Baltimore Assembly (properly named Broening Highway General Motors Plant) was a General Motors factory in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. The plant opened in 1935 to produce Chevrolets and closed on May 13, 2005. It was a two-level plant located in the Canton Industrial Center to the east of the

Inner Harbor The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. It was described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as "the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world". The ...

, to the west of

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is hal ...

, and south of Brewers Hill in Baltimore. Early in 1942, car and truck production was interrupted when the plant was converted to wartime activities. The Chevrolet portion of the plant operated as a military parts depot where parts were received, processed and packaged for shipment around the world. The Fisher Body plant became part of the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors Corp. and was assigned the task of assembling fuselages for Grumman carrier-based aircraft. Although Chevrolet cars and trucks had represented the largest portion of the Baltimore plant's production, other car lines also have been manufactured. The versatility of the plant was tested in 1964 when Buicks, Chevrolets, Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs were assembled one after another on the same passenger car line. In the ensuing years, the number of car lines produced has changed several times. GMC Truck and Coach Division shared Baltimore's truck production as early as the 1947 model year. Baltimore Assembly scored a major coup with the 1984 decision to assemble the

Chevrolet Astro The Chevrolet Astro is a van that was manufactured and marketed by the Chevrolet division of American auto manufacturer General Motors from 1985 to 2005. Sold alongside the GMC Safari, the Astro was marketed in multiple configurations, inc ...

/ GMC Safari

minivan Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe i ...

s there. The rival

Dodge Caravan The Dodge Caravan (and the long-wheelbase Dodge Grand Caravan) is a series of minivans that was manufactured by Chrysler from the 1984 to 2020 model years. The Dodge version of the Chrysler minivans, the Caravan was marketed as both a passenger ...

was selling briskly, but the truck-like GM vans were larger than most of the mini-vans then coming into production. The GM vans filled a unique market for a midsize van with large interior space and very good towing capacity. The vans were periodically updated with revised interiors and exterior styling during the very long production run. Both two-wheel drive (M van) and all-wheel drive (L-van) models were produced. Initial production from 1985 to 1989 was a short-body van, with an extended-body (aft of the rear wheels) option available from 1990 to 1994. Due to overwhelming popularity, only extended versions were available from 1995 to 2005. In total, approximately 3,200,000 Astro and Safari vans were produced at the Baltimore plant. The plant closed its doors after the final shift on May 13, 2005. GM has since sold the site to the developer

Duke Realty Duke Realty was a real estate investment trust based in Indianapolis, Indiana that invested in industrial warehouses. As of December 31, 2021, it owned or jointly controlled 548 primarily industrial properties containing 162.7 million rentable sq ...

, which has demolished the old plant and is rebuilding the site as an industrial park called the Chesapeake Commerce Center.

References

* General Motors (November 16, 2004).
Chevy Astro And GMC Safari To Be Discontinued In 2005; GM's Baltimore, Maryland Assembly Plant To Close
'. Press Release.

{{Chevrolet Assembly General Motors factories Former motor vehicle assembly plants Motor vehicle assembly plants in Maryland Buildings and structures in Baltimore Economy of Baltimore 1935 establishments in Maryland 2005 disestablishments in Maryland