Presented by the Baltimore National Heritage Area

This is a one-hour presentation that takes the attendee through the 19th century, from an agrarian town to a center of commerce and industry.

Few of us have thought about the Industrial revolution since middle school but it was at the heart of Baltimore becoming a center for commerce, business and industry. When the 19thcentury opened, a few villages destined to become Baltimore were modest centers of trade. Dependent on Europe for both trade and financing, these villages left behind, slowly at first, their agrarian roots as the new century matured.

Immigrants flowed in, village centers merged and Baltimore became an important business and industry center. Ores, coal, wheat, cotton and of course, in the midst of it all, the humble oyster became king. Baltimore was “oyster town” with its hundred packing-houses lining the waterfront. Shipbuilding, shipping companies, then railroads each had and have a continuing role in making Baltimore an important center for commerce.