Named for the prominent hill it sits on, the Federal Hill Historic District overlooks downtown Baltimore and the Baltimore Harbor.
Named for the prominent hill it sits on, the Federal Hill Historic District overlooks downtown Baltimore and the Baltimore Harbor. Rich in history, the hill was the site where citizens celebrated the state's ratification in 1788, and where an observatory once stood that signaled merchants of the approach of their vessels. Fortified to protect the city during the Civil War, the hill was eventually turned into a park in the late 1800s, which now sits in the northern section of the District.
Visitors will find hundreds of examples of 18th- and mid-19th-century homes along the Federal Hill park, a testament to the area's early settlement. The 1882 Armistead Monument honors Colonel George Armistead, the commander of Fort McHenry during the 1814 British attack on Baltimore, and stands as a historical reminder of Federal Hill's role in the War of 1812.
