Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland

Postcard US-3118723 to Hong Kong was a 1960 vintage linen postcard showing Lord Baltimore Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. Designed by William Lee Stoddart in the French Renaissance style, the 22-story 289-feet or 88-meter tall hotel opened on December 30, 1928. The hotel has a brick veneer over a steel frame and a tower featuring a mansard roof of copper on the top.

The Lord Baltimore Hotel was noted for its voluntary ending of its restrictive guest policies in 1958 after the Baltimore City Council's failed attempt to pass an ordinance prohibiting racial segregation in public accommodations.

The original Lord Baltimore Hotel closed in 1982, and re-opened in 2014 as an independent hotel after a series of ownership changes. The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Under the current ownership of Rubell Hotels of Miami, Florida, it had undergone a total renovation of guest rooms and restoration of the building's public spaces.

America the Beautiful -- Baltimore: Inner Harbor

The celebration of the bicentennial of the National Anthem took place at its birth place Baltimore, Maryland this weekend with appearances of the U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, and other celebrities and elected officials last night. The week-long Star-Spangled Spectacular, from September 10 to September 16, 2014, features more than 30 tall ships and U.S. Navy vessels, the Blue Angels airshows, concerts, festivals and fireworks.

Before the fireworks on September 13, 2014, one of the 21 songs performed at a concert, live on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances on PBS, from Baltimore's Pier Six Pavilion was "America the Beautiful" by Little Big Town and Kenny Rogers.

This Baltimore: Inner Harbor stamped card, issued by USPS on October 7, 1989, was one of the several "America the Beautiful" series I bought from the Israel I. Bick Coin, Currency, Jewelry and Stamp Shows early this year. The USS Constellation, shown on the postcard, is one of the 30+ ships accessible during the Star-Spangled Spectacular, It was the last all-sail ship built by the United States Navy. A sailing ship is usually referred to a wind-powered vessel. Among its early missions were disrupting the slave trade, and delivering famine relief supplies to Ireland.

The USPS postcard rate between April 3, 1988 and February 3, 1991 was 15¢.

Baltimore's Harborplace

I flew into Washington D.C. via Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) earlier today. When I was at the airport. I picked up a postcard showing the USS Constellation at Baltimore's Inner Harbor in Maryland. Baltimore has been one of the major seaports in the United States since the 1700s. It has grown into the cultural center of Baltimore since the 1970s.

The Inner Harbor is home to four historic ships: the USS Constellation, a sloop-of-war from 1854; the USCGC. Taney, a Coast Guard cutter; a WWII-era submarine named the USS Torsk; and a lightship the Chesapeake. 

USS Constellation, shown on the postcard, was the last all-sail ship built by the United States Navy. A sailing ship is usually referred to a wind-powered vessel. Among its early missions are disrupting the slave trade, and delivering famine relief supplies to Ireland.