History of Pigtown

The Pigtown Historic District comprises some 36 city blocks lying in Southwest Baltimore, south and east of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad yards. Developing initially as a community for railroad workers in the 1840’s, along Columbia Avenue (now Washington Boulevard), Ramsay, McHenry and Poppleton Streets, the area grew rapidly to the south during the industrial expansion of the 1850’s and 1860’s. Small two-story houses were built for workingmen on the narrow streets running south of Washington Boulevard with three-story gable-roofed houses and then early Italianate house lining Washington Boulevard and Scott Street to serve as housing for shopkeepers and upper-level managers. Development of the Pigtown is intimately linked with hallmark events of the Industrial Revolution in Baltimore, particularly the growth and development of the B&O Railroad, the nation’s first.

Citizens of Pigtown underwent a name change in 2006 from Southwest Community Council, Inc. (SWCC) to its current name. SWCC began meeting in 1971 and became an incorporated community association in 1973. In an effort to reflect the history of the organization, we have included information regarding the original work that the founders did to help the neighborhood.

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