"On the evening of May 13, 1861, General Benjamin Butler and 1,000 Union soldiers arrived at Baltimore's Camden Street Station by train. Under the cover of a thunderstorm, they fortified Federal Hill to ensure the city of Baltimore remained under Union control, after the Pratt Street Riot less than a month earlier."
Exciting New
Events and Programs
Exhibition Openings
Lecture Series
Family Days
Lunch and Learn
hiSTORY Time
Historical Tours
& more
Discover Maryland’s rich and unique history by visiting our research library attending an event or exploring one of our Exhibitions
Visit our Museum Shop
Library Hours
Attention Researchers: Special Collections pulls are only available on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Special Collections includes:
Manuscript Collections
Photograph Collections
Vertical Files
Maps and Rare Atlases
Prints, Broadsides, and Works on Paper
Architectural Drawings and Blueprints
Oral Histories
Sheet Music
Ephemera
For all other research requests, the library remains open Wednesday-Saturday. For more information, visit this link.
Welcome to the Maryland Historical Society
This is your starting place for exploring the people, places and events that shaped Maryland’s past. Whether you are a student researching a paper, a teacher in need of a lesson plan, a family looking for fun things to do, a collector of rare objects, an amateur genealogist or a lover of period clothing, furniture or rare documents, we can help. You will find everything you need right here – including links to activities, guides and holdings at more than 300 other Maryland historical sites and institutions. Quickly access the information you need, or let our experts point you in the right direction.
