Forest Park (and Howard Park) is a region of Northwest

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 ...

located west of Reisterstown Road, south of Northern Parkway, and east of the Baltimore City/County line. In Baltimore, the region is referred to by locals simply as "Forest Park" and includes the neighborhoods of Ashburton, Callaway-Garrison, Central Forest Park, Dolfield, Dorchester, East Arlington, Forest Park, Grove Park, Hanlon Longwood, Howard Park, Garwyn Oaks, Purnell, West Arlington, West Forest Park, and Windsor Hills. Originally developed as

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

an-type residential housing in close proximity to the streecar network, it is an economically diverse area that was once the center of Baltimore's

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community as it moved from downtown. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

era, however, the area experienced

white flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...

, while it was 95%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

in 1960, it became 95%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

in 1970. It is now an almost exclusively

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

region of Baltimore. The neighborhoods in Forest Park and Howard Park are varied. Some have suffered

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. ...

and crime related to the city's job losses, while many continue to be suburban and upper-middle-class neighborhoods with large Colonial-style homes build in the 1920s. Ashburton, for instance, is the home of former city mayor

Catherine Pugh Catherine Elizabeth Pugh (born March 10, 1950) is an American former politician who served as the 51st mayor of Baltimore, Maryland's largest city, from 2016 to 2019. She resigned from office amid a scandal that eventually led to criminal charge ...

, as well as past mayor

Kurt Schmoke Kurt Lidell Schmoke (born December 1, 1949) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 47th mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, from 1987 to 1999, the first African American to be elected to the post. He is a former dean of the Howard University ...

and other prominent African-American political leaders.

Schools

Dorchester is home to Forest Park High School, which boasted alumni such as Spiro T. Agnew and

Margaret Hayes Margaret Hayes (born Florette Regina Ottenheimer; December 5, 1913 – January 26, 1977) was an American film, stage, and television actress. Early years A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Hayes was one of four children born to Clara Bussey a ...

Parks and recreation

Forest Park is home to Hillsdale, Hanlon, and Powder Mill parks in addition to the Forest Park Golf Course. It is also within proximity of the Baltimore Zoo and

Druid Hill Park Druid Hill Park is a urban park in northwest Baltimore, Maryland. Its boundaries are marked by Druid Park Drive (north), Swann Drive and Reisterstown Road (west and south), and the Jones Falls Expressway / Interstate 83 (east).Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland. The county is part of the Central Maryland region of the state. Baltimore County partly surrounds but does not include the independent city ...

near Forest Park is known as Gwynn Oak and is located directly west of the

city line.

Roads

Garrison Avenue/Garrison Boulevard

Garrison Avenue starts as a one-way street from Greenspring Avenue, changes to Garrison Boulevard after Wabash Avenue, then makes a slight left after passing ''Liberty Heights Avenue'' (known as MD-26) to Clifton Avenue.

Berwyn Avenue

Berwyn Avenue is a street from Liberty Heights Avenue to Garrison Boulevard, and a little street to the other side of Liberty Heights Avenue.

Forest Park Avenue

This street runs from Garrison Boulevard to Security Boulevard (crossing Baltimore County line) then splits off to Forest Park Avenue with a traffic light across from I-70, and ends at St. Agnes Lane.

References

External links

Northwest District Maps
{{coord, 39.363236, -76.688862, region:US_type:landmark, display=title Historic Jewish communities in the United States Jews and Judaism in Baltimore Neighborhoods in Baltimore Northwest Baltimore