(BLACK PR WIRE) -- So it was in Baltimore. In 1729, immigrants began to arrive here to build neighborhoods and communities. People of Native American, European, Asian and African descent were among Baltimore’s first residents. In the early 1800s, when slavery was still a legal institution in the United States, many African-Americans found freedom in Baltimore, forming one of the largest “freed” communities in the country.

Baltimore was the second largest port of entry, after Ellis Island, into the United States. Today, people of every background make up the fabric of Baltimore’s cultural landscape. In our faces are echoes of Europe; Africa; North, South and Central America; Asia and the Middle East. In our streets and neighborhoods are the museums, monuments, shops and festivals that reflect our culture and history. And in the midst of our variety lie the common threads that make Baltimore the city we love: sunny days at the Inner Harbor; hikes and treks through our walking paths and parks; laughter, memories and shared experiences.

Downtown and many other neighborhoods have been revitalized, with special attention given to the city’s greatest asset – the harbor. Hotels, office buildings and entertainment facilities like Harborplace, the Maryland Science Center and National Aquarium (Maryland’s largest tourist attraction) replaced dilapidated wharves and warehouses. State-of-the-art stadiums have been constructed nearby for the Baltimore Orioles and Baltimore Ravens. A few miles away, billion dollar biotechnology parks attract the world’s leading scientists. The National Great Blacks In Wax Museum, American Visionary Art Museum, B&O Railroad Museum and Frederick Douglass – Isaac Myers Maritime Park (among others) entertain and educate. (Frederick Douglass worked the docks in Fell’s Point, Baltimore as a young man.)