Baltimore, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

A History of Firsts in Baltimore

The Baltimore Museum of Industry

By Don Morfe, April 14, 2017

1. A History of Firsts in Baltimore Marker

Inscription. From its founding in 1729, Baltimore’s proximity to the Chesapeake Bay was the engine that drove commerce, trade and industry. The most inland port on the eastern seaboard, Baltimore boomed as a leading city, center of industrial innovation and transportation hub linking the National Road, the B&O Railroad and the Bay. The Baltimore Museum of Industry celebrates and explores this side of Baltimore, highlighting the city’s many first---from the invention of the first railroad and first artificial lighting to the manufacture of the first umbrellas.

The hands-on museum displays Baltimore’s major industries over 100 years in shipping, printing, garments, machining, broadcasting, food canning, and even a corner pharmacy. Just outside you can visit the coal-fired S.S. Baltimore, the only operating steam tugboat on the East Coast and a National Historic Landmark, once used to guide larger commercial vessels in and out of port and into the Chesapeake Bay.

(Inscription beside the image in the upper center)
Canning the Bay’s Bounty
The Baltimore Museum of Industry is located in the original 130 old old Plant Oyster building, the only surviving cannery structure (the balance of the text is not legible).

Chesapeake Connection>/b>
Although the Chesapeake Bay will produce about 500 million pounds of seafood

By Don Morfe, April 14, 2017

2. A History of Firsts in Baltimore Marker
The Maryland Science Center is in the background.

each year, the Bay’s oyster population has declined dramatically since the late 1970s, due to a combination of over harvesting, disease, and pollution. Today the local oyster population’s at about 2 percent of historic levels.

Location. 39° 16.927′ N, 76° 36.703′ W. Marker is in Baltimore, Maryland. Marker is on Light Street. Touch for map. The marker is located in the Baltimore Inner Harbor boardwalk not far from the Science Center. Marker is in this post office area: Baltimore MD 21202, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Baltimore’s Part in Saving the Bay (within shouting distance of this marker); United States Merchant Seamen Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); The Olmsted Legacy (within shouting distance of this marker); Port of Baltimore (within shouting distance of this marker); Pride of Baltimore (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Generating Electricity from the Sun (about 400 feet away); The Great Baltimore Fire (about 400 feet away); Admiral Guillermo Brown (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Baltimore.

Categories. • Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels •

By Don Morfe, April 14, 2017

3. A History of Firsts in Baltimore Marker
The Baltimore Harbor is in the background

Credits. This page was last revised on April 24, 2017. This page originally submitted on April 22, 2017, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 192 times since then and 67 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 22, 2017, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.