Butcher's Hill

Located in southeastern Baltimore, Butcher’s Hill was originally built to house the large number of European immigrants who moved into Baltimore in the decades before the Civil War. Many of these men were butchers and needed open spaces to ply their trade and market their wares to local housewives and cooks. In addition to gentiles, Butcher’s Hill also attracted several Jewish butchers who were able to supply their customers with kosher beef and chicken.

During most of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the butchering trade was economically sound and many of the residents of Butchers Hill built large, elegant row house homes on the backs of beef and bacon. Today, however, those residents of these town homes are more likely to be employed at Johns Hopkins Hospital than in their own homes. Still, the area also holds an unusual attraction to artists and other bohemian types. As more and more of the homes are added to the National Register of Historic Places, it has become easier for residents to obtain loans and grants to restore many of these homes to their former splendor.

If you want to learn more about the area, I recommend your check out Laura Lippman’s mystery novel, Butcher’s Hill, that is set in this community.