Locust Point, Baltimore

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Locust Point is a peninsula neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland, located in South Baltimore. It is almost entirely surrounded by the Locust Point Industrial Area. Its traditional boundaries are Lawrence Street on the west and the Patapsco River on the north, south, and east.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Locust Point was a major entry point for immigrants. It was known as Baltimore’s Ellis Island, and between 1868 and 1914 about 1.2 million European immigrants came through its piers. The area was home to many Polish, Irish, and Italian families. In recent years, the neighborhood has seen new development, including the rehabilitation of Tide Point and Silo Point.

Fort McHenry, famous for defending Baltimore during the War of 1812, sits at the tip of Locust Point. The fort began as Fort Whetstone in 1776 and was rebuilt and renamed Fort McHenry by 1798. The area’s streets honor local heroes from the War of 1812.

Locust Point is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Locust Point Historic District (added in 2012). Today it includes the Baltimore Museum of Industry, Fort McHenry, Latrobe Park, the Locust Point Recreation Center, a Baltimore Water Taxi stop, and the South Locust Point Cruise Terminal. Two marine terminals are part of the Port of Baltimore, and the nearby Domino sugar factory remains a reminder of the harbor’s industrial use.

In the late 1920s, Procter & Gamble opened a soap plant at Locust Point. The Baltimore plant closed in 1995, and in 1999 developers bought the site to create Tide Point, a waterfront redevelopment completed in 2002 that turned the old factory into offices and shops.