History
Upper Fell’s Point originally was a residential section that was developed between 1845 and 1855 for German and Irish immigrants who had come to work at the docks in Fell’s Point.
Prior to 1729, the town of Fells Point consisted of three homes, several tobacco houses, an orchard, and a mill. In 1797 Fells Point was incorporated into Baltimore town as the Debtford Hundred, a parcel of land that included all the Fell family holdings, both the Point and the higher ground to the north then known as Fells Prospect. Today the area is called Upper Fells Point.
As a deep water port and maritime building center, Fells Point was largely responsible for shaping the ethnic character of Upper Fells as it exists today. The first wave of immigrants were the Irish, establishing the second Catholic Church in Baltimore, St. Patrick's, in 1792. A few years later, this was the site of the first free school in Baltimore. It was academically rigorous and admitted poor children of all races and religions. The Irish and African-Americans lived side by side with the newer German immigrants.
By 1860, one quarter of the population of Baltimore was German. By the 1880's East Baltimore canneries and clothing sweatshops were providing employment to hordes of newcomers. Bohemians, Scandinavians, Italians, Poles and Czechs found work and lodging in Upper Fells Point. These groups were joined by the Lithuanians and Greeks in the early 1900's. The Depression caused many of the larger homes in the area to be divided into multi-family dwellings. Adding to our ethnic diversity are the Lumbee Indians who migrated here from the Carolinas in search of jobs in the factories involved in the war effort, and a Hispanic population which is a product of the 1960's and '70's.
Upper Fells Point, as it exists today, has a rich ethnic background, with a history of diversity and tolerance.
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