Ghosts of BaltimoreThe lost and untold stories of Baltimore

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Lost History

The Camden Yards That Almost Was: Baltimore’s $170 Million Plan, 1979-1984

Before the ballpark, the plan for Camden Yards was 700 homes, two office towers and a 500-room hotel. It never broke ground.

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Front and profile prison photographs of Al Capone, balding and in a prison shirt, with a placard reading No. 397-CAL Terminal Island 1-7-39Al Capone in Baltimore: His Four Months After Prison, 1939-40Nov 3Portrait of Thomas F. McNulty with a large mustache and white bow tie, 1914Tom McNulty, Baltimore’s Singing SheriffOct 31Best OfBaltimore rooftops and chimneys with the Washington Monument rising at the right and church towers in the distance.The Washington Monument Above a City of RooftopsMay 11, 2023Best OfDockworkers gathered beside a waterfront building, with the steamship Bodo and horse-drawn wagons behind them.Payday on Baltimore’s WaterfrontMar 11, 2023Baltimore transit in WalbrookBaltimore Streetcars on Fayette Street and BeyondMar 10, 2023Baltimore Shipyard Workers on a Break in 1943Mar 4, 2023

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The American Brewery’s ornate towers, arched windows and main entrance, photographed in 1973.The Brewery Behind the Towers on Gay StreetWiessner’s ornate 1887 brewhouse was the centerpiece of a working brewery on Gay Street. After production ended in 1973, the building found a new purpose with Humanim.A detailed bird’s-eye drawing of Baltimore with harbor piers and boats in the foreground and downtown streets extending into the distance.Baltimore Rebuilt, Seen From Above in 1912An 1801 plan of Baltimore showing colored city blocks, the harbor, Jones Falls and the surrounding countryside.Where Baltimore Ended on an 1801 MapEmerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower's clock faces viewed from below against a blue sky.Above the Rooftops: A Panorama From Emerson Tower, Around 1913Seated studio portrait of John Wilkes Booth holding a cane, with a handwritten inscription above.Before the Infamy: John Wilkes Booth’s Baltimore Debut

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The Doors in a 1967 Baltimore Sun PreviewNov 2Baltimore Row Houses in April 1939Nov 2Guilford, Fayette and Howard Streets in the 1940sNov 2Champion Orioles of 1894 Lying on the ground are: John McGraw and Willie Keeler. Front row: "Kid" Bill Gleason, Joe Kelly, Ned Hanlon, Wilbert Robinson, Bill Hoffer, and Hughie Jennings. Second row: Walter Brody, Henry Reitz, John McMahon, Frank Bowerman, and Artie Pool. Third row: Arthur Clarkson, George Hemming, George Carey and Bill Clark.When Baltimore Celebrated the Orioles’ 1894 PennantNov 2

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