The Block, Baltimore

The Block

400 block of East Baltimore Street.
Location	Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Coordinates	39°17′23″N 76°36′33″W / 39.28978°N 76.60922°W / 39.28978; -76.60922

Baltimore's The Block is a stretch on the 400 block of East Baltimore Street in Baltimore, Maryland, containing several strip clubs, sex shops, and other adult entertainment merchants. During the 19th century, Baltimore was filled with brothels, and in the first half of the 20th century, it was famous for its burlesque houses. It was a noted starting point and stop-over for many noted burlesque dancers, including the likes of Blaze Starr.

By the 1950s, the clubs became seedier, as burlesque was replaced by strip clubs and sex shops.^[1] The Block of that era is featured prominently in several films, notably Barry Levinson's Liberty Heights^{[citation needed]} and Diner,^{[citation needed]} as well as Steve Yeager's independent feature drama On The Block, with Howard Rollins.^[2]

The decades to follow would bring a marked increase in general crime, sex work, and drug dealing, an unusual situation considering the location of Baltimore's Police Headquarters and Central Police District House at the east end of the block. It has been suggested that the police, whose headquarters are located right next to The Block, chose to contain the prostitution and drug dealing in that small section of Baltimore rather than combat it.^{[citation needed]}

The passing decades would see a shrinking of the area. Once several blocks long, stretching almost to Charles Street in the central part of downtown Baltimore, today The Block only stretches about two blocks long from South Street to Gay Street.^{[citation needed]}

A five alarm fire on December 6, 2010, heavily damaged four buildings, including the building that formerly housed the Gayety Theater. The fire was believed to be an act of arson.^[3]