History of All Kinds


Bruette

Well-Known Member
At the turn of the century (19th -> 20th), Baltimore was the third leading port of entry for raw coffee beans.
This photograph shows the abandoned, old Levering Coffee Warehouse located at 1400 block of Philpot Street, Fells Point. It was here where ship loads of South American coffee would be delivered. In fact, the Levering Coffee Company was one of the nation’s leading coffee importing houses south of New York. Levering also roasted and packed Lord Calvert, whose motto was “Every sip is delicious,” brand coffee. The company was started in 1866. In 1919, The Levering Coffee Company was incorporated. Then, almost a century after it has started, Levering would be merged into Shaffer Stores Company, a Pennsylvania corporation.
Marty Sharrowto BALTIMORE OLD PHOTOS from Facebook
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Bob, when I was the draft beer foreman at Memorial Stadium I had the chance to meet and chat with one of the few Brew Masters from Anheuser-Busch. I told him "no offense, but I prefer National beer". He smiled and said "I'll tell you a secret, there is only a few pennies difference per bottle in the cost of brewing any American Lager, they are all good"
 
Photographs from the late 1920s through the late 1930s of Baltimore’s historic Waverly neighborhood, which was first settled in the mid-nineteenth century as a village. Located several miles north of the downtown district, this hamlet was the site of summer homes of wealthy Baltimoreans, who would live here to escape the stifling summer heat of the city. What is more, this area would be developed further with the advent of a streetcar line, which eventually became the #8 line. Row homes would be built for commuting folks who worked downtown. From the early 50s to the early 1990s, this area would be the hub for Baltimore’s major league sports teams (Colts 1953-1983 & Orioles 1953-1991).
Marty Sharrow‎ -
BALTIMORE OLD PHOTOS
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MADE IN BALTIMORE... once upon a time: UNEEDA Biscuits
The bustling intersection of Pratt and Light Streets, by the Basin (Inner Harbor) in 1898. Produce and cash crops were brought to the harbor by nearby farmers to be sold locally and or shipped elsewhere. Mostly likely in the large casks-- better known as hogsheads--which were being transported by horse-drawn vehicles, was tobacco, mostly likely grown in Southern Maryland. Towards the top of this historic photo is the National Biscuit Company, originally the J.D. Mason & Company (this bakery and a group of others in the Northeast would become part of a conglomerate that eventually would be called the National Biscuit Company). This Baltimore bakery produced several different types of Nabisco cookies and crackers, including Uneeda biscuits… the company's first packaged cracker, and Zu Zu Ginger Snaps, a spicy combination of ginger and sugar-cane molasses.
Marty Sharrow‎ - BALTIMORE OLD PHOTOS
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**THE LAST ONE IN AMERICA**

During the 19th century, Baltimore emerged as one of the leading industrial centers in America. One such industry that took root during this time was the Holland Manufacturing Company, which settled in a building that was constructed in 1856 and later served as a hospital for Confederate prisoners during the Civil War.
Around 1890 or thereabout, the former hospital was converted into a nail and tack factory by Franklin Holland, who moved south from New England and settled in Baltimore. Holland’s factory was one of 90 such tack manufacturing plants in the country during that time. Located in what today is known as the South Central Avenue Historic district, at Central Avenue and Bank Street, the Holland Manufacturing produced billions of tacks and nails that were used by crafts people, schools, furniture manufacturers and homemakers alike. When the company finally shuttered during the early part of this century, it was the only remaining tack production company in the United States.
Since that time, the well-built brick building has been repurposed and has served as a venue for restaurants, a bowling alley, an alehouse, and other varied uses.

Marty Sharrow‎ - BALTIMORE OLD PHOTOS
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Until the grain pier sunk in Baltimore, grain elevators in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan regularly shipped export grain to be trans loaded to ships in Baltimore. They were heavy, always had helpers, and usually used the Metropolitan Sub. I took a liking to them.

As soon as the Met left the Potomac Valley eastbound at Point of Rocks it started a good climb to Barnesville, and then to the summit at Gaithersburg.

The Monocacy is an interesting river, it was bridged by the PRR, the WM, and twice by the B&O, first on the Old Main at Frederick Jct, and then here on the highest of the spans near Dickerson, MD. on the Met where the waterway empties into the Potomac.

Eastbound trains worked hard here, and still do ,to get momentum for their piedmont ascent.

Marc Laborde‎ - Chessie System Pictorial
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February, 2, 2002
 
Located at South Paca and West Pratt Streets, the Sonneborn Building was one of the city’s the earliest steel-and-concrete buildings. Built in 1905, following the Great Baltimore Fire of February 1904, this fireproof structure had its own sprinkler system. When this impressive structure opened, it WAS both Baltimore’s and the nation’s largest clothing factory, turning out some 3,000 men's suits a day. For this reason and others, the Sonneborn company ascended to the top and WAS the nation's largest individual clothing manufacturer. And there is more: Sonneborn’s vertical clothing loft building WAS the world’s largest establishment for the manufacture of clothing. This historic manufactory, sometimes called the Paca-Pratt Building, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Presently in the 21st century, the Sonneborn Building proudly remains the tallest and largest of the remaining loft buildings in the ‘Loft Historic District South,’ and has been repurposed and serves as the home for administrative employees and support staff from nearby University of Maryland Medical Center.
Marty Sharrow‎ - BALTIMORE OLD PHOTOS
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The geography of Baltimore, particularly its location on the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River played a key role in the development of Baltimore Harbor. For many years, beginning in the 18th century, Baltimore's harbor…dotted with various industrial plants… was a major seaport. Large sailing vessels, as seen in this 1948 photo, helped to boost the city’s export and import industries. Additionally, the Bay’s vast fishing industry and the fertile farmland across nearby Delmarva Peninsula and the Piedmont Plateau, played a key role in the development of the Harbor, particularly the canning factories around the harbor’s edge. It would be during the 1950s, when the city’s Port Commission would begin razing unused buildings and rotting wharves that adjoined the Harbor. During the middle 1960s, plans were being developed to repurpose the historic seaport. Construction of what would eventually become Harborplace commenced in 1974. Finally, six years later, the renaissance of Baltimore would kick off with the opening of its iconic Harborplace, which helped transform the former industrial waterfront landscape into a sparkling new tourist attraction.
Prominent landmarks in this photo include: #1 The Power Plant, #2 The Candler Building, #3) the old classical Pratt Street crossing over the Jones Falls, #4) the Jones Falls, #5) the old Scarlett Seed factory.
Marty Sharrow‎ - BALTIMORE OLD PHOTOS
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Mary Young Pickersgill (Feb 12,1776 – Oct 4,1857), was the maker of the 'Star Spangled Banner Flag' hoisted over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. From 1807 until her death in 1857, she lived in the building located at 844 E. Pratt St.(near Baltimore's 'Little Italy') She was also the proprietor of a flag making business at that same location where the famous Fort McHenry flag was made. In fact, it was in 1813 when M's Pickersgill was commissioned by Major George Armistead to make a flag for Baltimore's Fort McHenry large enough so that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a great distance. The flag was raised in August of 1813.
At one point, the Flag House was used as a Post Office (see photo- circa 1910) Today, this very same building has been restored and preserved as the "Star Spangled Flag House" and is open to visitors year round.

James M. Distler‎ - BALTIMORE OLD PHOTOS
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A 1926 bygone glimpse of what was then a highly commercialized Light Street (named after Darby Lux, a local mariner & merchant; lux means light in Latin). This portion of what was a busy north-south thoroughfare was lined with wooden wharves and slips for Bay steamers, which would transport passengers and cargo to ports on the Chesapeake Bay or along the Eastern Seaboard. A little more than a decade later, this area would fall into disrepair and be redeveloped for what would become Sam Smith Park, at the corner of Light and Pratt Streets. Finally, during the 1970s, this land would be redeveloped once more (Sam Smith’s statue was moved to its current home on Federal Hill), this time… for what would become the city’s former crown jewel—Harborplace—which opened in 1980.
Marty Sharrow‎ - BALTIMORE OLD PHOTOS
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