(top) Baltimore harbor from Federal Hill, 1850.

(top middle) Baltimore harbor from Federal Hill (facing Fell’s Point), 1870.

(middle) Baltimore harbor from Federal Hill, 1902.

(bottom middle) Baltimore harbor from Federal Hill, 1948.

(bottom) Baltimore harbor from Federal Hill, 2014.

These five images show the dramatic transformation of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, all taken from the vantage point of Federal Hill. From the 1850′s, when the city had just started to feel the impact of the Industrial Age, to the 1870′s, when oyster packing filled the harbor with skipjacks and bugeyes, to the early 20th century, when the last of the steamboats plied their routes throughout the Bay, to today, when most of the traces of industry have been replaced by museums, malls, and leisure craft- Baltimore’s harbor has remained an essential element of Maryland’s largest city.