18
visual sweep of the harbor area from atop Federal Hill after
the war gave early evidence that the multiplier effect of
maritime commerce — its ability to multiply investment dollars
by spinning off new business from other sectors linked into the
maritime chain — had taken firm hold on Baltimore’s economy.
Below was the Port’s first shipyard, at the foot of Federal Hill,
opened in 1773 by Thomas Morgan, and a groundswell of other
start-ups, clusters of small shipyards ringed by woodworks and
metal works. Before too long, engine shops, breweries, small iron
and steel mills, fertilizer and chemical plants, and ice storage
houses would dot the shoreline.
Toward the Inner Harbor area were wharves and markets,
wholesalers and shippers, while Fell’s Point’s waterfront was a
forest of masts and canvas. Further south downriver in Canton
the
Constellation
, America’s first frigate, was launched from David
Stodder’s Boston Street shipyard on Harris Creek in 1797.
In 1783, nine warders — the equivalent of present-day port
commissioners — were authorized to survey and chart the basin,
harbor and Patapsco River, clear and measure the main channel,
and charge all vessels using it.
That same year, work was completed on a block-long canal
extending from the harbor up to Water Street. The canal area — a
base of operations for Captain John Daniel Daniels’ privateers —
was called Cheapside, a name taken from a disreputable dockside
in London. Wharf timbers from the canal, which was earthed
over in 1814 to extend Pratt Street across the Port’s northern
boundary, were unearthed during the 1984 construction of The
Gallery opposite Harborplace.
Baltimore’s population doubled during the 1790s. Baltimore
Town became Baltimore City in 1797; formalities were delayed until
the General Assembly agreed to demands from Fell’s Pointers to
be exempted from paying taxes to deepen the harbor.
Growing maritime trade, and increasingly complex commercial
transactions, necessitated the need for more sophisticated fi-
nancial services. State legislators authorized the establishment of
the Bank of Maryland in 1790, and in 1792 the Baltimore branch
of the Bank of the United States opened for business. Banks
stimulated the regional economy by establishing paper money as
a medium of exchange, and increased available credit. Word of
Baltimore’s ascendancy was spread on the pages of its six newspa-
pers. The first federal census in 1790 reported that Baltimore Town
was America’s fifth most populous urban area with 13,503 people.
East met west in Colonial America the day Captain John
O’Donnell sailed into Baltimore’s harbor in 1785 aboard his
merchant frigate, the
Pallas
. Among his crew of Moors and Malays
were several thought to be the first Chinese to set foot in America.
His exquisite cargo of rare teas, silks, satins and china set tongues
wagging, including that of George Washington, who inquired about
their price. O’Donnell bought nearly 2,000 acres of waterfront
property east of Fell’s Point, built a lavish Oriental-styled home,
and named his estate Canton, after the port city in south China
whose freewheeling trade had already made him a rich man. His
heirs created the Canton Company, which became integral in
Baltimore’s maritime and industrial scheme of things.
Above: A view from
Federal Hill circa 1831
shows the harbor skyline.
Some early harbor buildings
are still standing.
Facing page: The
Constellation
,
America’s first frigate, leaves
the harbor to call at the Naval
Academy in Annapolis.
Multiplier Effect
A
