The Beehler Umbrella Factory was founded by German immigrant Francis Beehler in 1828. The company’s success as the first umbrella manufacturer in the United States spawned numerous imitators and by the early 20th century Baltimore was shipping out more than 1.5 million umbrellas annually. Local competitor Polan, Katz & Co. was especially well-known for producing […]
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Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Black & Decker developed the world’s first portable electric drill in 1916. Though they originally marketed their invention to factory owners, company founders Alonzo Decker and Duncan Black realized that a wider market existed when the drills began disappearing from workplaces. Black & Decker responded by releasing its
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An exhibition honoring the Paterakis Family of the H&S Family of Bakeries A century ago, hundreds of small bakeries dotted the Baltimore landscape. Every day, these neighborhood businesses served up fresh bread directly to local residents, along with sweet baked goods. About a dozen wholesale bakeries supplied the city’s restaurants, hotels, and other venues. As
The terms “uppercase” and “lowercase” letters come from the way in which print shops were organized hundreds of years ago. Individual pieces of metal type – one per letter – were kept in boxes called cases. For more than 400 years this was how documents were printed, until a German immigrant invented the Linotype machine,
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Ship Conversions at the Baltimore Yards The SS Emma Maersk before (left) and during (right) a major conversion project performed by Bethlehem Steel shipyard workers in the early 1980s. Notice the new 157 foot mid-section splitting the letters of “Maersk Line”. BMI Archives, Bethlehem Steel Collection Many Baltimoreans are familiar
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Fire & Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Bethlehem Steel, tells the story of Baltimore’s Sparrows Point steel mill, once the world’s largest producer of the world’s most important product. The mill’s well-paying union jobs supported countless Baltimoreans and nourished close-knit communities. And then it was gone. When the company went bankrupt in 2002, thousands
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Shipbuilding in Baltimore Baltimore was a thriving commercial trade port in the 18th century. Most shipping from Baltimore, until the Industrial Revolution, was overseas trade of tobacco, grains, and cotton. The busy port created a high demand for ships, and soon Baltimore’s first shipyards were dotting the waterfront along Fells Point. These first ships were
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Known as much for being stylish as she was for her groundbreaking career as a maritime reporter and elected official, U.S. Congresswoman Helen Delich Bentley wore garments that reflected her civic pride in supporting American designers. Much like her advocacy on behalf of the port, Bentley’s support for American designers demonstrated her lifelong belief in
Few events in Baltimore’s history were as noteworthy as the July 4, 1828, groundbreaking for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. One of the first rail lines in the United States, the B&O was founded to help Baltimore recapture some of the western trade it had lost with the completion of the Erie Canal in New
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Thank you for connecting, thank you for giving, thank you for keeping the stories of Baltimore’s industrial history alive. We are stronger with you. “Researching the sites and items is what really drives me to do this. It’s a real-life puzzle that gives you such a rush when everything comes together and
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