Baltimore | History, Population, & Facts - Encyclopedia Britannica

The contemporary city

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Baltimore is now a major seaport with ship-repair facilities and a highly diversified economy. The port opens to the sea through Chesapeake Bay and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and is a major automobile-shipping point. Services, including health care, education, finance, and insurance, are a major component of the economy. The headquarters of the Federal Social Security Administration is in the city, and other federal government services and the military are also important. Manufactures include automobiles, electronics, steel, processed foods, paper and plastic products, and aircraft parts.

The city is part of the busy Northeast Corridor passenger rail system. Baltimore/Washington International Airport, just south of the city, also serves Washington, D.C. The Baltimore Harbor (1957) and Fort McHenry (1985) tunnels and Francis Scott Key Bridge (1977) cross the Patapsco River. The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on March 26, 2024, after being struck by a ship. There is a dense network of interstate highways and other roads between Baltimore and Washington.

Baltimore and the surrounding area is a centre of higher education. Located there are the renowned Johns Hopkins University (1876), which includes the Peabody Institute Conservatory of Music (1857; affiliated with Johns Hopkins since 1977); Coppin State University (1900), Towson University (1866), the University of Maryland, Baltimore (1807), and the University of Baltimore (1925), all part of the University of Maryland system; Loyola University Maryland (1852); the Notre Dame of Maryland University (1873); Morgan State University (1867); the Maryland Institute College of Art (1826); Goucher College (1885); and Baltimore City Community College (1947).

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Among the city’s other cultural institutions are the Enoch Pratt Free Library (1882), the Baltimore Museum of Art (1914), the Walters Art Museum (1934; formerly called Walters Art Gallery), a symphony orchestra, and opera and theatre companies. The Baltimore Civil War Museum (1997) has exhibits on the city’s role in the Underground Railroad. The Inner Harbor area, revitalized in the 1980s, includes the National Aquarium in Baltimore and other attractions.

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In 1789 Baltimore became the first Roman Catholic diocese in the United States, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1806–21) was the nation’s first Roman Catholic cathedral; St. Mary’s Seminary and University was founded in 1791. The Shot Tower (1828) is a 234-foot (71-metre) shaft once used to manufacture round shot. The Washington Monument (1829), a 178-foot (54-metre) Doric column, was designed by architect Robert Mills, who later designed the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Hampton National Historic Site, Aberdeen Proving Ground, and Pimlico Race Course (home of the Preakness Stakes) are nearby, as are several state parks, including Gunpowder Falls (northeast), Hart-Miller Island (east), North Point (southeast), and Patapsco Valley (west).

The city’s representatives in professional sports are the Orioles (baseball) and the Ravens (American football). The celebrated Oriole Park at Camden Yards (1992), just west of the Inner Harbor, was the first of the retro-style ballparks designed to look like those built in the early 20th century. Near the stadium is the birthplace of baseball player Babe Ruth, preserved as a shrine and museum, as well as the grave of another Baltimore native, writer Edgar Allan Poe. The Lacrosse Museum and National Hall of Fame at Johns Hopkins University attests to the popularity of the old Native American game in Baltimore.

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