Shakespeare Street

This two-block long quintessential Fells Point street once housed five captains, including Captain William Furlong, a successful privateer during the War of 1812. Some of the first vessels commissioned for the US Navy were built in Fell's Point yards and the area became best known for topsail schooners, sometimes erroneously called Baltimore clippers, renowned for their great speed and handling. With a lively port and plentiful employment, the neighborhood served as home for many immigrants. After the Civil War, into the turn of the century, as the shipping and shipbuilding industries moved to larger facilities, the neighborhood fell into decline until preservationists organized to save the historic buildings and cobblestoned streets. Today, Fell's Point caters to an increasing number of middle to upper middle class residents and boasts the greatest concentration of bars in the city.