”I want to be clear about two matters,” Mayor Kurt Schmoke said in a 1988 speech about the residential development suddenly percolating around the waterfront. “We support the recommendations [of harbor design consultants] that there should be a continuous public promenade along the waterfront, and we will not approve automobiles crossing the promenade.”

A few years earlier, lumber magnate Lou Grasmick had purchased vacant property along Canton’s declining industrial shoreline, intending to move operations to the then-struggling southeast Baltimore neighborhood. Schmoke’s predecessor, William Donald Schaefer, had other ideas, however. Shortly after the National Aquarium opened, Schaefer suggested—well, knowing Schaefer, strongly urged—Grasmick go into the residential real estate business instead.

“‘Housing!’” Grasmick replied, recounting his conversation with Schaefer in The Washington Post several years later. “‘That’s a rat-infested dump that I’m going to convert into a lumber company.’ But he told me it could become our gold coast. And now it’s happening. It’s absolutely mind-boggling to me.”

To Schaefer’s credit, after losing his fight to build an Inner Harbor interstate highway, he did an about-face, embracing waterfront revitalization efforts in the communities affected by his stubborn highway efforts. Grasmick’s 40-unit Anchorage townhome development established a beachhead at a time when Canton residents and small business owners were reeling from disinvestment and property condemnations related to their 1970s highway battle. Other luxury residential projects, including two more backed by Grasmick, quickly followed in Canton and Fells Point.

A continuous 7.5-mile waterfront promenade from Canton to Locust Point had been a key component of the city’s Inner Harbor master plan ever since 1964. But with developers’ desires for parking threatening public access to the waterfront, Schmoke’s task force created guidelines that required developers to set aside a 20-foot-wide public easement along the water’s edge—enough to build a 12-foot-wide paved walkway—and submit plans for landscaping, lighting, signage, and benches.

“Along this pedestrian walkway, Baltimore residents and visitors can stroll, enjoy views of the city and its harbor, and experience waterfront activities," Schmoke explained in a letter to waterfront owners. “Crabbing and fishing will be permitted in certain areas. Elsewhere, outdoor cafes and waterside shops will provide bustling activity to reflect the promenade’s prime location in the heart of city.”

The former mayor and current University of Baltimore president may have been aspirational about the crabbing opportunities, but night herons and river otters have returned. And go see the inhabitants of the National Aquarium’s floating wetlands, which stretch across 10,000 square feet of water. Or recall long-distance swimmer Katie Pumphrey’s 24-mile Bay Bridge to the Inner Harbor trek and the “Harbor Splash” public swim last year, which attracted 150 plungers.

But Schmoke also correctly predicted how the finished promenade would combine waterfront vistas and functionality in connecting the Inner Harbor, new South Baltimore developments, the Belgianblock streets of Fells Point, and Canton—even highlighting the planned Harbor East development, which had yet to rise—and all the parks and marinas in-between. Baltimore’s Waterfront Promenade is not perfect; it needs repair in places.

As a 2023 Waterfront Partnership report noted, part of the issue is the promenade is managed by different private and public entities and lacks comprehensive oversight. Nonetheless, there is no denying the Waterfront Promenade became Baltimore’s crown jewel—or that its transformational impact continues to this day.

“Twenty years ago,” commented Neighborhood Project Administration Marion Pines after Grasmick’s first two projects went up in Canton, “I don’t think Baltimore knew it was on the water.”

Below, our June cover story literally walks from Canton to Locust Point, and a bit further to Fort McHenry. We celebrate the not-to-miss highlights of our, admittedly, sometimes taken-for-granted Waterfront Promenade—an urban waterfront stroll that we believe would make the visionaries behind the 1964 Inner Harbor master plan proud. —Ron Cassie

Canton

Canton Waterfront Park, one of the city’s most popular summer picnic destinations; one of Canton’s several marinas; a runner along the brick waterfront promenade.

Raymond Bahr, a retired cardiologist, Canton native, and local historian, refers to 1828 as Baltimore’s “Big Bang.” That was the year the B&O Railroad broke ground on its first line and the Canton Company became “the earliest, largest, and most successful industrial park in America,” Bahr notes. It brought together advances in technology, trade, and transportation that established the area as a shipping, rail, manufacturing, canning—and later refining—hub.

In fact, only 10 years later, Frederick Douglass escaped slavery from a Canton train station, posing as a free Black sailor on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore (PW&B) Railroad. The whole story is recalled on a Baltimore National Heritage Area historical marker in front of the Tindeco Wharf apartment building. ● SeaAffinity, a nonprofit located on the ● Tindeco Wharf, offers charters and sailing and powerboat lessons.

Later, the property where ● The Shops at Canton Crossing now sit became home to an ExxonMobil refinery for more than 100 years. And, back in the 1990s, the former ● Canton Can Company complex was repurposed into a mixeduse office, restaurant, and retail center, giving the whole neighborhood a new life at the time. Canton, specifically the Canton Waterfront Park, serves as a waterfowl-friendly and convenient—there’s parking and a ● Water Taxi stop here—starting point for the whole 7.5-mile Waterfront Promenade.

With eight acres of grass and walking paths rising from the water, plus unobstructed views of the harbor, it’s one of the most popular places to toss down a picnic blanket or grab a park bench. It’s also a good place to throw around a baseball, football, or Frisbee, or kick a soccer ball. The park is also home to the elegant ● Maryland Korean War Memorial, which was dedicated in 1990 and contains the names of the more than 500 Maryland citizens who died in action during the Korean War. Festivals and formal and informal gatherings of all sorts are common. The park’s boat launch is used by kayakers and stand-up paddle boarders, as well as for the amphibious leg of the American Visionary Art Museum’s annual ● Kinetic Sculpture Race.

The park is also a popular destination for checking out the ● Blue Angels Air Shows and the ● Tall Ships when they come to town—not to mention the city’s Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve fireworks. From the Canton Waterfront Park, the waterfront’s wide brick promenade continues west, looping past marinas to outdoor seating at restaurants like the ● Bayside Cantina and ● Raw & Refined at ● Lighthouse Point. A bit further along, the busy brick path—well-trod by joggers, strollers, couples, and leashed dogs throughout the year—weaves between The Moorings luxury townhouses and the water’s edge. You’re bound to see some Orioles and Maryland flags hanging from the rear decks of the townhouses and, possibly, feel a pang of jealousy of their sunset views.

Continuing toward ● Professor Trash Wheel at the outfall of Harris Creek (buried beneath southeast Baltimore), there’s a narrow wooden walkway and almost-hidden gazebo over the water off tiny ● Boston Street Pier Park. Before it was filled in to further development in the area, Harris Creek was big enough to handle shipbuilding. In 1797, the Frigate Constellation was built in a Harris Creek boatyard, becoming the country’s first Navy yard. Of course, just across Boston Street, the restaurants options are almost endless. There’s ● Katana Sushi, ● RegionAle, the ● Charming Elephant—Baltimore’s first Lao restaurant— and ● NiHao, a James Beard semifinalist. Strolling past the ● Anchorage Marina and its 557 slips, you’ll soon arrive at Baltimore’s iconic ● Captain James Landing—the restaurant in the unmistakable ship-shaped building—as well as its waterfront crabhouse, which has outdoor seating with a water view. —RC

Captain James Landing on Boston Street; Canton’s brick promenade and waterfront residences; the Canton Railroad Transfer Bridge, built in 1912, off Canton Waterfront Park, dedicated in 1990.

Fells Point

A view of the Domino Sugar factory from Broadway Pier; a Charm City Run participant runs through Patterson Park; the bronze bust of Frederick Douglass.

Named for the Fell family, English Quakers who developed the land and whose cemetery marker is squeezed between rowhouses on Shakespeare Street, Fells Point’s shoreline is dominated by restored piers offering paths and pocket parks. Visiting ships, including foreign navy vessels, dock at ● Broadway Pier, notably the ● Pride of Baltimore II, a reproduction of the clipper ships that were constructed here two centuries ago, which offers free shipboard tours and cruises. The ● Urban Pirates also run seasonal trips on their pirate ship from the pier, providing swashbuckling flare to the waterfront. The ● Baltimore Water Taxi—the oldest urban water taxi in the U.S.—has its hub on Broadway, running routes around the harbor for free during the week to help commuters.

The neighborhood is cheerfully dogfriendly. The mammoth ● Sagamore Pendry hotel, the once-decrepit warehouse that served as police headquarters on the cop drama Homicide: Life on the Street before being restored into a luxury hotel, keeps a basket of dog biscuits near the valet stand, and the ● Daily Grind coffee shop across the cobblestones has a window for dog-walkers. And ● Fuzzies Burgers, a food truck that specializes in smashburgers, relocated to a patio on Thames Street—it had to be lifted and lowered by a crane—and serves burgers for humans and bun-less burgers for dogs.

A Water Taxi stop.

For those eager to explore the harbor by water, the ● Canton Kayak Club’s new dock was installed last year alongside Bond Street Wharf. Launched a quarter-century ago by two locals who wanted to commute to work via water, the club has docks around the city and the wider region and provides access to kayaks, gear, and a community for an annual fee. You can often see kayakers paddling around the harbor at sunrise, their orange and green boats like buoys amid the seagulls.

On Saturday mornings, the ● Broadway Market and Square is home to the ● Fells Point Farmers Market, where farmers, artisans, and vendors offer seasonal produce, baked goods, and crafts year-round. It’s a great place to pick up brunch for the benches that line the pier. You may be sharing the boardwalk with someone from ● Charm City Run, a Thames Street runningshoe store that hosts group runs around the city. And, of course, there’s the nightlife and local music scene here at legendary bars like ● The Horse You Came In On Saloon, ● The Admiral’s Cup, and ● Cat’s Eye Pub. (Check out the ● Original Fells Point Haunted Pub Walk Tour, too.) On the western edge of Fells, the ● Frederick Douglass- Isaac Myers Maritime Park and Museum, a heritage site, anchors the waterfront, honoring and preserving the city’s Black maritime history. While still enslaved, Douglass worked as a caulker for a Fells Point shipbuilder; Myers founded the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company in Fells, the first Black-owned and -operated shipyard in the country. The museum offers boatbuilding workshops, and you can see the remnants of the marine railway as well as a huge bronze bust of Douglass looking out over the harbor.

As you stroll along, be on the lookout for old-time ships docked nearby: The ● Sigsbee, a Chesapeake Bay skipjack; the ● Lady Maryland, a topsail schooner; and the ● Mildred Belle, a buy boat used to purchase seafood directly from fishing vessels, operate as “living classrooms.” —Amy Scattergood

The Saturday morning farmers market; the Canton Kayak Club's new dock along Bond Street Wharf.

Harbor East

The National Katyń Memorial monument.

Following its remarkable transformation from discarded industrial land and rotting piers, Harbor East has become home to some of the city’s trendiest restaurants, like ● Ouzo Bay, ● Loch Bar, and ● Azumi, which offer outside seating near the water. Other top restaurants near the Harbor East marina— a good place to sit and people and geese watch—include ● Charleston, ● Cinghiale, and ● The Bygone, with its spectacular views atop ● The Four Seasons Hotel, but there are also less formal options, such as ● Teavolve Cafe and ● Lebanese Taverna—and, importantly for Baltimore in the summer, a ● Häagen-Dazs store.

There’s high-end shopping here, too, which promotes the walkable nature of the neighborhood, and a little nightlife and music scene. ● Keystone Korner jazz restaurant and bar draws national talent, and ● BLK Swan features a “New American” menu and weekend DJs. Though not a historic residential neighborhood, there is history and nods to history in and around Harbor East. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the installation of the ● National Katyń Memorial, which honors the Polish victims of the World War II Katyń Forest Massacre and pays homage to Southeast Baltimore's Polish immigrant roots.

Just up the street, the ● President Street Station—the oldest surviving urban railroad station—facilitated President Abraham Lincoln’s secret passage during the early bloodshed of the Civil War. Later, the station served Italian immigrants coming to nearby ● Little Italy which offers restaurants and a history all its own. Up President Street is the not-to-be-missed 82,000-square-foot ● Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, a Smithsonian Institution affiliate. —RC

Outdoor seating at the Ouzo Beach bar on Central Avenue in Harbor East; Under Armour’s Harbor East outlet along the waterfront promenade.

Inner Harbor

TheUSS Torsk; The National Aquarium.

As you head across one of walking bridges from Harbor East toward the inner Inner Harbor, the first thing you’ll pass is ● Pier Six Pavilionthe city’s premier outdoor concert venue. Opened in 1981, it attracts major musicians and features a grassy bank for concert-goers. A distinctive crimson-and-black squat structure that looks more like a revolving restaurant than a lighthouse, the ● Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse was built in 1856 and installed at the mouth of the Patapsco before being decommissioned, relocated to the Inner Harbor’s ● Pier 5, and converted into a museum. It now provides a landmark for kayakers, boaters, and sailors, while its quiet benches on the promontory are a prime spot for couples, dog-walkers, and bookreaders— and July Fourth fireworks watchers.

Across a few canal-spanning footbridges, the ● National Aquarium inhabits ● Pier 3 with six acres of exhibits, tanks holding more than two million gallons of water and sea life and other animals representing more than 750 species. The new 10,000-squarefoot ● Harbor Wetlands exhibit recently opened along the outside footbridges, recreating Baltimore’s pre-industrial shoreline with grasses and shallows for native species, including turtles, which have returned by the dozens, ducks, crabs, eels, and herons.

The Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse; a fleet of dragon boats; the Chesapeake.

Docked nearby and overseen by Baltimore’s Living Classrooms Foundation are the four historic ships that have been transformed into museums. The ● USS Torsk, a WW II-era, Tench-class submarine, floats just outside the Aquarium’s entrance. Further along the waterfront are the Coast Guard’s ● Cutter, a National Historic Landmark; the circa-1930 ● Lightship Chesapeake; and the● USS Constellation, the last sail-only warship built by the Navy. Considerably smaller than these seaworthy museums is the fleet of electric pirate ships and blue and green ● Chessie Dragon paddle boats, available for seasonal rentals. Also operated by Living Classrooms, the boats are part of their job-training programs for youths and young adults. This part of the waterfront is visitor central, with the ● Harborplace pavilion offering restaurants and shopping. Among the highlights: ● Matriarch Coffee, whose co-founder’s family are Rwandan coffee farmers; and ● Crust By Mack, a Black-owned, family-run bakery. Though the warmer seasons are prime time for boating, ● City Rec and Parks kayak tours, running, and strolling around the harbor, during the summer the promenade also hosts ● outdoor yoga sessions and ● free fitness classes organized by Waterfront Wellness— plus a popular ● splash pad for kids.

The ● Maryland Science Center presides over the Light Street side of the harbor, as it has for the last half-century. One of the anchors of the Inner Harbor’s original revitalization, it boasts three floors of exhibits including Dinosaur Hall (12 dinosaurs! Excavation site!), a planetarium, an observatory, and an IMAX theater. It’s a destination for kids and anyone interested in astronomy or paleontology.

An outdoor yoga session.

As the walkway curves around to the southeast, the green space of ● Rash Field blends into the landscape. The public park reopened on the south shore in 2021 and continues to expand its projects, with more nature trails, gardens, and lawns in the works. Phase II of the $35-million revitalization, including pickleball courts, broke ground in April, but in the meantime don’t miss Rash Field’s Friday ● Sunset Jams, which return in September and October. The elaborate park features a kids’ nature playground including wooden towers and rope bridges, a waterfront pavilion, and it hosts events from summer music festivals to food fests to wildlife gardening classes. New upgrades include a kayak launch and rental. A huge draw is ● Jake’s Skate Park, which incorporates elevated decks, stairs, rails, a half-pipe pocket, grind ledges, and quarterpipes— and second Saturday ● Boards and Breakfast skates

with local pros. As it extends along the waterfront, the park’s walkways and gardens transform into the 200 tons of sand that form Rash Field’s beach volleyball courts. The ● Baltimore Beach Volleyball organization runs three eight-week sessions of league play, and dropin players can join for $5 per day. Benches along the boardwalk facing the marina provide prime spots for reading, people-watching, and picnicking. —AS

Federal Hill

AVAM’s Giant Golden Hand sculpture; Running up the stairs to Federal Hill Park.

Down from the steep, grassy hill the neighborhood is named for, the winding boardwalk continues along the harbor and is a magical route especially at night, when neon lights outline the Aquarium. The walkway skirts the marina and includes waterfront dining at restaurants as diverse as the fourdecades- old ● Rusty Scupper, with its old-school seafood menu and brunch buffet, and ● Ammoora, the swank Levantine fine-dining spot that’s one of the best restaurants in the city. Ammoora, named one of The New York Times’ 25 best restaurants of 2024, serves exquisite Syrian dishes in the first floor of The Ritz-Carlton Residences, and is a destination in itself.

Across Key Highway is the ● American Visionary Art Museum, a haven for “outsider” art whose exhibits start before you walk through its doors, with Maryland artist Bob Benson’s bedazzled ● Universal Tree of Life, sculptor Vollis Simpson’s 55-feet-tall ● Whirligig, Andrew Logan’s ● Cosmic Galaxy Egg, and the ● “O Say Can You See” that heralds the way into nearby Ft. McHenry. AVAM also has a must-visit gift shop and a summer outdoor movie series that turns the next-door park into an amphitheater. AVAM’s campus occupies land that was once a copper paint factory and a whiskey warehouse; the museum’s founders cleaned up the pollution in exchange for a land grant from the city.

The Baltimore Museum of Industry.

Fittingly, every May, AVAM sponsors the ● Kinetic Sculpture Race, in which human-powered, all-terrain, all-homemade, wacky contraptions race from Federal Hill to Canton Waterfront Park. The amphibious artworks are made from what can look like the paint cans and whiskey bottles that once filled the museum’s foundations, and much of the city turns out to cheer the racers on as they circle the harbor. As you move past the boats moored along this stretch of the Patapsco, take advantage of the occasional benches, as well as an outpost of ● DiPasquale’s, the century-old, beloved Italian market that’s hidden among the waterfront condos. Still family-owned, it’s a terrific pit-stop for a properly made espresso and a cannoli, or a bottle of Chianti and a few calzones for that park or waterfront picnic. The tiny shop extends to tables along the pier, offering a great view of the harbor as well as outdoor space for dogs.

A few hundred yards southeast, there’s also ● Little Havana, a 28-year-old Cuban tavern, if your tastes run more to Cubano sandwiches, paella, and pints on its outdoor patio, a splendid place to hang out on sunny days. Down the street, in an old oyster cannery complex, is another South Baltimore landmark, the ● Baltimore Museum of Industry. The BMI consists of a series of exhibitions that recreate that cannery, as well as a print shop, pharmacy, garment loft, machine shop, and forge; and don’t overlook its 5,000-strong collection of books and manuscripts, or the extensive photographic collection. The museum continues outside, where the Baltimore, the oldest surviving steam-powered tugboat, is docked.

Near the listing tug, the ● Downtown Sailing Center headquarters its sailing school—a reminder that Baltimore is a thriving, modern port as well as a historic one. A nonprofit committed to teaching sailing to everyone, the DSC provides adult education lessons for those with disabilities, summer camps, and community outreach programs, as well as night racing and cruising for experienced sailors. On Saturday mornings from May through November, the parking lot between the BMI and the sailing center’s dock is home to the small ● BMI Farmers Market. Local farmers and artisans set up tables loaded with seasonal produce, flowers, baked goods, and other items. There are picnic tables and, often, musicians under a pavilion overlooking the water. —AS

AVAM's Giant Golden Hand sculpture; docking a sailboat at the Downtown Sailing Center's sailing school headquarters; longtime Cuban tavern Little Havana.

Locust Point

One of the many Water Taxi stops along the harbor.

The ● Domino Sugars sign has been a Baltimore icon since it was first illuminated in 1951, and the factory has been one of the city’s key engines for a century. Built in 1922, Domino employs some 500 people and its famous sign is a popular backdrop for date and wedding photos. Walk— or kayak—along the waterfront and you’ll see ships docked alongside the factory, the cranes unloading raw sugar from vessels to the sugar shed, the giant mounds like pale sand dunes. This neighborhood is a portal into Baltimore’s history as a working port. Many of the rowhouses along and behind Key Highway are crowned with wooden decks like crows’ nests, another reminder of how many homeowners worked on or along the docks.

The boardwalk resumes on the eastern side of the factory with the ● Under Armor Promenade fronting the complex that was home to the sportswear company (recently relocated to the Baltimore Peninsula). A haven for picnickers, sunbathers, and fishermen, there’s a Baltimore Water Taxi stop and storage silos featuring sprawling ● mural portraits of Cal Ripken Jr., Michael Phelps, and Ray Lewis. More inspiring still is the nearby ● Baltimore Immigration Museum, built in a boarding house that provided temporary quarters for nearly 4,000 of the 1.2 million immigrants who disembarked nearby.

For a pit stop on the way to Fort McHenry, walk up to Fort Avenue and ● Ice Queens Snowball Shop, a Black-woman-owned business specializing in the classic Baltimore frozen treats. Or backtrack to ● L.P. Steamers and enjoy a crab feast on the rooftop deck. —AS

Enjoying a snowball outside Ice Queens; the marina with a view of the Domino Sugars sign.

Ft. McHenry

The historic star-shaped fort.

Baltimore’s 7.5-mile waterfront promenade officially ends in Locust Point. However, you can extend the trek to ● Fort McHenry with an additional mile-plus jaunt on Fort Avenue’s sidewalks or bike lanes, which pass the Olmstead Brothers-designed ● Latrobe Park’s bucolic six acres on the way. (It’s also accessible by MTA bus, the Charm City Circulator, and the Water Taxi.)

Free and open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the national park’s ● Seawall Trail, which can be picked up at the park entrance or the ● Visitor and Education Center, is a onemile, paved loop around the fort’s ramparts. In the spring, there are cherry blossoms to admire——the original grove of ● Japanese cherry trees was planted by Baltimore City African- American school children in the 1930s—the same period “The Star-Spangled Banner” became the national anthem.

Particularly from atop the hill alongside the replica canons, the quiet 43-acre peninsula offers a panorama of the surrounding working harbor, as well as the fallen ● Francis Scott Key Bridge. Near the park’s entrance is a massive statue worth a closer look. Dedicated on Flag Day, June 14, 1922, a 24-foot figure of a bronze ● Orpheus playing a five-stringed tortoise shell lyre pays homage to Key and the soldiers and sailors who fought in the Battle of North Point and defended Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. (See also: September’s annual ● Defenders’ Day slate of activities.)

Occupying 43 acres on the eastern tip of the Locust Point Peninsula, there isn’t a better place than Fort McHenry—ironic given its origin story—for a Baltimorean to end their day with a quiet, reflective walk along the water. —RC

The Baltimore City fire boat station at Fort McHenry; A runner passing by Fort McHenry's blossoming cherry trees; a statue of Lt. Col. George Armistead.