town'. Through its history, the seaport has had its share of naysayers, but has always bounced back from adversity stronger than before. Established as a tobacco and flour-milling centre and named in 1729, Baltimore quickly prospered.

The city's glory has always been rooted in seafaring. With a congenial climate, a fine harbour, and access to first-rate shipbuilding timber, Baltimore developed rapidly in the 18th century as colonial America's shipping and shipbuilding centre, and went on to play a crucial role in the American Revolution. Not only did Baltimore ships and sailors make up the bulk of the privateer fleet that disrupted British supply lines, eventually bringing on the British surrender, but Maryland troops repelled a dramatic assault on Fort McHenry on 14 September, 1814. The victory here gave rise to the US national anthem, the lyrics of which recount Baltimore's - and all of America's - escape from the English.

Rebounding to become the second largest city in the US, Baltimore soon became the focal point of the Civil War when an attack on the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment saw the first bloodletting of the conflict. President Lincoln imposed military rule over the city, which was surrounded by a ring of guns - all pointing inward. The Civil War divided the loyalties of locals, and by war's end, Baltimore was suffering from the combined loss of lives and government support.

Modern History

With the explosion of railroads in the late 19th century, Baltimore boomed again. Grain, iron, steel, shipping and oysters formed the backbone of the new industrial economy. In 1904 a fire destroyed the entire business district of Baltimore, and Baltimore again had to rebuild. Prospering once more, Baltimore was hard hit by the Great Depression of the early 1930s, stagnating due to the densely-packed, undereducated, unemployed population. Flourishing for a time during WWII and the economic boom of the 1950s, Baltimore was increasingly cursed by the problems of urban decay that afflicted many industrial centres at the time. By the 1960s, residents were fleeing to the expanding suburbs as sleaze and crime took over the downtown area. 'The Block' near Inner Harbor became renowned for all the wrong reasons as strip bars, prostitution and drug dealers took over. In response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr in 1968, the city was severely vandalised by angry mobs.

Recent History

From the early 1980s, Baltimore again rose from the doldrums with a program of civic renewal that continues today. Baltimore is now a magnet for travellers drawn to this hard-working, ball-playing, no-nonsense city, with its blockbuster Inner Harbor attractions and energetic ethnic enclaves.

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