Starting point
Beginning as a port of entry for European immigrants, South Baltimore neigborhood’s demographics still reflect that
Editor’s note:
Austin Presley said a year ago he moved from Clarksville to Locust Point in South Baltimore because he missed the city. Now, restaurants, bars and coffee shops are walking distance, he said, adding that he can also walk his dog — 2-year-old Uzi, who’s named after rapper Lil Uzi Vert — every day at Latrobe Park.
While quiet, there’s plenty to do in Locust Point, Presley said.
“You’re close to [Fort McHenry]. You can take a water taxi over in Fells Point when the weather is nice. It’s kind of a perfect spot,” he said.
History
Locust Point was annexed by Baltimore in 1816, according to the Locust Point Civic Association’s (LPCA) website. The neighborhood was originally named Whetstone Point, said Kate McComiskey, president of LPCA. It began as a port of entry for European immigrants, she also said, a reflection of its current, predominantly white, demographics.
Things to do
Fort Avenue boasts many businesses, including Amber, a coffee shop that turns into a bar at night, seafood restaurant Locust Point Steamers, Harry’s Restaurant &
Bar of Locust Point, Ice Queens Snowball Shop, the Anthem House, a popular apartment complex and sports bar City Limits, among others.
Nneka Bilal, who opened Serenity Wine Cafe on Hull Street about
three years ago, said the neighborhood has been supportive.
“We’ve been very fortunate. In the beginning, people really welcomed us. And through the pandemic when we were shut down, a lot of neighbors supported us and got carry out to keep us afloat,” she said.
Originally from Columbia,
Bilal lives in Randallstown but said she chose Locust Point for her business in part because of the atmosphere. “I walked in the building. I just loved the charm of it because you can’t find it in the county.”
When Dasia Kabia, 24, opened Ice Queens Snowball Shop two
years ago in Locust Point, she said her menu signs and lighting fixtures were stolen.
Though “discouraging,” the harassment that Kabia believes was racially targeted did not stop her. She opened her nearly 13,000-square-foot shop — with seating for 40 — in the neighborhood because of the large amount of foot traffic, she said. “It was a draw-dropping amount of support — my experience has been phenomenal in this area.”
Physical space
On a peninsula, the neighborhood is surrounded by the Locust Point Industrial Area, which includes many well-known sites often associated with it.
At the tip of the peninsula is Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, while closer to the rest of the city is Latrobe Park. At the entrance to the area is McHenry Row, a retail and restaurant complex.
According to Live Baltimore, the neighborhood itself is defined by Lowman Street to the west and Fort McHenry to the east. The Northside is Latrobe Park. Fort Avenue offers the neighborhood’s commercial main strip.
Area schools are Francis
Scott Key Elementary/Middle School, the Baltimore Montessori (Locust Point) and the Kiddie Academy of Locust
Point. Churches include Locust Point Community Church on Beason Street, The Church of the Redemption on Towson Street and Our Lady of Good Counsel on Fort Avenue.
Demographics
Locust Point’s population has increased, according to the Baltimore Planning Department, from 2,105 in 1990 to 2,138 in 2010. In 2011, the population of African American and Latinos was less than 5% and about 10% Asian. More than 90% of the population was white. In 2019, the population of white people, African Americans, and Asians remained the same and Latinos were more than 5%.
Residential segregation has caused separations of neighborhoods in the city, said Andrew DeVos, an adjunct professor for the Center for Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins, an independent researcher focusing on Baltimore history and a teacher supervisor at Patuxent Institution, a prison school at Jessup.
In the early 20th century, the city was predominantly white, he said, but then in the 1940s, it became a predominantly Black city, said DeVos. Baltimore was the first city in the U.S. to pass a residential segregation law in 1911, which made it illegal to have mixed housing blocks, he also said.
“The city government — I would say white city government — would often condemn Black neighborhoods near white neighborhoods
and replace them with parks or new housing in order to make sure that white neighborhoods were not bothered by Black neighborhoods,” he said.
The neighborhood’s unemployment rate was 5% in 2019, compared to the city’s 13%. In 2011, Locust Point unemployment was 3%, compared to the city’s 8%.
The neighborhood boasts row houses and luxury apartments and high-risers. In 2019, the median household income was $139, 730, according to Baltimore’s Planning Department. Median home sales prices were $273, 750 from 2014 to 2016, compared to the city at $70,000; and $350,000 from 2017 to 2019, compared to the city at $79,500.
Transit and walkability Issues
In October, McComiskey said homicide is not an issue in Locust Point, saying the area is safe, but neighbors wanted an increased police presence because of a rise in thefts. “There was a string of thefts — thefts from cars and homes and people were eager to have that kind of activity solved quickly.”
There were two reported aggravated assaults both in 2019 and 2020, according to Baltimore Open Data. There were six reported auto thefts in 2019 and three in 2020. The site didn’t show any records of homicides.
Leadership
Representatives of Locust Point include State Sen. Bill Ferguson and State Delegates Robbyn Lewis, Brooke Lierman, Luke Clippinger and Councilman
Eric Costello — all Democrats. McComiskey is the president of the Locust Point Civic Association.