What Baltimore Is Famous For

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Source: Visions of America / Getty

Ever wonder why Baltimore, Maryland is called “Charm City?” It was thought of to counteract the city’s poor image through advertising to promote the city’s attractions and hidden gems back in the 1970s.

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According to The Baltimore Sun, the ads ran in The Sun and featured the deep history and “charm of Charm City: White steps, steamed crabs, beer, Mount Vernon, the Preakness, museums, quiet neighborhood streets, Babe Ruth, row houses and raw bars,” all of which still draw many people today.

Whether you’re a native, new resident or visitor, there’s something here for everybody. Click through for a list of things Baltimore is famous for and worth you exploring.

First up, Old Bay seasoning. It’s a blend of herbs and spices marketed by McCormick & Company and headquartered in Baltimore. It’s great on crabs, shrimp, french fries, popcorn and pretty much, everything!

Club Music

Source: Radio ONe / Radio One

Baltimore Club Music is a blend of hiphop and chopped, staccato house music that dates back to the late 1900s. Notable DJs known for spinning it include Frank Ski and the late K-Swift who used to work here at Radio One – Baltimore.

via Wikipedia: Baltimore club is based on an 8/4 beat structure, and includes tempos around 130 beats per minute.[2][3] It combines repetitive, looped vocal snippets similar to trap, bounce, ghetto house and ghettotech. Baltimore club is a sample based form of breakbeat, with samples used including theme songs to shows like Sanford and Son, SpongeBob SquarePants and Elmo’s World,[3] along with samples from shows like Family Guy, South Park & Ren & Stimpy – though can also be simple repeated phrases and chants.

Seafood

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Baltimore is known for its Maryland crabs. Blue crabs, snow crabs, steamed crabs, crab cakes. Baltimore magazine lists a bunch of the best here.

Umbrellas

Source: Ariel Skelley / Getty

The first umbrella factory in the United States was established in Baltimore in 1828.

Snowballs

Source: Jess Milton / Getty

A hot day calls for snowballs, which SeriousEats.com describes as “not a snowcone. It’s not Italian ice. The Baltimore snowball comes in flavors like egg custard and ‘Skylite’, and it’s usually topped with marshmallow cream.”

The Inner Harbor

Source: VisionsofAmerica/Joe Sohm / Getty

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is not only a historic seaport, but a waterfront tourist attraction that boasts a ton of seafood restaurants, museums, cruises shopping and city views.

Preakness

Source: Al Bello / Getty

Preakness is a premiere horse racing event that takes place every May at Pimlico Race Course.

Chicken Box

Source: Melissa Tse / Getty

A chicken box is just a fried chicken wings and fries combo meal but it’s so good! Cased in a cardboard box or styrofoam, natives normally order it with salt, pepper and ketchup, with a half & half on the side (half tea, half lemonade).

Artscape 

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Artscape is America’s largest FREE arts festival that attracts thousands of people over three days filled with fine arts, fashion, food and music vendors in Baltimore’s arts and entertainment districts.

Famous Residents 

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Baltimore is and was once home to a lot of history makers including:

Michael Phelps, Olympian Swimmer

Babe Ruth, Baseball Player

Thurgood Marshall, 1st African American Supreme Court Justice

Reginald F. Lewis, 1st African American to Own a Billion Dollar Company

Billie Holiday, World Famous Jazz Singer

Under Armour’s Global Headquarters

Source: Raymond Boyd / Getty

Under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, former special teams captain of the University of Maryland’s football team. University of Maryland football team. The brand’s global headquarters is housed in brick buildings on the harbor that used to house Procter & Gamble factories and overlooks the Patapsco River.

AFRAM

Source: VW Pics / Getty

AFRAM is an African American summer festival celebrating black culture, life and music. According to baltimorecity.gov, “this family-oriented event is filled with entertainers, children’s activities, arts, history, education, financial literacy, employment & job training, health & wellness and more.”

Proximity to Major Cities

Source: Hisham Ibrahim / Getty

Conveniently located in the middle of the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia), Baltimore is in driving distance of not only Richmond and Hampton, Virginia and Washington, D.C., but Philadelphia and New York City, too via I-95!

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