National Park Service - PARK HISTORY PROGRAM

Baltimore County, Maryland 

 

During World War II, Baltimore County had two important manufacturing areas -

Sparrows Point and Middle River. The Sparrows Point Shipyard built Liberty Ships

and ships for the U.S. Maritime Commission. The Glenn L. Martin Company in Middle

River was one of the largest production facilities in the world during WWII. It built

military aircraft, specifically the B-26 Marauders used by US and Allied air forces in

the Pacific and Europe.​

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American World War II Heritage City

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                                                     Before the start of World War II, east Baltimore County was already a center of industry for                                                       the East Coast. In the southeast portion of the county, Sparrows Point, a steel mill and                                                               shipyard eventually purchased by Bethlehem Steel in 1916, had been producing materials                                                       for railroads, skyscrapers, and bridges since the late 1800s. Ten miles to the north in                                                                 Middle River, Glenn L. Martin purchased over 1200 acres of land in 1929 for an aviation                                                             factory, the Glen L. Martin Company (eventually Martin Marietta).

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                                                     During World War II, the Sparrows Point Shipyard built ships for the U.S. Maritime                                                                     Commission’s Emergency Shipbuilding Program helping to rebuild the British Merchant                                                           Navy. The shipyard also built Liberty ships as well as oil tankers for the private sector. At                                                         the height of World War II, Bethlehem Steel employed approximately 36,000 people in its                                                         Sparrow Point facilities. The Glenn L. Martin Company also saw a similar boom. The                                                                 Middle River factory was one of the largest production facilities in the world during WWII. It built military aircraft, specifically the B-26 Marauders used by the U.S. and allied air forces in both the Pacific and European Theaters. By 1942 the number of people employed by the company at Middle River had reached 53,000 and by 1944, African American workers made up 5 percent of the workforce and women made up 35 percent.

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To accommodate the large influx of workers, large workforce housing communities were built by Glen Martin, the U.S. Government, and private developers. Two of them - Victory Villa and Aero Acres - still stand today.