Baltimore Museum of Industry is a museum in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. Located in an old

cannery Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although u ...

, the museum has exhibits on various types of manufacturing and industry from the early 20th century. There are several hands-on sections with working equipment and other artifacts.

Museum interior

The BMI galleries recreate parts of a cannery, a garment loft from 1900, a

machine shop A machine shop or engineering workshop (UK) is a room, building, or company where machining, a form of subtractive manufacturing, is done. In a machine shop, machinists use machine tools and cutting tools to make parts, usually of metal or plas ...

from 1900, a print shop, Dr. Bunting's

Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links healt ...

(where

Noxzema Noxzema ( ) is a brand of skin cleanser marketed by Unilever. Since 1914, it was sold in a small cobalt blue jar; but is now sold in a blue plastic jar. Noxzema contains camphor, menthol, phenol and eucalyptus, among other ingredients. Originally ...

was invented), as well as exhibits on the food industry in Baltimore ( McCormick,

Domino Sugar Domino Foods, Inc. (also known as DFI and formerly known as W. & F.C. Havemeyer Company, Havemeyer, Townsend & Co. Refinery, and Domino Sugar) is a privately held sugar marketing and sales company based in Yonkers, New York, United States, that ...

, Esskay). In the Decker Gallery, the Milestone wall documents inventions and processes discovered first in Baltimore, and Maryland. The BMI is also home to the ''

'', the oldest surviving steam

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

and a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

that dates to 1906. The library consists of over 5,000 volumes of rare and historic books. The manuscript collections cover all major industries in Baltimore including canning, the cloth trades, violin making, and the steel industry. The photographic collections consist of more than 250,000 prints and negatives, including the

Baltimore Gas and Electric Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) is a subsidiary of the Exelon Corporation and Maryland’s largest gas and electric utility. BGE earlier had created the holding company Constellation Energy in 1999. Constellation Energy was acquired ...

Company Print and Negative Collection.

Tours and special activities

The museum hosts guided tours with hands-on activities for children. Students can become workers in a garment loft and in the Kids Cannery to learn what life was like at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. The museum rents the galleries and a pavilion on the water for private events.

History

The museum was founded in 1977 as a project by the Mayor's office to preserve the industrial history of downtown Baltimore.About The BMI

Location

The museum is located on the site of the old Platt Oyster Cannery on the North-west branch of the

Patapsco River The Patapsco River mainstem is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 river in central Maryland that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal port ...

at 1415 Key Highway, Baltimore, MD 21230.

References

External links

*
Baltimore & Chesapeake Steamboat Company
a contributor of volunteer and financial aid to the ''Baltimore'' steam tug
Baltimore Museum of Industry
at ''

Frommer's Frommer's is a travel guide book series created by Arthur Frommer in 1957. Frommer's has since expanded to include more than 350 guidebooks in 14 series, as well as other media including an eponymous radio show and a website. In 2017, the company ...

''
BMI on Google Street View
{{authority control Museums in Baltimore Industry museums in Maryland Museums established in 1977 1977 establishments in Maryland Riverside, Baltimore