Note: I decided not to provide links to individual pictures. The link above has them all. It is much easier for me, and, I think, for you, too.
Today I for the first time realized what an interesting place Baltimore is. The city is almost three hundred year old, and its history is quite rich. After being the site of a major battle in the War of 1812 that inspired the American Anthem, it became one of the major ports on US East coast. Thus it developed as one of the commercial, manufacturing, and transportation centers of the industrial revolution. To this day, it is very much a working-class city, and it would probably be fair to call it the southernmost tip of the Rust Belt. in 1904, a fire destroyed most of the historical part of the city, but in a few years the city was rebuilt. After 1950s, the city started to decline, as did the manufacturing sector in general, but with revival of the Inner Harbor area (by then consisting of mostly abandoned warehouses and other similar structures) started in the late 1970s, the city gained a new life.
The industrial decay, however, led to accidental preservation of many historical structures, which otherwise might have been demolished. Here are a few things I photographed today.
Phoenix Shot Tower
This chimney-like structure is a shot tower. It has been to to make lead shots that are heavily used in hunting. Lead was melted at the top of the tower, then poured through a sieve which made it into little droplets. As they descended, the droplets solidified and gained spherical shape, and then fell into the water reservoir below. The pellets were then sorted and polished largely by mechanical means.
This particular Shot Tower was built in 1828 and was in operation until 1892. It is 215 feet (65.5 meters) tall, and until 1864 it was the tallest structure in the US.
Historic Ships in the Inner Harbor
A few historic vessels are on display at the Inner Harbor. I cannot say much about them now, as they are a subject for my future visits. Below is a picture of USS Torsk, a submarine built in 1944, which is well camouflaged against the National Aquarium Building.
Power Plant
Another landmark of the glorious industrial past is the Power Plant in the Inner Harbor. Unfortunately, it is hard to find information about that industrial past, it has been completely overshadowed by its commercial present.
Luckily, some of its interior is preserved, such as the smokestacks at Barnes & Noble bookstore.
Rails on Light Street
There are rails right in the middle of the Southbound lane of Light Street. After some research, I realized this is not an uncommon sight in Baltimore, as there were many railroad lines around the port and many streetcar lines throughout the city. Unfortunately, with the development boom, many of them disappear. This particular spur branching to the right was leading to the McCormick company plant (producing condiments), that was on Light Street until 1988.
Heritage Walk
Apparently, this is a trail connecting some of the city's attractions. It has plaques in many languages embedded in the pavement. I just find this Russian translation very funny, especially since Baltimore has a huge Russian population.
To those of you who do not know the language, the only sensible interpretation of those two words that I could think of would mean something like, "They spend their inheritance away." Or maybe even "They drink their inheritance away."
Sources
A lot of the dates and general information on this page come from Wikipedia (articles on Baltimore and Phoenix Shot Tower). In addition, an article on shot towers has pictures of shot towers from around the world. Also, special thanks to the tower historian, who introduced himself as Henry, and told us a lot of interesting things about the tower and the city.
The story behind the railroad spur comes form the site called Baltimore Ghosts and is verified by chronology on McCormick website.
