The Port of Baltimore and the surrounding megalopolis was a principal economic hub for the Mid-Atlantic region at the start of the 20th century.
The area possessed some inherent advantages for commerce. Its location far up the Chesapeake Bay, a significant estuary in the United States, placed its facilities much further inland than more Northern ports. Furthermore, Baltimore sits significantly further west of Philadelphia and New York than it is south of those two cities. These natural factors created a perfectly positioned commerce point as the country’s population expanded into the Ohio River Valley and the Midwest.