Maryland on Stamps
Richard D. L. Fulton
Baltimore’s Inner Harbor: 1989
Maryland’s Appalachian Trail: 2025
The United States Postal Service (USPS) issued six 15-cent “America the Beautiful”-themed postal cards, featuring major United States attractions, one of which was dedicated to the Baltimore Inner Harbor, on October 7, 1989.
The stamp depicts the 1797 frigate USS Constitution as it sits on display in the Inner Harbor.
Aside from the Baltimore Inner Harbor postal card, the remaining five postal cards commemorated the following:
A western plains landscape, featuring bison;
A seashore;
Woodlands;
Independence Hall in Philadelphia; and
New York/Manhattan Skyline.
The Baltimore Inner Harbor postcard was canceled in Baltimore.
Postal cards differ from postcards. Postal cards are printed by the USPS, including the depiction of a stamp, and are issued to be used as mail, or as a souvenir of the issuance of the stamp represented. Post cards are privately printed, usually depicting places of interest, and to which a stamp has to be added by the purchaser, in order for the card to be sent within the mail system.
In the beginning, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor (not to be confused with the Port of Baltimore) was a shallow water harbor whose use was not suitable for larger ships to access. Use of the name “inner harbor” also tends to be used in reference to the mainland areas surrounding the harbor proper, as well as the waterbody.
The waterbody, prior to 1900, had extended up to Water Street, a couple of blocks from where the water presently begins, according to an article written by Ramsey Archibald, entitled “Before Harborplace: A Visual History of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor,” and published in the March 12, 2024, edition of The Baltimore Banner.
In spite of the harbor’s shallow water, sufficient shipping was able to utilize the port during the late 18th Century and early 19th Century to the degree that it contributed to the city’s overall economic growth, with smaller cargo ships docking at the numerous “filled finger piers” that were constructed out into the waters… until 1904, when the Great Baltimore Fire “destroyed all but one structure on the massive, filled finger piers,” according to the National Park Service. However, restoration of the lost structures was carried out from 1904 through 1910.
The Inner Harbor’s Federal Hill served as home to a major shipbuilding industry, even as the wooden ships gave way to those of iron and steel.
Industry fueled in part from goods, and off-loaded at the Inner Harbor, contributed to Baltimore’s population, from some 200 individuals in 1752 to 900,000 by the time of the Baltimore City Fair, which was held in the Inner Harbor in 1973.
However, during the 1970s into the 1980s, the city population fell by more than 100,000 to 150,000 individuals, prompting those concerned to take another look at what the Inner Harbor offered… and this led, ultimately, to the creation of Harborplace.
Harborplace was built by The Rouse Company and opened on July 2, 1980, and was comprised of retail establishments and restaurants. That the project had been such a success was reflected in an article that was published in the September 27, 1986, edition of The Washington Post which stated that Harborplace “has achieved annual sales in excess of $400 per square feet.”
Since its conception, Harborplace has been owned by four different companies: The Rouse Company, General Growth Properties (GGP), Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation, and MCB Real Estate. Financial difficulties had forced the court to take over receivership of Ashkenazy Acquisition Harborplace, which in turn led to its sale to MCB in 2023.
In 2024, MCB reported on its website, (referring to Co-founder and Managing Partner, P. David Bramble), “Bramble… says he and his firm need the Harborplace project ‘like a hole in the head.’” But in the next paragraph, he says he is “committed to replicating and eclipsing the excitement that Harborplace generated as a landmark, waterfront destination in the 1980s …”
For more information on visiting Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, visit Inner Harbor Marina’s website at baltimoreinnerharbormarina.com.
First Day of Issue Inner Harbor postal card also featuring a 1947 stamp commemorating the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution.
