Baltimore
Baltimore names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Baltimore the chief city of Maryland
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the chief city of Maryland, and the metropolis of a large territory. It is named for Lord Baltimore, whose colors, orange and black, are worn by the familiar Baltimore oriole. It is built on a harbor-like spur of the Patapsco. This river is practically an arm of the Chesapeake. It is only fourteen miles in length, but it is navigable for ships of twenty-seven feet draught. In 1729 a farm occupying the site of the present heart of the city was laid off into blocks and streets. In 1752 there were but twenty-five houses, only four of which were of brick. At the opening of the Revolutionary War there were about 6,000 inhabitants. In the early part of the nineteenth century Baltimore was a rival of New York . The building of the Erie Canal and the railroads that lead through the long pass of the Hudson and Mohawk valleys decided the contest in favor of New York. Baltimore fell behind neither for lack of enterprise, nor on account of local facilities, but because the products of the west could reach the seaboard more cheaply by way of the Mohawk Valley than over the high ridges of the Appalachian Mountains. If a low pass had existed between the valley of the Ohio and that of the Potomac, it is probable that the chief commercial city of the United States would have been located on the Chesapeake, presumably at Baltimore. Nevertheless the city has prospered wonderfully. The Civil War gave it prestige by interfering with the business of southern rivals. Baltimore now has an area of nearly 32 square miles. The census of 1900 reported a population of 508,957, making Baltimore the sixth city in the Union. It is expected confidently that the next census will show a population of at least 600,000. In exports it ranks second in the Union and in imports it is fifth. The annual exports to foreign countries, including corn, small grain, flour, live stock, provisions, tobacco, boots, shoes, cotton, oysters, canned fruits, vegetables, and machinery, cannot be far from $120,000,000 in value. It is the American port of a number of trans-atlantic steamship lines, including the North German Lloyd, Hamburg-American, and the Red Star lines, and is also in regular communication by steamer with all the principal Atlantic ports from Halifax to New Orleans . A large number of railroads, including the Baltimore and Ohio, center here. According to the last census there were over 6,000 manufacturing establishments. They pay out not less than $30,000,000 a year in wages and sell $161,000,000 of goods. The chief products of these local industries are ships, flour, cotton, duck, canned fruit and vegetables, canned oysters, machinery, packed meats, fertilizers, beverages, tobacco, clothing, furniture, and planing-mill products. It is the leading oyster market in the world. From a fourth to a third of the world's supply of oysters is obtained from Baltimore. The various sections of the city meet at all sorts of angles. There are over 300 miles of cobblestone pavements. The public squares and principal parts of the city are beautifully laid out, well paved, surrounded by handsome buildings, and adorned with statues. The Washington Monument in Mt. Vernon Place is 180 feet in height, with a colossal statue of George Washington on the summit. A winding stairway of 220 steps within the shaft leads to the top, from which one can obtain a magnificent view of the Chesapeake, the Patapsco, the city, and its harbor guarded by old Fort McHenry, o'er which "the star spangled banner still waves." Among other memorials earning for Baltimore the title of the " Monumental City ," is one erected to commemorate those who lost their lives in defending the city against the British in 1814. Baltimore has been fortunate in the liberality of its wealthy merchants. The Peabody Institute, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, and the Johns Hopkins Hospital are memorials of the men whose names they bear. Maryland was settled largely by Catholics. Baltimore has long been the headquarters of that church in the United States. The chief dignitary, now Cardinal Gibbons, has his cathedral here. Forty-two Roman Catholic churches and thirty chapels with about 200 Protestant church buildings make Baltimore a city of churches. In addition to the public schools and a number of denominational and charitable institutions, Baltimore is fortunate in the possession of Johns Hopkins University, a richly endowed institution noted for scholarship. It does not offer courses in the lower years of college work, but devotes its energies to advanced instruction, in which it ranks favorably with the most renowned universities of Europe. In 1904 a great fire destroyed $50,000,000 worth of property. See Star Spangled Banner; Johns Hopkins; Chesapeake; Maryland ; Oyster
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the largest city of Maryland, on Patapsco river, about 14 miles from Chesapeake Chesapeake Ba Bay, and on the Baltimore and Ohio, the Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and other railroads. It extends over 6 from E. to W. and between 4/2 and 5 miles from N. to S., covering an area of 312 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 per- Baltimore is one of the largest sons. wholesale centers of the United States and acts as a distributing_and jobbing It is on the point for a large area. threshold of the great Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia coal fields. Electric power is generated on a large the scale from McCall's Ferry on 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 fruitgrowing 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. ps. Over $21,000,000 has been expended by the United States Government for improving the channel approaches. There is elaborate system of municipally an 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 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. ary, Loyola Others are St. Mary's Seminary, 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.
Baltimore GEORGE CALVERT, LORD
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
GEORGE CALVERT, LORD, an English colonist, born in Yorkshire about 1580; was for some time Secretary of State to James I., but this post he resigned in 1624 in consequence of having become a Roman Catholic. He retained the confidence of the King, who, in 1625, raised him to the Irish peerage. of land in Newfoundland, but left it, obtain- He had previously obtained a grant ing another patent for Maryland. He died (1632) before the charter was completed, and it was granted to his son, Cecil. BALTIMORE
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's confidence in 1910 that the next census would show "at least 600,000" was met, and Baltimore kept growing to a peak of about 950,000 in 1950 — but it has shrunk ever since, to roughly 585,000 in the 2020 census, dropping from sixth city in the Union to around thirtieth. The industrial base both accounts celebrate is gone: the Sparrows Point steelworks that Collier's noted in 1921 as a great new development closed in 2012, and the Chesapeake oyster fishery that once supplied "a fourth to a third of the world's supply" collapsed to a small fraction of its old harvest through overfishing and disease. The port survives, reoriented to containers and cars, though the Francis Scott Key Bridge across the Patapsco was destroyed on 26 March 2024 when the container ship Dali struck a support pier. What has held is the philanthropy the entries praise — Johns Hopkins University and Hospital, the Peabody, and the Enoch Pratt Free Library are all still going, and Hopkins is now the city's largest employer.
Written for this edition, 2026.