[Baltimore Sun] Getting to know the Baltimore Peninsula
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It’s called Baltimore Peninsula — another name for 235 acres off Hanover Street in South Baltimore. Be prepared to encounter a new chunk of the city here. Along the way, you’ll experience a dramatic encounter with the Patapsco River and Baltimore Harbor.
Over the past few years, a campus of buildings has risen along newly created streets. There’s a House Street, Tidewater Street, Mission Boulevard, Terrapin Way and Rye Street, along with the old Cromwell. Performance Street encircles the new Under Armour stadium and headquarters. Insulator Drive is now a townhouse community.
The architecture is retro — brown and gray brick in an industrial style reminiscent of something the Restoration Hardware art director would approve of. There is also an orderly landscaping plan with deep tree wells filled with what appears to be the plants native to Maryland. In contrast to the rest of the city, this is a planned area free of urban grittiness.
The buildings have large windows, all the better to take in the views.
The asphalt streets are fresh and clean. The curbs and sidewalks almost invite you to take a walk and explore. Elijah’s Park, named after U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, has a playground inspired by Maryland crabs.
I’m reminded of a time, decades ago, when I tried to find Dickeyville for the first time and wound up in Woodstock. The Peninsula, known to generations of Baltimoreans as Port Covington, can be reached off McComas Street and Hanover Street at Cromwell. I guess you could get there by boat too.
If this is a little-known area, there’s a good reason for it. The 200-plus acres were once owned by the old Western Maryland Railway, which operated its coal and grain port facilities here. The place was a maze of railroad tracks, a grain elevator and piers. There was no passenger station, and the railroad didn’t want you here. It was dangerous, and there were company police officers to keep you out.
After the old Western Maryland left, a portion of the site housed the operations of The Baltimore Sun and its printing plant. There was even a time when a Sam’s Club and Walmart occupied a portion of the land. The Under Armour headquarters and Nick’s Fish House are there too.
It’s all not far away from the traditional Baltimore of Fort Avenue, Riverside Park and Fort McHenry. But you’ll never confuse the Baltimore Peninsula with South Baltimore’s tiny streets.
Another industrial presence was the Locke Insulator plant. The old brick structure has disappeared and is now a residential enclave.
Rye Street Tavern now sports a resort restaurant look with an outdoor bar. I could see spending a sunny autumn afternoon, before the cold sets in, on one of the outdoor patio-style chairs on the terrace at this restaurant. The vistas are across the harbor toward Fairfield.
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The interior also speaks to the old days of the Baltimore Harbor. There are prints of the Chesapeake Steamship Line and the bay boats that left Pratt and Light streets bound for Norfolk and other points.
I spoke with the tavern’s general manager, Anthony Brawner, who said he’s had some days when 1,100 patrons have visited the place. He also mentioned couples who signed up for one of the new homes often celebrate with a stop at his establishment.
The Peninsula belongs to a set of places — the Inner Harbor, Harbor East, Harbor Point, sections of Canton and all of Sparrows Point — that were once busy industrial parts of the city that emerged once the heavy industries evaporated here. The city lost jobs and population, but the old land was put to use.
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