The exhibitions at the Baltimore Museum of Industry document the stories of the workers and entrepreneurs who built Baltimore into a manufacturing powerhouse.
Baltimore has long been recognized as a major industrial center and is home to the nation’s first passenger railway, oldest gas company, first traffic light, and many other inventions and innovations.
Virtual Walk-through
Temporary Exhibitions
Food for Thought
Food For Thought highlights Food and Nutrition Service workers at Baltimore City Public Schools. The exhibition consists of portraits by J.M. Giordano, interviews produced by Aaron Henkin, and hands-on activities. Open throughout 2023. Learn more.
Shuttered: Images from the Fall of Bethlehem Steel
The grandson of a steel worker, photographer J.M. Giordano has spent more than 15 years capturing the impact of the mill’s decline and closure on his hometown of Baltimore. Learn more.
Permanent Exhibitions
The Neighborhood Corner Bar
Discover a fixture of working-class neighborhoods throughout Baltimore. A place to drink, discuss and find community among the regulars. Learn more.
Fire & Shadow
Explore the story of Baltimore’s Sparrows Point steel mill, once the world’s largest producer of the world’s most important product. Learn more.
Cannery
Walk through the 1865 Platt and Company oyster cannery, the only surviving cannery building in Baltimore.
Decker Gallery
Stand beneath the 1937 Mini-Mariner, the flying prototype of a WWII PBM flying boat bomber, restored by some of the same Baltimore-area workers that built it.
Machine Shop & Forge
Feel the heat of the forge and the vibration of a belt driven machine shop. Live demonstrations most Saturdays.
Pharmacy
Step into a 1910 pharmacy, like the one where world-famous Noxzema skin cream was invented.
Print Shop
See a working 1936 Linotype machine and vintage printing presses. Live demonstrations of the Linotype OCCURRING MONTHLY (Call for schedule)
Fueling the Automobile Age
Explore how the two local oil companies helped fuel America’s automobile age. Learn more.
Communications Gallery
Find out how telecommunications have changed from the time of the telegraph to the age of the smartphone. Learn more.
Garment Loft
Tour a circa-1929 garment loft similar to those once key to Baltimore’s industrial development.
Food Processing Gallery
From Berger Cookies to Old Bay, learn about familiar brands that got their start right here in Baltimore.
Outdoor Exhibitions
Bethlehem Steel Clyde Model 17 DE 90 Crane
The largest artifact in the museum’s collection is the colossal crane that watches sentinel over the museum’s campus. Learn more.
Steam Tug Baltimore
Look outside for the 1906 steam tug Baltimore, once the official welcome vessel for the City of Baltimore. Learn more.
Past Exhibitions
Women of Steel
The BMI’s first-ever outdoor exhibition features women at work at Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point plant. Learn more.
Past Exhibitions
The Baltimore Museum of Industry offers an ever-changing variety of exhibitions. Learn more.
Photos contributed by Washington DC Photographer Aaron Clamage