Inner Harbor

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The Inner Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, is an historic seaport, tourist attraction, and iconic landmark of the city. The harbor is actually the end of the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River. It is the leading tourist destination in Baltimore. According to the Baltimore Sun, 13 million tourists visit the harbor each year. The harbor is within walking distance of Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium and has a water taxi that connects the Inner Harbor to Fells Point, Canton, and Fort McHenry.

While Baltimore has been a major U.S. seaport since the 1700s, the historically shallow water of Baltimore's Inner Harbor (prior to manipulation through dredging) was not conducive to large ships or heavy industry, most of which was concentrated in Locust Point, Fell's Point, and Canton. The Inner Harbor was chiefly a light frieght commercial port and passenger port until the 1950s, when economic shifts ended both the freight and passenger use of the Inner Harbor. Rotting warehouses and piers were eventually torn down and replaced by open, grass-covered parkland which was used for recreational purposes and the occasional large event, such as City Fairs and the significant 1976 centennial visit of tall ships. This initial renewal of the harbor area in and its continued transformation into a major cultural and economic area of the city was spearheaded by Mayor William Donald Schaefer (1971-1987). Harborplace, the waterfront festival marketplace, officially opened on July 1 1980. Since being reincarnated as a cultural hub, the Inner Harbor has become the home to many tourist attractions. In recent years, the area along the waterfront to the east of the Inner Harbor (in the direction of Fells Point and Little Italy) has been developed with condominiums, retail space, restaurants, and hotels; this ongoing project is known as Inner Harbor East (or simply HarborEast).

In September 2003, the Inner Harbor area was flooded by Hurricane Isabel.

On March 6 2004, a Seaport Taxi (now out of business, and operated by the Living Classrooms Foundation), capsized in the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River near Fort McHenry during a storm; 5 passengers died in the accident. While occurring over a mile downstream of the Inner Harbor, it nonetheless was associated with the Inner Harbor by news reports and casual observers.