Walking Baltimore. Evan Balkan
on S. Broadway and then turn right.
6 Turn right onto Thames St.
7 Turn around and head east on Thames St.
8 Take a left onto S. Ann St.
9 Return to Thames St. and take a left onto Fell St.
10 Go north on S. Wolfe St.
11 Take a left onto Lancaster St.
12 Take a right onto S. Ann St.
13 Take a right onto Aliceanna St.
14 Take a left onto S. Wolfe St.
15 Return to Aliceanna St. and take a right.
16 Take a right onto S. Broadway to visit Upper Fells Point.
17 Head south on S. Broadway and take a right onto Fleet St.
18 Turn right onto S. Dallas St.
19 Return to Fleet St. and turn right.
20 Turn left onto S. Caroline St.
Frederick Douglass bust
7 CANTON & BREWERS HILL: OLD INDUSTRY AND RENEWED WATERFRONT
BOUNDARIES: S. Boston St., S. Conkling St., S. Lakewood St., Dillon St., S. Clinton St.
DISTANCE: 2.5 miles
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
PARKING: All along route, but free and easy parking can be found at Canton Crossing and the Canton Waterfront Park.
PUBLIC TRANSIT: Water Taxi stops at Canton Waterfront Park. MTA buses #s 7, 11, and 13 stop on Clinton St., near Canton Crossing; #11 and #13 run along Boston St.; #7 runs along S. Conkling; and #13 stops on O’Donnell.
Many locals know Canton primarily as a desirable and safe neighborhood, full of shops and restaurants, new residential construction projects, and an enviable position abutting the northeast section of the Harbor. It is all those things. But Canton also hides an extraordinary history, able to tell some of the more interesting stories in Baltimore’s history. Situated east of the original Baltimore-Town and oriented toward the water, Canton was the site in 1797 of the launching of the Constellation (see Walk 4) and the creation of the armor plates for the USS Monitor. By the 1820s, under the direction of Peter Cooper and Columbus O’Donnell, the son of Canton’s founder, John O’Donnell, Canton constituted the country’s first large industrial park, a 10,000-acre complex of various manufacturers, fertilizer plants, canners, and bottlers, plus nearby sea lanes and rail lines to export it all. But it wasn’t all work; racetracks and beer gardens abounded for recreation. When most of these places disappeared, the US government took over a large swath and created Fort Holabird, where, among other lasting inventions, engineers created army-olive paint, blackout lights, clog-resistant motorcycle fenders, and the US army’s inimitable and iconic Willys jeep. Canton today is a great destination, with wonderful residential spots, easy access to the water, and a bevy of watering holes that do its brewing history proud.
Begin at the Canton Crossing development off S. Clinton St. The development, anchored by the First Mariner Tower, offers a few restaurants and plenty of street and lot parking. Here, on the south corner of Boston St. and Clinton, is where the Potter’s Course (1823), a second area racetrack and later known as Kendall Track, was built. It was the site of the 1840 Whig Convention, where Henry Clay and Daniel Webster gave speeches and where William Henry Harrison was nominated for president, giving the occasion the distinction of being the country’s first presidential nominating convention. (The Whigs were back four years later, in 1844, when they nominated Henry Clay for the presidency.) Also nearby were the sites of the city’s first public bathing beach, as well as a baptismal area where the city’s Baptists were dunked into the Patapsco in prodigious numbers, earning the spot the moniker “Baptizing Shore.”
Head north toward Boston St. and go left, more or less following the waterline toward Canton Waterfront Park. To the west, just off Boston St. and S. East St., you’ll see the Baltimore City Marine Police Unit building, a small facility where the police unit’s marine rescue equipment is stored. Across Boston St. is the Clarence “Du” Burns Arena. Named for the city’s first African American mayor, the arena hosts professional lacrosse games and serves as the training facility of the Baltimore Blast, the city’s indoor soccer team and frequent Major Indoor Soccer League champion.
Canton Waterfront Park is a special place. While all the surrounding streets continue to be swept up in a tide of gentrification, here you can still grab a shady spot, feel the breezes off the water, and simply relax. A favorite haunt of couples, families, and city dwellers looking for some peace and quiet, the park offers a perfect place to check out the water views across the Patapsco (yes, that’s Fort McHenry across the water) and watch the crabbers and fishermen pulling their catch from the murky waters off the Waterfront Promenade. Be sure to check out the attractive Korean War Memorial at the north edge of the park, just off Boston St. Dedicated in 1990, the granite memorial, set into the ground, contains the names of the 527 Marylanders who died during the conflict, as well as the names of those still officially considered missing in action. The center of the memorial features a map of Korea, also in granite.
Follow the Waterfront Promenade west, passing marinas and restaurants, including Bo Brooks, a great place for steamed crabs, until you come to Boston Street Pier Park. Enjoy this walk; while the city pulses to your right, looking left over the water forces you to slow down and take in the pleasing, lazy atmosphere. Plus, there’s something really nice about hearing the lap of small waves in the middle of a city. You’ll see much development along the water here; many of these condos and apartments are of newer construction, but some make use of older industrial buildings. The development began full bore in the 1980s, with developers recognizing the attractiveness and reclamation potential of waterside living along what had languished for many years as a rather unattractive swath of spent industrial sites. Today, the waterside development, far more tastefully done than otherwise, wraps around the entire water line all the way through Fells Point (Walk 6), Harbor East (Walk 5), and into the Inner Harbor (Walk 4).
At Boston Street Pier Park, cross Boston St. at the American Can Company development (you’ll see the Safeway across Boston). This is the site of what was in its time the largest can manufacturer in the United States. The American Can Company started in 1901, preceded here by the Norton Tin Can and Plate Company, whose main building still stands and dates from 1895 (one block west of the Safeway). Today, you’ll find plenty of shops and restaurants, another success story in reclaiming old and once-contaminated industrial sites and reusing them to serve the needs and wants of city dwellers.
Your first street off Boston, south and east of the Can Company complex, is O’Donnell St. Take it heading east, moving in the direction of St. Casimir’s school and church. St. Casimir’s dates to 1902 and was erected to serve Canton’s growing Polish immigrant community. Go to the front of the church to see this beautiful limestone building’s most impressive external features; take note of the two cupolas holding bell towers and carved with niches where 9-foot statues of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Anthony of Padua gaze down with benevolence. Inside, see the 14 stained glass windows, a series of impressive murals, and a main altar modeled on the one at the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, Italy.
Moving east along O’Donnell St., you’ll see where much of Canton’s revitalization has taken place. You’ll find an eclectic assortment of shops and restaurants, all spillover from the inland portion of the neighborhood’s focal point, O’Donnell Square, which you will reach in one block. Once the site of Canton Market (1859), O’Donnell Square is where you’ll find locals darting in and