Cherry Hill is one of the southernmost

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 ...

s in

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 ...

Geography

Its southern geographic location from the city's center, bounded by the Middle Branch of the

Patapsco River The Patapsco River ( ) mainstem is a river in central Maryland that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal portion forms the harbor for the city of Baltimore. With its South Branch, the Patapsco forms the northern border of Howar ...

to the north, the river's main channel to the east, and railroad tracks, including the tracks of the

Baltimore Light Rail The Baltimore Light RailLink (formerly Baltimore Light Rail, also known simply as the "Light Rail") is a light rail system serving Baltimore, Maryland, United States, and its northern and southern suburbs. It is operated by the Maryland Transi ...

system, to the west and

Baltimore Highlands, Maryland Baltimore Highlands is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, directly south of the city of Baltimore. The population was 7,019 at the 2010 census. At the 2000 census and earlier ...

to the south. Cherry Hill is home to Baltimore's largest

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

project, Cherry Hill Homes, with over 1000 units, private homes and several other low-income apartments throughout the community. In 2014,

Baltimore City Public Schools Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), also referred to as Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) or City Schools, is a public school district in the city of Baltimore, state of Maryland, United States. It serves the youth of Baltimore Ci ...

announced that Maritime Industries Academy, a high school in northeast Baltimore, was moving to Cherry Hill. This was done in part to revamp the Herring Run recreational center in Frankford, the school's neighborhood. Most Cherry Hill residents agreed with the decision to move the high school to the area, as they needed a high school for teenage residents to attend, so they can avoid long transportation hours. The high school moving took action for the start of the 2015–2016 school year.

Transportation

The only roads leading in or out of the neighborhood are Hanover Street, Potee Street, Cherry Hill Road and Waterview Avenue. The

Maryland Transit Administration The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is a state-operated mass transit administration in Maryland, and is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). The MTA operates a comprehensive transit system throughout the Washington� ...

(MTA) serves the highly populated area with the need for public transportation by bus 26
71
and the already noted Baltimore Light Rail at the Cherry Hill light rail stop located on the northwest edge of the neighborhood.

History

The Cherry Hill neighborhood was developed fairly recently in Baltimore's history. Like Armistead Gardens the community was founded as a home for

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. ...

veterans returning from both

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. In the early and mid-1900s, Cherry Hill was home to an encampment of

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

of Romanian descent. The Roma settled in Cherry Hill because it was undeveloped and on the outskirts of the city. Many of the Roma were in fortune telling and traveled up and down the East Coast, with Baltimore as a central location on the carnival circuit. Due to a series of antiziganist laws passed in the 1920s and 1930s that banned

fortune-telling Fortune telling is the spiritual practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115–116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle ...

and required a $1,000 fee for nomads to enter the city of Baltimore, the Roma community left Cherry Hill, but soon returned because the laws were rarely enforced.

Economy

Harbor Hospital is based in the eastern edge of the neighborhood. Cherry Hill is also home to DeBaufre Bakeries, the maker of local icon

Berger Cookies Berger Cookies are a handmade cookie made and marketed by DeBaufre Bakeries of Baltimore, Maryland. The cookies are widely known for their thick, chocolate frosting on an imperfectly shaped shortbread cookie. Similar to a black and white cook ...

Notable residents

* Billy Murphy Jr., judge * Laura W. Murphy, lobbyist and civil rights activist * Madeline Wheeler Murphy, civil rights activist

References

External links

Cherry Hill Homes

Harbor Hospital
{{authority control Historic Romani communities Neighborhoods in Baltimore Maryland populated places on the Chesapeake Bay Poverty in Maryland Romanian-American history Romani in the United States