Baltimore: The Ballpark That Changed Baseball, Frederick Douglass Escapes in a Sailor Suit and the First Catholic Cathedral in the US
See how Camden Yards 1992 brick-and-warehouse design became the template for every new ballpark in America, climb Federal Hill where Union artillery aimed at Baltimore during the Civil War to watch the Inner Harbor panorama, follow Frederick Douglass from the Fells Point shipyard caulking apprenticeship to his 1838 escape disguised as a sailor, see the oldest Catholic cathedral in the US designed by Latrobe on Charles Street, understand Cal Ripken 2632 consecutive games at the Orioles park steps from M&T Bank Stadium, and take the 40-minute MARC train to Washington DC or the Acela north to New York.
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National Aquarium and Inner Harbor
The National Aquarium at 501 East Pratt Street in the Inner Harbor, opened in 1981 and consistently rated one of the top aquariums in the United States, draws over 1.3 million visitors annually with exhibits covering Atlantic coral reefs, Amazon River fish, Australian wildlife, and a dolphin pool. The dolphin program has been the subject of animal welfare controversy and the aquarium announced plans to retire its dolphins to a sanctuary rather than continue captive performances. The Inner Harbor development itself, opened to the public in the early 1980s, was one of the first large-scale American festival marketplace waterfront redevelopment projects and became a model for waterfront revitalization in dozens of cities. The Harborplace pavilions designed by Benjamin Thompson, the USS Constellation warship museum, the Maryland Science Center, and the historic ship exhibits at the Baltimore Maritime Museum complete the Inner Harbor complex.
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Charles Street and Homewood Campus
Charles Street, the primary north-south boulevard of Baltimore, runs 12 miles from the Inner Harbor through Mount Vernon, Roland Park, and northern suburbs. Mount Vernon, the historic neighborhood around the Washington Monument and cultural institutions, contains the Walters Art Museum, the Peabody Institute, and rows of 19th-century brownstones and townhouses. The Washington Monument in Mount Vernon, a 178-foot marble column completed in 1829, predates the Washington DC obelisk by 55 years and is the first major monument to George Washington. The Peabody Institute, the music conservatory founded by George Peabody in 1857 and now affiliated with Johns Hopkins, has one of the finest performing arts libraries in America. The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe and completed in 1821, was the first Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States.
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Frederick Douglass and Black Baltimore
Baltimore has profound significance in African American history, particularly through the life of Frederick Douglass, who was enslaved in the city as a teenager, learned to read in secret in defiance of laws forbidding literacy education for enslaved people, and escaped to freedom on September 3, 1838, disguised as a sailor using borrowed seaman papers. Douglass later became the most photographed American of the 19th century and the foremost orator and writer of the abolitionist movement. The Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park in Fells Point marks the area where Douglass learned caulking skills at the shipyards. Harriet Tubman spent the early years of her life in Dorchester County on the Eastern Shore 100 miles east of Baltimore before escaping north. The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture in downtown Baltimore houses the most comprehensive collection of Maryland Black history, including the history of the large free Black community in antebellum Baltimore.
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Federal Hill and South Baltimore
Federal Hill, the neighborhood south of the Inner Harbor centered on the park atop the 80-foot hill that overlooks downtown Baltimore and the harbor, is one of the most popular observation points in the city and was used during the Civil War to station a Union artillery battery aimed at Baltimore to prevent secessionist action. The Federal Hill neighborhood of rowhouses on the slope below the park is a popular residential and dining district. Cross Street Market on the southern slope of Federal Hill is a neighborhood market with fresh seafood vendors, bars, and restaurants. The neighborhoods of South Baltimore, including Locust Point, are seeing significant residential development. Fort McHenry, at the tip of a peninsula south of Federal Hill, is where Francis Scott Key watched the British bombardment in September 1814 and wrote the poem that became The Star-Spangled Banner, later set to music and adopted as the national anthem in 1931.
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Baltimore Orioles and Camden Yards
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, opened on April 6, 1992, is the ballpark that revolutionized baseball stadium design by introducing the concept of a retro-modern park integrating historic urban architecture into a new facility, making it the most influential stadium design of the past century and the template for every new ballpark built since. The B&O Warehouse beyond the right field wall, an 1898 brick building that once stored freight, is the most photographed architectural element in baseball park history. The Orioles have won three World Series championships in 1966, 1970, and 1983. Cal Ripken Jr., who played 2,632 consecutive games for the Orioles breaking Lou Gehrigs record in 1995, is the most celebrated Oriole and one of the most admired players in baseball history for combining durability, professionalism, and sustained excellence. Camden Yards is within walking distance of the Inner Harbor and M&T Bank Stadium, making Baltimore one of the most walkable sports districts in America.
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Baltimore Practical Guide and Neighborhoods
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, 10 miles south of downtown, is well served by Southwest Airlines and other carriers with connections across the United States and to Europe. The MARC commuter train connects Baltimore Penn Station to Washington DC Union Station in about 40 minutes. Amtrak Acela service connects Baltimore to New York in under 3 hours and to Washington DC in 40 minutes. The Baltimore Charm City Circulator, a free bus circulating through the Inner Harbor, Fells Point, Federal Hill, and Mount Vernon, facilitates car-free exploration of the core. Baltimore is one of the most walkable of the mid-Atlantic cities for core sightseeing. The city faces significant violent crime concentrated in specific areas, and visitors to tourist destinations are generally unaffected. Average July temperature is 87 degrees Fahrenheit with high humidity. Spring and fall are most pleasant. Baltimore rowhouse neighborhoods including Fells Point, Federal Hill, and Hampden offer distinctive accommodation options.