Baltimore, Maryland, USA
1895 - Baltimore

Baltimore, a city and port of entry, the metropolis of the state of Maryland, is situated on an estuary of the Patapsco River (locally known as "The Basin"), 12 miles from its entrance into Chesapeake Bay, and 180 miles by ship-channel from the sea. Lat. 39° 17' N.; lon. 76°37' W. It is the terminus of the Baltimore & Ohio, Northern Central, Western Maryland, Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore, Baltimore & Potomac, Annapolis Short Line, and Maryland Central Railroads. Its harbor is spacious and secure: it has been deepened artificially to a minimum of 24 feet. The facilities for transfer of freight from the rail ways to the shipping are excellent; and in recent years the city has become one of the leading places of export in the United States, especially for the agricultural products of the West and South. It is built upon a succession of picturesque eminences; and the city and its surrounding: are regarded as surpassing nearly every other large city of the United States in variety and elegance. Its principal streets are broad, and traversed by street-cars and cable-railway; and many of its public and private buildings are noteworthy for size, beauty, and fine situation. There are several parks, and many fine public squares. Among the prominent buildings are the Catholic cathedral, the city hall, the custom house, the building of the Young Men's Christian Association, the masonic temple (destroyed by fire about Christmas, 1890), the Rialto (where the stock board meets), and the academy of music. The Washington, Wells & McComas, and Battle Monuments are prominent structures, and have given Baltimore the title of "the monumental city". It has also the first monument erected to Columbus in the United States (nearly a hundred years ago). A shot-tower 246 feet high, is a very conspicuous object. The city courthouse, the exchange, the athenaeum, the new post-office, the United States court-house, the building of the Maryland Institute and that of the Peabody Institute, as well as some of the railway stations and newspaper buildings, are architectural works of great elegance and magnitude...

There were, in 1892, in Baltimore, 22 national banks, with an aggregate capital of $13,243,260 and a circulation of $1,08300, besides which there were 5 state banks with a capital of $1,128,150. Baltimore has about 20 insurance companies, including life, fire, and marine companies.

Baltimore was founded in 1730, and incorporated as a city in 1797. The bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British, and the battle of North Point, where the citizens of Baltimore repelled the British advance, were important events of the war of 1812–15. Baltimore is the seat of a Catholic archbishop, the titular primate of the United States.

In 1770 the population was 13,503; in 1800, 26,514; in 1810, 35,938; in 1820, 62,738; in 1830, 80,625; in 1840, 102,313; in 1850, 160,054; in 1860, 212,418, in 1870, 267,354; in 1880, 332,313; in 1890, 434,439..

Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott

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