Madison-Eastend is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

in the heart of East

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Madison-Eastend occupies 66.7 acres of land north of

Patterson Park Patterson Park is an urban park in Southeast Baltimore, Maryland, United States, adjacent to the neighborhoods of Canton, Highlandtown, Patterson Park, and Butchers Hill. It is bordered by East Baltimore Street, Eastern Avenue, South Pa ...

and south of

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

. The neighborhood is bounded by the neighborhoods of Ellwood Park and McElderry Park to the south, Milton-Montford to the west,

Biddle Street This is a list of notable streets in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. A B D E F G K M P R Numbered streets See also *List of roads in Baltimore County, Maryland References {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Stree ...

to the north, and Orangeville to the east. The swath of land between

Johns Hopkins Hospital Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1889, Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the foundin ...

and Frank C Bocek Park, which includes Madison-Eastend, is often referred to as the "Down the Hill" neighborhood by local residents.

Demographics

Madison-Eastend is 90%

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

. The neighborhood is one of the least expensive neighborhoods in the United States, with the median price of housing being less than $50,000.

Health

Life expectancy is between 63 and 69 years old. Madison-Eastend suffers from high levels of cancer, HIV/AIDS, and homicide compared to other neighborhoods of Baltimore. There is a

brownfield Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...

in Madison-Eastend due to

environmental contamination Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

caused by factories, refineries, and other businesses polluting the land and water. Trains used the area to dump coal, causing the land at the brownfield to become hard and blackened by oil.

History

The majority of the neighborhood lies within the East Monument Historic District. The district is historically significant due to the large Czech-American (

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n) immigrant community that once lived in the area. Madison-Eastend has since transitioned to a majority

African-American neighborhood African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American ...

. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Bohemian stronghold north of

along the Baltimore to New York Amtrak line all the way to Frank C Bocek Park was known by the now mostly forgotten name of "Swampoodle". Frank C Bocek Park was nicknamed the "clay hill". There was a swamp behind the clay hill, the source of the neighborhood being named Swampoodle. The heart of the Bohemian "hollow" of Swampoodle was located just north of Johns Hopkins Hospital along the tiny side streets of Barnes and Abbott.

References

External links

Madison-Eastend
Live Baltimore {{coord, 39, 18, 0.324, N, 76, 34, 59.772, W, region:US-MD_type:city, display=title African-American history in Baltimore Czech-American culture in Baltimore Neighborhoods in Baltimore Poverty in Maryland