history
IN BALTIMORE
A
must-visit for history buffs, the Locust Point
neighborhood is best known as home to Fort
McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine.
The fort, which defended the Baltimore harbor against the
British during the War of 1812, was the inspiration for Francis
Scott Key’s “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Today, visitors
can tour the fort and learn all about the flag and its role
during the war. And just a few blocks away is the Baltimore
Immigration Museum, which documents the city’s history
as one of the largest ports of entry in the 19th and early 20th
centuries. Plus, this neighborhood offers a bonus feature:
Visible across the Patapsco river is the Domino Sugar sign,
a landmark 120-foot neon sign that’s been shining over
Baltimore for more than 60 years.
Interested in maritime history? Docked along the edges of the
Inner Harbor are a few historic ships ready to explore. Take a
tour of the U.S.S. Constellation, built in 1855 for the U.S. Navy
and now holding court as the only surviving ship from the
Civil War. Nearby, find three additional ships and a lighthouse
that all detail marine experiences between the mid-1800s and
the 1980s. A few blocks north, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum
of Maryland African American History and Culture explores
more than 400 years of history in its wide-ranging collection,
which features themes of family, community, slavery and art.
Established in 1763, Fell’s Point is home to the oldest
standing residence in Baltimore, the Robert Long House
(open to tours by reservation) and a host of historic charm,
right down to the Belgian stone-block streets. Along the
Fort McHenry
water, head to the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime
Park, located in one of the city’s oldest waterfront buildings,
to learn about African American contributions to Baltimore’s
maritime industries.
As one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, Mount Vernon
is worth a visit just to ogle the stately 19th-century homes.
But the area is also dotted with historical treasures, from the
Washington Monument (the first in the country) and
the Walters Art Museum (set in an early 1900s gallery and
an adjacent restored townhouse from the mid-1850s) to the
magnificent George Peabody Library. The stunning library is
aptly nicknamed “The Cathedral of Books” for its five tiers of
ornamental cast-iron balconies that house more than 300,000
volumes of mostly 19th-century books. Just a few blocks away
is the Maryland Historical Society, which preserves state
history through its collection of more than 350,000 objects
and seven million books and documents. Visit the group’s
NEIGHBORHOODS
1729
BALTIMORE
ESTABLISHED
AS A CITY
1774
Lovely Lane Meeting House,
America’s first Methodist
church, was built. The original
site still houses an active
congregation and a museum of
Methodist history.
1798
Fort McHenry is built; the
first by the U.S. government.
1806
The Basilica of the National
Shrine of the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
is the first Roman Catholic
cathedral built in the U.S.
1814
Our national anthem,
“The Star-Spangled
Banner,” was written by
Francis Scott Key at Fort
McHenry during the
War of 1812.
38 BALTIMORE.ORG