Welcome to Baltimore, the “Greatest City in America,” as bus-stop benches proclaim. The benches capture the city’s paradoxes: spectacular ambitions and spectacular failures; great diversity and great inequality; economic struggles and artistic flourishing. All this history is out in the open, as easy to spot as a “Greatest City in America” bench, if you know where to look.This walk will guide you through Baltimore’s downtown commercial corridor, past the city’s oldest farmer’s market, through the green space and religious landmarks of Seton Hill, and into Mount Vernon, home to 19th-century high society and currently a destination for arts and culture. Walking is the best way to encounter Baltimore -- it’s a patchwork city with vastly different conditions on every block. Much of its history is hidden in plain sight, and we’re here to investigate the rich stories behind the facades.

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Photo “Baltimore City Hall from Northeast.jpg” by Steelplug is licensed under Public Domain