Project Proposal
My project for this semester will be to create an online exhibit detailing the demographics of Baltimore through its turbulent period of history from 1851 through the Great Baltimore Fire in 1904. Baltimore has a unique past that is rooted in its ideal port location. However, during the mid nineteenth century Baltimore began to go through cyclical changes in its economy as it transformed from a commodity based port to an industrial trade and commercial center. This period was also characterized by rioting marshal law, and a devastating fire that nearly crippled the city’s economy. However, out of the ashes, the Port of Baltimore developed its shipping industry beyond its pre disaster level to become the fourth largest marketplace in the nation.
The scope of this project is to chart the change in population and urban development based on readily accessible maps and census records. In order to accomplish this I will subdivide this project into 4 time periods encompassing 4 different pages. These include:
- Baltimore in 1851 (The date Baltimore incorporated as a city)
- The Pratt Street Riots in 1861
- Post Civil War era Baltimore
- The Great Baltimore Fire 1904
The end product will be a resource with maps and findings. To do this I will use some of the readily available GIS programs that can be easily plugged into my site such as Google Maps and Map Mixer etc. This site is not intended to be a monograph nor a general history of any of the above-mentioned events, but an attempt to create a qualitative study. The web is an ideal place for this project because of the interactivity of mapping technology.
