Community Creation
By and for African Americans

Biddle Street - corner of Read Street, ca. 1940

In 1820, Baltimore’s African American community was the largest in the nation. By the time the Civil War started in 1861, 26,000 free blacks and approximately 2,000 slaves lived within Baltimore’s borders. Although a slave state, Maryland accounted for one of every five free blacks in America.

The numbers alone, however, cannot adequately tell the story of the creation of Baltimore’s African American community. By 1870 houses extended to McMechen Street; by 1890 residential development stretched to Bloom Street. By the 1900s, nine blocks along what was considered “the bottom” (a mixed-raced neighborhood developed before the Civil War) became a residential hub for African Americans in Old West Baltimore. To African Americans, the area’s promise and importance was evident, despite the fact that many blacks were relegated to the area because of segregation and racial bias. Streets named Argyle, George, Myrtle, Dolphin, Harlem, Brunt, and Division all made up this developing community.

McCulloh Street east from Dolphin, ca. 1930

Later, accounting for 54 blocks to the north of Dolphin and Argyle, an African American community formed as white families began moving to “streetcar suburbs.” Pennsylvania Avenue soon emerged as the geographical center and commercial spine of Baltimore’s black community, offering the steps to opportunity for African Americans at different rungs on the economic ladder.