Pratt Street is a major street in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, United States. It forms a

one-way pair A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descriptio ...

of streets with Lombard Street that run west–east through

downtown Baltimore Downtown Baltimore is the central business district of the city of Baltimore traditionally bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the west, Franklin Street to the north, President Street to the east and the Inner Harbor area to the s ...

. For most of their route, Pratt Street is one-way in an eastbound direction, and Lombard Street is one way westbound. Both streets begin in west Baltimore at Frederick Avenue and end in Butcher's Hill at Patterson Park Avenue. Since 2005, these streets have been open to two-way traffic from Broadway until their end at

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 Pat ...

. Although Lombard is also a two-way street from Fulton Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Pratt is still one-way eastbound in this area. To the east of Patterson Park, both Pratt and Lombard Streets start again. Pratt continues as a

side street A side road is a minor highway typically leading off a main road.Main road — definition

from Linwood Avenue until Haven Street. Pratt Street has historic significance as the location of the

Baltimore Riot of 1861 The Baltimore riot of 1861 (also called the "Pratt Street Riots" and the "Pratt Street Massacre") was a civil conflict on Friday, April 19, 1861, on Pratt Street, in Baltimore, Maryland. It occurred between antiwar "Copperhead" Democrats (the l ...

. Today it is known for being an important gateway into the

Inner Harbor The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. It was described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as "the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world". The ...

, connecting it with the

Baltimore Light Rail Baltimore Light RailLink (formerly Baltimore Light Rail, and also known simply as the "Light Rail") is a light rail system serving Baltimore, Maryland, United States, as well as its surrounding suburbs. It is operated by the Maryland Transit A ...

line. It is for the latter reason that the city decided to redesign the street and surrounding area to be more pedestrian-friendly. Pratt Street is named for

Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, PC (baptised 21 March 1714 – 18 April 1794) was an English lawyer, judge and Whig politician who was first to hold the title of Earl Camden. As a lawyer and judge he was a leading proponent of civil liberties, ...

a supporter of

Civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

in the 18th century, and not the noted Baltimorean

Enoch Pratt Enoch Pratt (September 10, 1808 – September 17, 1896) was an American businessman in Baltimore, Maryland. Pratt was also a committed active Unitarian, and a philanthropist. He is best known for his donations to establish the Enoch Pratt Free ...

(1808–1896). Pratt Street appears on maps of Baltimore as early as 1801. Pratt Street was ranked the 33rd "most expensive city street" in the United States. Notable landmarks on or near Pratt Street include: * Runs through

Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...

Oriole Park at Camden Yards The Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the Baseball park#Retro-classic ballparks, "retro" major league ballparks ...

(nearby) *

Baltimore Convention Center The Baltimore Convention Center is a convention and exhibition hall located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The center is a municipal building owned and operated by the City of Baltimore. The facility was constructed in two separate phases: th ...

/ Harborplace and the Gallery * National Aquarium *

The Power Plant The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is a Canadian non-collecting public contemporary art gallery located at the heart of Toronto, Ontario at the Harbourfront Centre. It is a registered Canadian charitable organization supported by its membe ...

B&O Railroad Museum The B&O Railroad Museum is a museum and historic railway station exhibiting historic railroad equipment in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) company originally opened the museum on July 4, 1953, with the name of the Balti ...

Camden Station Camden Station, now also referred to as Camden Street Station, Camden Yards, and formally as the Transportation Center at Camden Yards, is a train station at the intersection of South Howard and West Camden Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, and is ...

100 East Pratt Street 100 East Pratt Street is a building located on Pratt Street in the Inner Harbor district of Baltimore, Maryland that consists of a ten-story concrete building finished in 1975 and a 1991 glass and steel twenty-eight story tower. History The orig ...

University of Maryland, Baltimore The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1807, it comprises some of the oldest professional schools of dentistry, law, medicine, pharmacy, social work and nursing in the United States ...

* Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture *

Flag House & Star-Spangled Banner Museum The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, formerly the Flag House & Star-Spangled Banner Museum, is a museum located in the Jonestown/Old Town and adjacent to Little Italy neighborhoods of eastern downtown Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Buil ...

Baltimore Freedom Academy Baltimore Freedom Academy (BFA) was a Baltimore City middle-high school, located for most of its existence in the Washington Hill neighborhood. Founded in 2003 as a public "innovation school," beginning in 2008 it operated as a charter schoo ...

Stratford University Stratford University was a private university based in Virginia. On September 26, 2022, it announced it would close, including both the campus-based and online components, at the end of the Fall 2022 semester. Founded in 1976, Stratford delivers ...

References

External links

Why Is It Named Pratt Street?
{{coord, 39, 17, 11.47, N, 76, 36, 48.7, W, type:landmark, display=title Streets in Baltimore