Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Baltimore

BALTIMORE, the largest city of Maryland, on Patapsco river, about 14 miles from Chesapeake Bay, and on the Baltimore and Ohio, the Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and other railroads. It extends over 6 from E. to W. and between 4½ and 5 miles from N. to S., covering an area of 31½ square miles. Its convenient situation in relation to shipping has produced an increased industrial growth in recent years. One of the largest of these developments is the Sparrows Point plant of the Bethlehem Steel Co., which has grown to be one of the largest steel plants of the world, employing between 15,000 and 20,000 persons. Baltimore is one of the largest wholesale centers of the United States and acts as a distributing and jobbing point for a large area. It is on the threshold of the great Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia coal fields. Electric power is generated on a large scale from McCall's Ferry on the Susquehanna river. This supplies the power for the large industrial plants of the city. Baltimore is called the Monumental City, from the number of memorials found within its borders. These include the Washington Monument, Battle Monument, the Wells McComas, the William Wallace, the Howard, the Confederate, the Francis Scott Key, and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. The city is notable for the large number of handsome public buildings. These include the city hall, postoffice, custom house, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Masonic Temple, and a court house. The city is the center of a large agricultural and fruit-growing center and is notable for its public markets. It has one of the most excellent harbors on the Atlantic coast, and its growth as a port has been remarkably rapid in recent years. Shipbuilding is one of the most important of its industries and during the World War a large number of vessels were constructed in the shipbuilding yards of the city. There are over 30 miles of wharfage and water front within the city limits. A uniform depth of 35 feet is maintained up to the piers, providing for transatlantic steamships. Over $21,000,000 has been expended by the United States Government for improving the channel approaches. There is an elaborate system of municipally owned wharves, chiefly constructed of concrete, a number of large modern grain elevators with a total capacity of nearly 7,000,000 bushels, and a floating dock of 12 marine railways and three dry docks. Many steamship companies engaged in transatlantic and other foreign trade have their terminals in Baltimore. Local companies also operate over 70 steamers in the Chesapeake Bay in coastwise trade.

The city has many important educational institutions. The best known of these is the Johns Hopkins University. Others are St. Mary's Seminary, Loyola College, Culture College for Women, Morgan College (colored), and St. Joseph's Seminary (colored). There is an excellent system of public schools in which are enrolled over 80,000 pupils. The city is notable for many handsome churches, including a Roman Catholic Cathedral, Grace Episcopal Church, First Presbyterian Church, and others There are many large retail stores. The banking facilities are unusually good. The exchanges in the clearing house for the year 1919 amounted to $4,196,983,000. an increase of $1,291,911,000 over the previous year. The industries of the city are varied. Among the most important are men's, women's, and children's clothing, shipbuilding, public utility electric equipment, steel rails and products, automobiles, boilers, fertilizers, drugs, machinery, structural iron, chemicals, etc. The city was founded in 1729 and the advantage of its situation resulted in a growth which placed it ahead of older towns in trade. During the War of 1812 the city was attacked by land and water, but was successfully defended. During the bombardment of Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key, who was held on board a British vessel, composed “The Star Spangled Banner.” The construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal and the Baltimore and Ohio railroad resulted in rapid increase in the industrial importance of the city. It suffered severely from loss of trade during the Civil War, but the revival was rapid. On Feburary 7, 1904, fire destroyed most of the business center of the city, causing a loss of over $125,000,000. Within three years the burned area was practically rebuilt. The growth in population has been steady and rapid. Pop. (1890) 434,439; (1900) 508,957; (1910) 558,485; (1920) 732,826.