Baltimore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Baltimore | |||
| — Independent city — | |||
| City of Baltimore | |||
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| Nickname(s): Charm City,[1] Mob Town,[2][3] Crabtown, Crab City,[4] B-more, The City of Firsts,[5][6] Monument City,[7][8] B-Town,[9] Birdland, Ravenstown[10] | |||
| Motto: "The Greatest City in America",[11] "Get in on it."[12] |
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  Baltimore
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| Coordinates: Coordinates: | |||
| Country | United States | ||
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| State | Maryland | ||
| Founded | 1729 | ||
| Incorporation | 1797 | ||
| Named for | Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore | ||
| Government | |||
| - Type | Independent City | ||
| - Mayor | Sheila Dixon (D) | ||
| - Baltimore City Council |
Council members
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| - Houses of Delegates |
Delegates
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| - State Senate |
State senators
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| - U.S. House |
Representatives
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| Area | |||
| - Independent city | 92.07 sq mi (238.5 km2) | ||
| - Land | 80.8 sq mi (209.3 km2) | ||
| - Water | 11.27 sq mi (29.2 km2) 12.2% | ||
| - Urban | 3,104.46 sq mi (8,040.5 km2) | ||
| Elevation [13] | 33 ft (10 m) | ||
| Population (2007)[14][15] | |||
| - Independent city | 637,455(20th) | ||
| - Density | 7,889.3/sq mi (3,045.7/km2) | ||
| - Metro | 2,668,056(20th) | ||
| - Demonym | Baltimorean | ||
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
| ZIP Code | 21201-21231, 21233-21237, 21239-21241, 21244, 21250-21252, 21263-21265, 21268, 21270, 21273-21275, 21278-21290, 21297-21298 | ||
| FIPS code | 24-04000 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0597040 | ||
| Website: www.baltimorecity.gov | |||
Baltimore (pronounced /bɒltɨmɔr/) is an independent city and the largest city in the state of Maryland in the United States. Baltimore is located in central Maryland at the head of the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay, and is approximately 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Washington D.C. 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 has always remained a major asset, once the second leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States and a major manufacturing center. Today the harbor is home to Harborplace and the National Aquarium in Baltimore and is a successful example of Baltimore's ambitious efforts at renewal. Following the fall of many of its largest manufacturing industries, Baltimore has shifted primarily to a service sector-oriented economy, with the largest employer no longer Bethlehem Steel but Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital. Despite some successful revitalization Baltimore is still posed with many big-city challenges such as concentrated poverty and crime, and inadequate public education.
As of 2007, the population of Baltimore City was 637,455.[15] The Baltimore Metropolitan Area, which includes the city's surrounding suburbs, has approximately 2.6 million residents; the 20th largest in the country. Baltimore is also the largest city in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area of approximately 8.1 million residents. Because there is also a Baltimore County nearly surrounding (but not including) the city, it is sometimes referred to as Baltimore City when a clear distinction is desired.
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 named Baltimore in Ireland, which is an Anglicized form of the Irish language Baile an Tí Mhóir,[16] meaning "Town of the Big House" and referring to the O'Driscoll castle that still dominates the town. The Irish-language name for Baltimore is that of the O'Driscoll castle, Dún na Séad ("Fort of the Jewels").
Contents |
[edit] 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.[17] The name "Baltimore" comes from the town of Baltimore, County Cork, and is an Anglicization of Irish words (Baile an Tí Mhóir) meaning "Town of the Big House". 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's shorter distance from the Caribbean, compared to other large port cities such as New York City and Boston, reduced transportation time and minimized the spoilage of flour.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] 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.[18]
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.
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 & 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 , "Monument 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."[8]
Maryland did not secede during the American Civil War, but remained a part of the United States. 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 reduce 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.[20]
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."[citation needed] 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.[21]
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 (about $63 million in 2008). 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.[22]
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.[23] On January 17, 2007, Sheila Dixon became the first female Mayor of Baltimore.[24]
The city has a number of properties on the National Register of Historic Places.[25]
[edit] Geography
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 480 feet (150 m) in the northwest corner near Pimlico.[26]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 92.1 square miles (238.5 km²), of which, 80.8 square miles (209.3 km²) of it is land and 11.3 square miles (29.2 km²) of it is water. The total area is 12.24 percent water.
[edit] 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 91 °F (32 °C) and an average low of 73 °F (22 °C).[27] Summer is also a season of very high humidity in the Baltimore area, with afternoon thunderstorms occurring regularly. The record high for Baltimore is 108 °F (42 °C), set in 1985. January is the coldest month, with an average high of 44 °F (6 °C) and an average low of 29 °F (-1 °C).[27] 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 -7 °F (-22 °C), set in 1934. Baltimore rarely experiences temperatures below 10 °F (−12 °C) or above 100 °F (38 °C). 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 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 usually brings 3-4 inches of precipitation, averaging around 43 inches (1,100 mm) 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. Some light to moderate snowfall can occur occasionally in the winter, with heavy snows relatively rare. The average annual snowfall is only 21 inches (53 cm). Baltimore averages only 2–3 snow events per year[28] In the northern and western suburbs, the climate begins to transition to continental, and thus winter snowfall amounts are usually higher, with some towns annually receiving 24–36 inches (61–91 cm).[29] 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 and 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 weather that bring subfreezing temperatures and heavy snows to the Great Lakes region, 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.[30]
 Weather averages for Baltimore  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 79 (26) |
84 (29) |
97 (36) |
98 (37) |
100 (38) |
105 (41) |
107 (42) |
105 (41) |
102 (39) |
97 (36) |
87 (31) |
85 (29) |
107 (42) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 44 (7) |
47 (8) |
57 (14) |
68 (20) |
77 (25) |
86 (30) |
91 (33) |
88 (31) |
81 (27) |
70 (21) |
59 (15) |
49 (9) |
68 (20) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 29 (-2) |
31 (-1) |
39 (4) |
48 (9) |
58 (14) |
68 (20) |
73 (23) |
71 (22) |
64 (18) |
52 (11) |
42 (6) |
33 (1) |
51 (11) |
| Record low °F (°C) | -4 (-20) |
-7 (-22) |
11 (-12) |
15 (-9) |
32 (0) |
46 (8) |
54 (12) |
52 (11) |
40 (4) |
30 (-1) |
12 (-11) |
-2 (-19) |
-7 (-22) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 3.5 (88.9) |
3.1 (78.7) |
4.1 (104.1) |
3.1 (78.7) |
4.2 (106.7) |
3.3 (83.8) |
4.0 (101.6) |
4.1 (104.1) |
4.1 (104.1) |
3.2 (81.3) |
3.5 (88.9) |
3.7 (94) |
43.9 (1,115.1) |
| Source: The Weather Channel[31] September 2008 | |||||||||||||
[edit] Cityscape
[edit] Architecture
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 215 feet (65.5 m) 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. 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 44-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.
[edit] Tallest buildings
| Rank | Building | Height | Floors | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Legg Mason Building | 529 feet (161 m) | 40 | 1973 | [32] |
| 2 | Bank of America Building | 509 feet (155 m) | 37 | 1924 | [33] |
| 3 | William Donald Schaefer Building | 493 feet (150 m) | 37 | 1992 | [34] |
| 4 | Commerce Place | 454 feet (138 m) | 31 | 1992 | [35] |
| 5 | 100 East Pratt Street | 418 feet (127 m) | 28 | 1992 | [36] |
| 6 | Baltimore World Trade Center | 405 feet (123 m) | 32 | 1977 | [37] |
| 7 | Tremont Plaza Hotel | 395 feet (120 m) | 37 | 1967 | [38] |
| 8 | Charles Towers South Apartments | 385 feet (117 m) | 30 | 1969 | [39] |
| 9 | Blaustein Building | 360 feet (110 m) | 30 | 1962 | [40] |
| 10 | 250 West Pratt Street | 360 feet (110 m) | 24 | 1986 | [41] |
[edit] 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.[42] 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.
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 is a suburban residential area home to many of the city's upper class residents in neighborhoods such as the Roland Park-Homeland-Guilford-Cedarcroft area. The Northern region is home to many of Baltimore's notable universities such as Loyola College, 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.[43][44][45]
The Eastern region is the heart of what is considered "East Baltimore" and is home to Johns Hopkins Hospital. 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Culture
- See also: List of museums in Baltimore
Historically a working-class port town, Baltimore has sometimes been dubbed a "city of neighborhoods," with over 300 identified districts[46] 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 was 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 "Bawlmer" or "Ballmer," dropping with the "t" for the most part. The dialect is similar to that of many Marylanders, Virginians 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, local pronunciations of "Baldamore" or "Ballmore" have become common.
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.
See List of films shot in Baltimore, Maryland
[edit] 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 is an important regional opera company, and 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.[47]
Baltimore is home to the Pride of Baltimore Chorus, a 3-time International silver medalist women's chorus, affiliated with Sweet Adelines International. Baltimore is also proudly home of the New Wave Singers, Maryland's only LGBT chorus.
[edit] Notable Persons
[edit] Economy
Once an industrial town, with an economic base focused on steel processing, shipping, auto manufacturing, and transportation, Baltimore now has a modern service economy. Although deindustrialization took its toll on the city, costing residents tens of thousands of low-skill, high-wage jobs, the city is 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, Brown Advisory, Alex Brown, 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°, 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. The park, one of two such projects currently under construction in the city, will provide room for medical/technology start-ups as well as industry giants to tap into the wealth of knowledge in Baltimore. Baltimore is widely regarded as one of the world's most important repositories of medical knowledge.[citation needed]
[edit] Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1790 | 13,503 |
|
|
| 1800 | 26,514 | 96.4% | |
| 1810 | 46,555 | 75.6% | |
| 1820 | 62,738 | 34.8% | |
| 1830 | 80,620 | 28.5% | |
| 1840 | 102,313 | 26.9% | |
| 1850 | 169,054 | 65.2% | |
| 1860 | 212,418 | 25.7% | |
| 1870 | 267,354 | 25.9% | |
| 1880 | 332,313 | 24.3% | |
| 1890 | 434,439 | 30.7% | |
| 1900 | 508,957 | 17.2% | |
| 1910 | 558,485 | 9.7% | |
| 1920 | 733,826 | 31.4% | |
| 1930 | 804,874 | 9.7% | |
| 1940 | 859,100 | 6.7% | |
| 1950 | 949,708 | ||