he Port’s outbound trade — whose value climbed from
$2,027,000 in 1790 to $16,610,000 in 1799 — was the only thing
rising faster than the number of Baltimore-area incorporations.
Cargoes spilled out of more than 170 warehouses around the Port;
most contained exports to be shipped out, but there also were
incoming finished imports, life’s finer things like choice bed linens
for Baltimore’s emerging upscale market.
Baltimore and its port were both moving up in the rankings:
By the turn of the century, the commercial value of the Port’s
cargoes was third-highest nationally, and Baltimore was America’s
third biggest city with 26,524 residents.
The Port’s East Coast trade now roamed between Rhode
Island and South Carolina, and from London to Lisbon abroad,
with stops in China, the Caribbean and the Canary Islands.
Rumblings from the business community that congestion would
limit the Port’s growth pushed the issue to the top of Baltimore’s
agenda. Wharves were extended with the help of new machinery
capable of driving piles to accommodate the Port’s burgeoning
trade, and channels were dredged regularly, as Baltimore’s develop-
ment advanced block by block across the downtown marshland,
and pier by pier along the waterfront.
By the early 1800s, just several decades removed from the time
when a solitary finger pier was all that met the eye, the Port’s creep
began to command a greater share of Baltimore Town’s shoreline,
presaging its eventual need to push downriver.
The magnitude of the modern-day Port of Baltimore, extending
over a 40-square-mile area of the Patapsco River waterfront,
exceeds the easy grasp of casual observers. But inadequate space
for maritime operations, which concerned Baltimoreans two
centuries ago, continues to vex the waterfront community today.
Ports occupy America’s choice coastal real estate, parcels
hotly coveted for residential development and recreation. Ports
typically are also in heavily-congested urban areas, boxed-in by
extensive infrastructure such as railroads, industrial sites and
power plants — a tight fit leaving little room to expand.
The heavy increase in foreign trade volume, projected to double
within 10 years, has exceeded already the capacity of many major
U.S. ports, which sometimes must turn away business, or trans-
port overflow goods many miles away for temporary keeping,
increasing operating costs and sending business into the arms
of their competitors.
Facing page: The view from the
HarborView tower, whichwas
built on the site of the graving
dock of the BethlehemSteel Key
Highway repair yard. Top: Cargo
is unloaded at Canton in 1935
froma sailing ship. Above: Forest
products, a key Port commod-
ity, await shipment at BalTerm’s
South Locust Point terminal.
B
altimore, Inc.
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