Baltimore
Baltimore was a major port and industrial city, and its harbor, markets, row houses, streetcars and monuments appear on many cards. The great Baltimore fire of February 1904 destroyed much of downtown, and postcards of the ruins and the rebuilding were sold widely. Printed views of landmarks are common; real photos of neighborhoods, street life and businesses are more interesting.
The Chesapeake
The Chesapeake Bay shaped Maryland's life and economy. Steamboats connected Baltimore with towns all around the bay, and postcards of steamers and wharves are popular with maritime collectors. Watermen working oysters and crabs, the skipjacks that dredged oysters under sail, and the packing houses that processed the catch appear on cards. Real photos of these scenes are historically significant.
The Eastern Shore
The Eastern Shore's farms, canneries, small towns and waterfronts appear on cards. Tomato canneries were a major industry, and real photos of canneries and workers are collected. Towns such as Cambridge, Easton, Chestertown, Salisbury and Crisfield, the last famous for seafood, are popular.
The C&O Canal and western Maryland
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal ran along the Potomac from Georgetown to Cumberland and carried coal until 1924. Postcards of canal boats, locks and lock houses are collected. Western Maryland's coal mines, Cumberland's railroads, and the mountain resorts at Deer Park and Oakland, served by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, also appear.
Annapolis and the Naval Academy
Annapolis, the state capital, and the United States Naval Academy appear on many cards. Printed views are common, but real photos of midshipmen, events and the old town are more interesting.
Ocean City and resorts
Ocean City grew from a small resort into a popular beach town, and its boardwalk, hotels and beach appear on cards. Chesapeake Bay resorts such as Tolchester Beach and Betterton, reached by excursion steamer, had amusement parks and bathing beaches. Early views of these bay resorts, many long gone, are collected.
Places and subjects to look for
- Baltimore: the harbor, markets, neighborhoods, the 1904 fire and the rebuilding.
- Annapolis: the capitol, the Naval Academy and the old town.
- The Eastern Shore: canneries, watermen, Crisfield and small towns.
- Western Maryland: Cumberland, coal towns, the C&O Canal and Deer Park.
- Central Maryland: Frederick, Hagerstown, Westminster and farm towns.
- Bay resorts: Tolchester Beach, Betterton and Chesapeake Beach.
Railroads
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first common-carrier railroad in the country, was headquartered in Baltimore. Depots, bridges and trains on its lines and others, including the Western Maryland Railway, appear on cards popular with railroad collectors.
Civil War sites
Antietam and other Civil War sites in Maryland appear on cards, along with monuments and reunions. Most printed views are common, but veterans' reunion real photos are more collectible.
Real photos versus printed views
Baltimore, Annapolis and Ocean City were printed heavily. Real photos of small towns, the bay, canneries, the canal and western Maryland carry most of the value in a Maryland collection.
What is common
Printed views of Baltimore monuments, the Naval Academy, the capitol and later chrome beach cards are plentiful.
Mills and factories
Maryland's rivers powered textile mills in towns along the Patapsco and Jones Falls, such as Ellicott City, Oella and Savage, and Baltimore had clothing, canning, steel and shipbuilding industries, including the Sparrows Point steel works. Real photo cards of mills, mill villages and workers are collected by industrial and local historians, and many of these mill communities changed greatly after the mills closed.
Disasters and events
Besides the 1904 fire, Maryland real photographers recorded floods on the Patapsco and Potomac, train wrecks, fires in small towns, parades and county fairs. Event real photos from identified Maryland towns are prized by collectors.
Questions about Maryland postcards
Are Baltimore fire postcards valuable? They are collected, especially real photos of the ruins; common printed views are modest.
Are skipjack and oystering postcards collectible? Yes, real photos of watermen and the oyster fleet are popular.
Are C&O Canal postcards worth anything? Real photos of canal boats, locks and lock keepers are collected.
Do you buy Maryland collections? Yes, complete collections from anywhere in the state, by mail.