Now neglected, rich history could be boon for Baltimore
What is the price of history?
It's impossible to figure. But we are nagged by that question with news of the impending sale of the President Street station - the sale of Baltimore's Civil War history.
Baltimore is rich in historical structures (it's the "Monumental City," right?) and studded with an array of heritage venues that other cities should envy over their potential for tourism development. Why, in a town steeped in history going back to Colonial times, is its premier Civil War museum on the chopping block - and why have so many other small historical attractions dropped off the map in recent years? We've seen the closing of the H. L. Mencken House and Lillie Carroll Jackson Museum; others, including the Poe House and the Carroll Mansion, are operating at reduced hours or by appointment only.
The answer lies in how we as Baltimoreans think about our history.
Viewed from a national perspective, the numbers for local history and heritage tourism are cause for optimism. Recent travel data from the Tourism Industry of America show that Baltimore attracts close to 9 million tourists per year. If 24 percent of them visit heritage or cultural attractions (the national average) and spend $500 per person (50 percent higher than the $336 for other tourists), that works out to $1.1 billion in annual revenue from visits to local historic sites or museums - in theory, anyway. At the same time, this is less than 1 percent of the national leisure travel market.
Read entire article at Pamela Charshee in the Baltimore Sun
It's impossible to figure. But we are nagged by that question with news of the impending sale of the President Street station - the sale of Baltimore's Civil War history.
Baltimore is rich in historical structures (it's the "Monumental City," right?) and studded with an array of heritage venues that other cities should envy over their potential for tourism development. Why, in a town steeped in history going back to Colonial times, is its premier Civil War museum on the chopping block - and why have so many other small historical attractions dropped off the map in recent years? We've seen the closing of the H. L. Mencken House and Lillie Carroll Jackson Museum; others, including the Poe House and the Carroll Mansion, are operating at reduced hours or by appointment only.
The answer lies in how we as Baltimoreans think about our history.
Viewed from a national perspective, the numbers for local history and heritage tourism are cause for optimism. Recent travel data from the Tourism Industry of America show that Baltimore attracts close to 9 million tourists per year. If 24 percent of them visit heritage or cultural attractions (the national average) and spend $500 per person (50 percent higher than the $336 for other tourists), that works out to $1.1 billion in annual revenue from visits to local historic sites or museums - in theory, anyway. At the same time, this is less than 1 percent of the national leisure travel market.