Page 30 - Port of Baltimore - Issue 3 - 2022

PORT VIEW 1927 | BALTIMORE
BY TINA IRGANG LEADERMAN
A View of Waterfront Workers from a Century Ago
ABaltimore Museum of Industry archivist discovered this photo during a review of images in the museum’s BGE collection that had not previously been digitized. (The BGE collection holds the contents of the utility company’s former research library.)
The image is dated April 7, 1927 and shows BGE’s Tug No. 1. It’s a rare view of workers onboard a tug apparently posing for a photographer on shore. BGE’s tugs used to be a common sight around the harbor, bringing coal to the utility’s generating plants.
Though nearly 100 years have passed since this image was taken, the Port and its surrounding businesses remain
major employment engines in the state. Altogether, the Port of Baltimore generates approximately 15,300 direct jobs, with nearly 140,000 jobs overall linked to Port activities.
That overall figure includes jobs with companies that choose to import and export their cargo through the Port, such as manufacturing firms, e-commerce distributors and automobile dealers. A study commissioned by the Maryland Port Administration found that Port activity generated $3.3 billion in personal wage and salary income for Maryland residents in 2017 alone, and that number has likely increased since then.
Here’s to another century of well-paid, family-sustaining jobs at Baltimore’s waterfront. 􏰀
The display image above is provided by The Baltimore Museum of Industry. Visit the museum for exhibitions and collections that document the lives of the workers who helped to propel this city to greatness. thebmi.org
[28] The Port of Baltimore ■ ISSUE 3 / 2022