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n 1919, the Port of Baltimore ranked fifth among East Coast
ports in foreign trade — tantamount to being in last place.
Without the prospect of more cargoes, Baltimore couldn’t attract
more shippers. And vice-versa.
So the Export and Import Board of Trade and the Industrial
Bureau of the Board of Trade (which subsequently merged to
become the Baltimore Association of Commerce) hatched a plan
to entice both industry and shipping simultaneously. To attract
shippers, Baltimore put out the word that more industry was
coming. And to get industry’s attention, Baltimore announced that
more shipping lines were on the way. The city boldly played both
ends against the middle — and won. Both cargo tonnage and the
steamship lines increased, the latter reaching 89 by 1955.
The lesson? Well-paying jobs and sustained economic growth
don’t materialize out of thin air. It took planning by Baltimore’s
business community — leaders intent on developing fully the
Port’s potential — to make it happen.
The next year, Baltimore’s business leaders did it again. The
Fidelity and Deposit Company of Baltimore, a leading national
bonding and insurance agency, used the Port to showcase Maryland
to America’s financial community, and market the state to outside
investors. In 1920, F&D organized a harbor tour for more than
3,000 top-ranked bankers, who boarded two excursion steamers in
Locust Point, circled the upper and lower harbors, then proceeded
down the Bay to Annapolis escorted by a U.S. Navy destroyer.
The tour was hailed as a stroke of visionary genius by Balti-
more’s newspapers, who editorialized about the long-term value
of impressing national financial decision-makers.
On “Black Thursday,” October 24, 1929, six weeks after peaking,
the stock market plunged. The next week, on “Black Tuesday,”
the bottom dropped out of America’s financial markets. If Mary-
land fared better than other states during the Great Depression,
it generally has been attributed to the state’s economic diversity,
which issues from the Port.
Facing page, far left: Covered
lighterage barges — large,
flat-bottomed vessels —pro-
tected cargoes in transit from
ship to shed. Facing page, right:
Seasonal produce was delivered
under sail to LongWharf at the
Inner Harbor in 1936. Cargo
booms assisted in offloading.
if maryland fared better than other states
during the great depression, it generally
has been attributed to the state’s economic
diversity, which issues from the port.
Business Steps Up
