port
VIEW
L
ast year, Baltimore led the East Coast in imports of
gypsum. Mined in various parts of the world, this
fine mineral has been used since Egyptian times to
make plaster for art and construction. It is the primary
ingredient in drywall.
This photo from several decades ago shows a ship offloading
gypsum at the U.S. Gypsum (USG) pier near Hawkins Point in
Curtis Bay. U.S. Gypsum lays claim to the invention of plasterboard,
developed in 1910. Gypsum is sandwiched between sheets of
paper creating a “wallboard.” After WWII, home construction
boomed as veterans returned and whole communities sprang
STORY BY KATHY BERGREN SMITH
The Journey of Gypsum
up. The quick installation of wallboards, rather than the slower
process of plastering, made the product virtually indispensable.
But there is another interesting piece to this photo: The USG
pier is located on Quarantine Road, so named because this area,
remote from the population center of the Inner Harbor, served as a
quarantine site for ships arriving from overseas and needing to be
cleared of carrying any disease. The station included a leper house
and delousing facility. In 1961, as infectious diseases became
more clearly understood and controlled, the station closed. Today,
agricultural specialists from U.S. Customs and Border Protection
inspect vessels pierside for potential invasive pests.
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The Port of Baltimore
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November/December 2013
