Discover the Jones Falls: Powering America's Industrial Revolution-Baltimore, MD - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

Heritage Walk-Baltimore’s industry and trade grew concurrently, a partnership that fueled the city’s tremendous 18th and 19th century growth. You are standing at the mouth of the Jones Falls, a river that flows through Baltimore into the Inner Harbor’s Patapsco River, which in turn flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The Jones Falls provided cheap, reliable energy---waterpower—to Baltimore’s burgeoning industry. The first merchant flour mill was constructed upstream in 1711, and by 1800, the river powered 12 such mills. Their proximity to the Chesapeake Bay allowed merchants to coordinate milling and shipping operations, making Baltimore the largest flour producer and exporter in the world in the early 19th century.
The Jones Falls also powered Baltimore’s textile industry. One of America’s first textile mills began operating on the Jones Falls at Mount Washington in 1810. Thirty years later, mills along the Jones Falls produced more than 80 percent of the cotton duck (sail cloth) in the country. The advent of steam power in the 1820’s freed industry from the stream valleys, allowing canneries and foundries to spring up close to the harbor. By the late 19th century, Baltimore became America’s canning center, as well as the leading producer of copper, chrome, and iron goods.
Like all urban waterways, the lower Jones Falls became polluted from decades of industrial use. Meanwhile, periodic flooding caused significant damage. Baltimore officials responded by making the stream “disappear.” In 1914, they piped the Jones Falls underground and, in 1917, built the Fallsway, a two-mile long street, within the streambed. More than fifty years later, the Jones Falls Expressway (I-83) was built over the former stream. Today, environmental groups, government, and neighborhood associations are working to restore the health of the Jones Falls and its surroundings.

Group that erected the marker: Heritage Walk Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: East Pratt Street West of Falls Avenue. Baltimore, MD USA 21202 URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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