The Baltimore Museum of Industry, Baltimore, MD, is located at 1415 Key Highway in the southern part of the inner Harbor neighborhood.
This museum is dedicated to the industrial and technological legacy of Baltimore and the surrounding area. The exhibits seek to explore the history of Maryland industry and the inventors and workers that made the machinery run.
The museum originated in 1977 as a project of the Mayor's Office. In 1981 it became incorporated as a non-profit educational institution and moved into the historic 1870 building that it still occupies today, the old Platt Oyster Cannery building.
Store fronts and workshop replicas fill the spaces of the museum. The permanent exhibits allow for interaction with the technologies that forged the Industrial Revolution. There are workshop replicas on textiles production, metalworking, machining and printing.
A bank mock up is housed here to bring visitors back to 1886 banking. The 1910 Bunting Pharmacy where Noxema was first created is also found to be recreated in this museum.
Baltimore's shipping and cannery industries as well as glass and gas innovations are explored. The first umbrella factory and the invention of radar are also seen as they are attributed to local inventors. The coal powered SS Baltimore, the only steam tug boat that is still operational on the east coast, is moored at the museum's dock.
On Saturdays between June and November, the museum hosts a farmer's market where local produce as well as crafts are for sale directly from the producers and artisans.
The Baltimore Museum of Industry, Baltimore, MD tells the tale of 200 years of industry in the area. Group tours are available for adults as well as for students and home school groups.
Family programs where kids can make crafts or have other hands on experiences are scheduled throughout the year. There are also lectures and programs for adult learning and discussion. In addition, the museum organizes tours specifically geared toward 2-5 year old children.
The museum has two large spaces that it rents for private events. The Decker Gallery accommodates 300 people for seated banquets or 250 when leaving space for a dance floor. Up to 500 people can be hosted in a stand up affair. A view of the Inner Harbor is seen through the glass walled room or from the adjoining water front promenade. The space is available for events from 6 PM until midnight.
An open air pavilion is also available that can seat 300 guests. A meeting space for smaller events holds up to 60 people.
The museum can open its exhibit space to party guests as well.
Sixty minute kid's birthday tours are also available for groups of children from 5 to 12 years of age.
The Baltimore Museum of Industry, Baltimore, MD, has lower rates for seniors, students and children. Children under 4 years of age enter at no charge.
The museum is closed on Mondays every week. Annually it closes on Memorial Day, Thanksgiving Day and both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. From Tuesday through Saturday it is open from 10:00 AM to 4 PM and on Sunday from 11 AM to 4 PM.
