POINTS OF INTEREST (START TO FINISH)
Lebanese Taverna lebanesetaverna.com, 719 S. President St., 410-244-5533
Cinghiale cgeno.com, 822 Lancaster St., 410-547-8282
Katyn Massacre Memorial katynbaltimore.com, S. President St. roundabout
President Street Station / Baltimore Civil War Museum 601 President St., 443-220-0290
The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture 830 E. Pratt St., 443-263-1800
Miss Shirley’s Café missshirleys.com, 750 E. Pratt St., 410-528-5373
Port Discovery Children’s Museum portdiscovery.org, 35 Market Pl., 410-727-8120
Power Plant Live! powerplantlive.com, 34 Market Pl., 410-752-5483
National Pinball Museum nationalpinballmuseum.org, 608 Water St., 443-438-1241
For more general information about the area and development, visit harboreast.com.
ROUTE SUMMARY
1 Start at S. Caroline St., between Lancaster St. and Thames St.
2 Turn left onto Lancaster St.
3 Turn right onto S. President St.
4 Cross S. President St. east to visit the Reginald F. Lewis Museum on E. Pratt St.
5 Cross S. President St. west to visit Port Discovery and Power Plant Live!.
Lancaster St. harbor promenade
6 FELLS POINT: SEVERAL WORLDS IN ONE
BOUNDARIES: S. Caroline St., Philpot St., Fell St., S. Wolfe St., Bank St.
DISTANCE: 2.5 miles
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
PARKING: Garage and street parking on S. Caroline St., near Lancaster St. Street and meter parking in the heart of Fells Point, but restrictions and many people vying for spots make parking difficult, depending on time of day.
PUBLIC TRANSIT: MTA bus #11 runs along Fleet St.; MTA buses #10 and #30 run along Broadway. The water taxi stops at Broadway Pier.
This part of Baltimore has been around for a while. Yes, Old Town and Jonestown are older, but they would be unrecognizable to a time traveler from the 18th century. Much of Fells Point, on the other hand, looks very much like it did a couple of centuries ago. The entire neighborhood is a National Historic District, with more than 160 individual buildings on the National Register. The Englishman William Fell was a speculator on the prowl for good shipbuilding land when he made his purchase in 1726, naming it Fell’s Prospect. His son Edward began laying out the streets, giving them names that reminded him of the mother country. Eventually, Edward sold off plots of land, and by 1763 the area known as Fells Point was born; it was incorporated into Baltimore-Town in 1773. In addition to that colonial history, Fells Point possesses sites important to Frederick Douglass, for my money one of the most extraordinary humans this country has ever produced. But if all this history and colonial beauty isn’t enough for you, Fells Point also happens to have some of Baltimore’s best bars and restaurants. And if Latin food is your thing, Upper Fells Point is the place to be. It’s little wonder that after the Inner Harbor, Fells Point is probably Baltimore’s next stop for out-of-towners. But a walk here also has the power to remind locals why they do (or should) love this city. Every October, more than half a million people descend on the neighborhood for the Fells Point Fun Festival, held annually for almost 50 years now. The Annual Historic Harbor House Tour of Fells Point has been held every Mother’s Day for almost as long. It’s a great opportunity to see inside some of these colonial beauties. And, of course, there are several commercial ghost tours of Fells Point. Indeed, this neighborhood, with its long history of brothels and bars, is haunted by several ghosts. Fells Point is several worlds in one, all of them a treat.
Start on S. Caroline St., south of Lancaster St. As you head toward the water, passing the Living Classrooms site, you’ll first come across a large open area on your right, just past Dock St. The site extends southward for several blocks, past Philpot St., named for Brian Philpot Jr., who emigrated from England to Baltimore in the mid- to late 1700s. This is the AlliedSignal Site, where, in 1845, Isaac Tyson Jr. founded the country’s first bichromate plant. The factory processed chromium until the late 1990s. The site underwent extensive environmental cleanup and awaits reuse. Perhaps it’s apocryphal, but some historians believe that the term “hooker” originated on this slice of land, as it was originally shaped like a hook and many prostitutes used to ply their trade here. In an 1846 speech in England, Frederick Douglass recalled the ghastliness of this area: “Many a night have I been wakened in Philpotts-street, Baltimore, by the passing-by, at midnight, of hundreds of slaves, carrying their chains and fetters and uttering cries and howlings, almost enough to startle the dead. They were going to the market to work in cotton or sugar, going off to be killed in the space of five or six years, in the swamps of Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana.”
At the end of S. Caroline St., where it intersects with Philpot St., continue heading straight toward the water and you will soon come to the Frederick Douglass–Isaac Myers Maritime Park. This is a unique museum, focusing on the extraordinary lives of its two namesakes. While many recognize Frederick Douglass, Isaac Myers remains a little-known figure. But his life was also astonishing. Myers owned and operated a shipyard, the Chesapeake Marine Railway & Dry Dock Company, just one block west at Philpot and Wills Sts.; he was the first African American in the country to own and run a shipyard. Just outside the front door of the museum is a repair site for historic ships. In between is a bust of Frederick Douglass. Artist Marc Andre Robinson created and installed this striking sculpture in 2006. Douglass’s presence here next to the ship repair facility is apropos; during slavery he worked these very docks as a ship caulker. See the “Back Story” for more on Douglass.
Turn around to head back in the direction of S. Caroline St., but take a right onto Thames St. The street’s name is meant to mirror London’s famous river. If asking directions, however, don’t be surprised to hear the name pronounced several different ways: “Thames” with a long “a”; “Tems,” like the river; and “Thames” with a soft “th.” (Most Baltimoreans either pronounce it with a hard “T” and long “a” or with a “th” at the top.) In another block, you’ll come to Bond St. To your right is the brightly painted Bond St. Wharf, a renovated retail and office space complex. On the corner of Thames St. and Bond St., at 1532–34 Thames, used to be a house owned by George Wells. He owned and operated a shipyard across the street and received the Continental Congress’s commission for the Virginia, the first ship of the navy for a country on the brink of a revolution. Wells went on to build many other ships as part of a fleet of shipbuilders throughout Fells Point; many of these ships saw action in the War of 1812. Today, the CanUSA corporation, a paper-recycling company, has its headquarters in this renovated building. Connected to the Wells House, on the corner at 854 S. Bond St., is the façade of the old London Coffee House (1752), the last surviving colonial-era coffee house in the United States. Here, pre-Revolutionary patriots met to talk about the coming insurrection