Rowhouses and the Residential Boom

Accession Number P75-54-0906g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

The annexation meant not only an increase in land but also more opportunity for home construction. Many of the areas acquired by the annexation were green, park like areas which house builders saw fit for development. As a result, there was an entrepreneurial boom which changed the look of neighborhoods. Builders capitalized on the daylight rowhouse design similar to the picture above and used the design as a foundation to expand their businesses. Some of the most notable developers were Frank Novak, Edward Gallagher (builder of the houses in photo), and James Keelty. By the mid-twenties, these builders created around 6,000 houses a year. Builders offered well built, low cost homes to middle class families allowing some couples to be first time homeowners.

Slum Areas

Accession Number P75-54-0913g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

“Slums” all over the city gained publicity for their conditions. Many houses in the slums were built in the 1800s, and did not include amenities such as electricity or indoor plumbing. Builders in the twenties and thirties focused on creating homes in the annexed areas for the middle class. The poor moved into their homes afterwards. These homes were most likely passed down to those middle class families from their parents who first moved to Baltimore in the 1800s. The increasing poor population as author Mary Ellen Hayward described became more “visible” in Baltimore especially during the Depression. Perhaps they were also visible because Whites who feared poor Blacks would move closer to them, also realized their White, middle class neighbors were leaving in large numbers while poor Blacks took their places.

Modern Neighborhoods

Image Number Neg Z9. 269. PP8, Hughes Studio Photograph Collection,

Courtesy of the Prints and Photographs Division, Maryland Historical Society

The annexation provided more opportunity for builders to change what was considered a “neighborhood” in Baltimore. Their creations led to “White flight” in Baltimore well before the widely known period after WWII. This period in Baltimore shows not only the shift toward contemporary housing but also a focus on housing reform. Organizations such as the Baltimore Housing Authority formed during this time, showed both a city and federal focus on state of housing. It is important to acknowledge that the slum clearance program was meant to fix housing but more important contain the poor, specifically Black residents. After WWII, the Housing Authority planned for the creation of high rise apartments to control the poor population. The expansion of Baltimore neighborhoods between the wars initiated issues still battled today, as many cities see middle class families move away to upscale secluded suburbs, leaving exposed poor conditioned neighborhoods within the city.