Fells Point
National Register Historic District · Baltimore, Maryland
The old shipbuilding waterfront east of the Inner Harbor, laid out in 1763 and still surfaced in Belgian block, where the Baltimore clippers were built and the privateers that so annoyed the Royal Navy in 1812 came from — the British called it a nest of pirates and meant it. Frederick Douglass was hired out to the shipyards here as an enslaved caulker and escaped from this waterfront in 1838. It is now where Baltimoreans go out, which is a fair use of a district that has been drinking since the eighteenth century.
Thames Street and Broadway, Baltimore, Maryland, 21231, United States
A public district, open at all times. Bars and restaurants run late, busiest Thursday to Saturday; most bars are 21 and over with identification checked. Broadway Market and the shops keep daytime hours. The Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park keeps limited hours — verify before travelling. The water taxi runs a seasonal and weather-dependent schedule. Parking is metered, scarce and enforced.