Arieal view of Baltimore CemetaryBaltimore, Maryland has quite a track record. Fires, riots, bombardments, you name it! Read on to learn about this historically brave and stubborn industrial seaside city.

  1. The world’s first dental school was founded in Baltimore in 1840. Check out the history of dentistry at the National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore.
  2. The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 destroyed 1,500 buildings and burned for 30 hours. This disaster leveled entire neighborhoods to the ground. Part of the reason it took so long to get the blaze under control was due to a problem with mismatched hose couplings. Indirectly, the fire contributed to the U.S. standardization of firefighting equipment. Baltimore’s mayor at the time refused outside help saying “Baltimore will take care of its own.”
  3. Edgar Allan Poe died of unknown causes in Baltimore in 1849 and is buried at Westminster Hall and Burial Grounds. A mysterious tradition began on the 100th anniversary of Poe’s death in 1949 when a black-cloaked figure left a bottle of cognac and three roses on Poe’s burial marker. This tradition has continued every year since, and no one knows the true identity of the admirer.
  4. Baltimore has been the stage for three major riots. A banking riot in 1835 was notable for being the worst riot in any antebellum city. In 1861, a riot began when Union troops marched into Baltimore during the American Civil War. More recently, following Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination in 1968, Baltimore’s population once again took to the streets. The effects of this last riot can still be seen in areas of Baltimore, and it is estimated that the riot cost the city $10 million.
  5. Francis Scott Key – the composer of our Star-Spangled Banner – witnessed the bombardment of Baltimore during the War of 1812 from a British ship in the harbor. His anthem is a description of the attack that he viewed from the water.
  6. In 2001, a train derailment in Baltimore’s Howard Street Tunnel ignited a chemical fire that burned for 4 to 5 days and shut down the city’s center. It was discovered that several of the cars derailed were carrying toxic materials.
  7. Baltimore is an “independent city” – meaning it is not part of Baltimore County – and it is treated by the state government as a “county-level” municipality.
  8. Maryland did not secede from the Union during the American Civil War even though it was a slave-holding state. However, Baltimoreans fiercely opposed Union troops marching through their city in 1861. The riot that ensued has been called the “first bloodshed of the Civil War.”
  9. Baltimore was an industrial city: in the 18th century it profited as a granary for sugar cane from the Caribbean. It was a leader in the shipbuilding industry and today is the caretaker of one of the most extensive military vessel collections in the world!
  10. The Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812 was a testament to American bravery, spirit, and character, as anti-British Baltimore held off 3,000 British troops at Fort McHenry. This battle has been called the “second war of independence.”