n.
City (pop., 2000: 651,154), north-central Maryland, U.S. Located at the head of the Patapsco River estuary, 15 mi (24 km) above Chesapeake Bay , it is Maryland's largest city and economic hub.
Established in 1729, it was named after the Irish barony of Baltimore (seat of the Calvert family, proprietors of the colony of Maryland). It became the first U.S. Roman Catholic diocese in 1789. In 1827 the nation's first railroad began operations there. In World War I, Baltimore began to develop industrially, and it has since become a major seaport.