Historic Canton

The Pennsylvania Railroad used this railroad transfer bridge to land cars transported on ferries between Locust Point and Canton in a Baltimore Harbor practice known as carfloating that lasted from 1871 to 1969. This two-story steel gantry was built in 1912 as part of the working harbor needed by railroad companies to transfer cargo across the harbor from Locust Point. It was a remnant of the Industrial Revolution that began in the Canton area in 1828 under the aegis of the Canton Company and lasted until the 1980's. In 1828, the Canton Company was chartered as a real estate company when it purchased the 3000 acres of the Captain O'Donnell estate, including 2.5 miles of shoreline property next to deep water and access to the Chesapeake Bay and the farms of the Eastern Shore. The company successfully transformed Canton into a complete industrial neighborhood that provided a stable working force for decades, and its smokestack industries flourished and became an economic engine for the success of Baltimore City.

Baltimore, Maryland · United States