July 30, 2009

Happy 280th Birthday, Baltimore

Commenter Gail reminded me that today’s Baltimore’s 280th birthday. The city was founded in 1729 and is named after Lord Baltimore who was the first Governor of the State of Maryland. baltimore 5 copy

Soon after that, my family arrived and gave birth to the first white child born in Baltimore. I am the 12th generation of my family to live in this city.Poes Grave

As I’ve said before, Baltimore gets a bad rap, mostly as a result of The Wire, a HBO show filmed here, which explored the drug culture of the city. But I’ve also said that The Wire only represents a small portion of the city.Evergreen 003

I’ve worked hard to show you a lot of the good things about Baltimore including the beautiful architecture, the vibrant cultural life, the great restaurants (oh, that’s my food blog), the 300 years of history surrounding us, the great people and much more. Constellation 089

Like any city of its size and age, Baltimore has some problems, but there are so many good things about the city that I try to celebrate in my posts.Picture 230Baltimore is one of those places that just sucks you back. I am still friends with people whom I’ve known since I was a child, and there’s a short-hand here natives know by heart. There’s a family history here that assures me that I belong here. I will probably move back to England one day (the other half of my family is there and I am first generation on that side), but for now, Baltimore’s home.11-15 007Happy Birthday, Baltimore, and many many more!

13 comments:

  1. wow - that is amazing - the first white child born there! I wonder what other races were before - just Indian? interesting!!! very very very. and impressive too to have such longevity in America. My own city is not even half as old as yours!! And mostly we are all new here - after Detroit collapsed the first time in the 80s, I think every auto worked moved down to Texas. We even had bumper stickers that said I'm a Native, or Go Back Home Yankee. haha.

    Happy Birthday!

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  2. Beautiful pictures of your city. Happy Birthday!

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  3. I lived in Baltimore only 2 1/2 years and I feel the same way. It sucks me back, it's home. It's where I tell people I'm from when I'm away.

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  4. Baltimore is a beautiful city. I've always liked it a lot. Lucky you to have such an interesting heritage.

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  5. Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures on our fine city's birthday!

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  6. Though, to be 100% completely accurate....

    The Port of Baltimore was founded 1706. Baltimore Town was founded 1729. The City of Baltimore was incorporated in 1797 when Baltimore Town, Jonestown (at the mouth of the Jones Falls), and Fells Point were joined.

    Great pictures.....

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  7. Beautiful city, beautiful sunsets. Thanks for sharing Meg!

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  8. Thanks so much for those beautiful pictures. I didn't realize you had such a long background in Baltimore. I have to admit WBJC 91.5 had reminded me that morning. Interesting that "N" came through with all of those other dates.

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  9. First of all, I have to say - I came across your blog somehow, and I just love it!

    Secondly, I was born & raised in Bmore and love so much. I usually do a "on this day in history" post, so I hope you don't mind me doing my own version celebrating our city's birthday. THANK YOU for the reminder! :)

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  10. This is a really lovely post, Meg, thank you. Baltimore does have something special about it that makes it home, doesn't it?

    And 12 generations? That's amazing!

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  11. Thank you for loving Baltimore. It's my home town, too! I live in Detroit. Anyone who thinks Baltimore is a dump needs to come visit me. Better yet, read my husband's blog called Tour de Hood. He rides his bike all over Detroit detailing its decay.

    Baltimore has history and its own accent and its own food. It has more than 3 restaurants. I just spent 10 days there. It's hard to say good-bye.

    Happy Birthday, Hon

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  12. I love Baltimore. Don't tell Philly I said this but it feels like a more genteel version of Philly to me.

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  13. What a nice birthday card to your hometown! It's been a while since I last visited, but I really liked the Inner Harbour (cliche, huh?).

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