Sandtown-Winchester, Baltimore

Sandtown-Winchester is a neighborhood in West Baltimore, Maryland. Known locally as Sandtown, the community's name was derived from the trails of sand that dropped from wagons leaving town after filling up at the local sand and gravel quarry back in the days of horse-drawn wagons. It is located north of Lafayette Street, west of Fremont Avenue, south of North Avenue, and east of Monroe Street, covering an area of 72 square blocks, patrolled by the Baltimore Police Department's Western District.[2] The community is 98.5% black.[3]

Sandtown-Winchester
Neighborhood statistical area
CountryUnited States
StateMaryland
CityBaltimore
Area
 • Total.522 sq mi (1.35 km2)
 • Land.522 sq mi (1.35 km2)
 [1]
Elevation
190 ft (60 m)
Population
 (2009)
 • Total9,174
 • Density18,000/sq mi (6,800/km2)
 [1]
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
21217
Area code410, 443, and 667

This neighborhood is one of West Baltimore's most blighted communities.[4]

History

Sandtown is located in a historically black area of West Baltimore neighboring the once affluent Upton. In the second half of the 20th century, Sandtown experienced economic depression, housing abandonment, crime, civil uprisings and racial rioting.[2][5][6] Whereas in the 1950s and 1960s famous African American performers such as Billie Holiday and Diana Ross performed there and it was sometimes referred to as Baltimore's Harlem, by the time of the 2015 protests and rioting over the death of Freddie Gray, 3% of its population was incarcerated, a third of its housing abandoned, 20% of working age people were unemployed, and a third of residents were living in poverty.[7]

In 2015 Wall Street Journal op-ed columnist William Galston drew lessons from the history of Port Clinton, Ohio, to Baltimore and reported 52% unemployment among 16 to 64 year-olds in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, twice the unemployment rate of Baltimore as a whole.[8][9]

Schools

Notable residents

See also

Notes
  1. "Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in Baltimore". City-Data.com. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  2. "Sandtown-Winchester". Live in Baltimore. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  3. Archived February 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Nick Madigan (June 11, 2008). "Outrage mingled with fear: Community responds after children, 2 and 3, are shot". The Baltimore Sun.
  5. Bierman, Noah; TanFani, Joseph (April 28, 2015). "In Baltimore, riots appear where urban renewal didn't". Los Angeles Times.
  6. Aizenman, Nurith (May 4, 2015). "Baltimore Lifts Curfew But Problems Run Deep In Sandtown". NPR News.
  7. Ashkenas, Jeremy; Buchanan, Larry; Desantis, Alicia; Park, Haeyoun; Watkins, Derek (May 3, 2015). "A Portrait of the Sandtown Neighborhood in Baltimore". New York Times.
  8. Galston, William A. (May 6, 2015). "Politics & Ideas: Pittsburgh's Revival Lesson for Baltimore". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  9. Covert, Bryce (April 28, 2015). "The Economic Devastation Fueling the Anger in Baltimore". ThinkProgress. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  10. "Gilmor Elementary School". Baltimore City Public Schools.
  11. "New Song Academy". Baltimore City Public Schools.
  12. "William Pinderhughes Elementary/Middle School". Baltimore City Public Schools.
  13. "Youth Opportunity". Baltimore City Public Schools.

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