Baltimore

Baltimore, Maryland is a city on the east coast of the United States. It is located on the Chesapeake Bay, giving it good water access up the Susquehanna River, south to the Atlantic Ocean, and northeast through a canal to the Delaware Bay.

History

Maryland was unique among the colonies in being founded by Catholics under Lord Baltimore. It's presence helped ensure that guarantees of religious freedom were written into the constitution.

During the War of 1812, Fort McHenry resisted British shelling, preventing a British invasion and inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the national anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner.

Prior to and following the Civil War, Baltimore was home to a large community of free blacks.

The Hampden neighborhood had a flourishing sailcloth industry for many years.

Today Baltimore is known for blue crabs, and the movies of John Waters. Several cop shows have been inspired by the city, mainly stemming from the work of David Simon, a reporter for the Baltimore Sun who spent a year shadowing homicide detectives and then wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.