Howard Street is a major street that runs north-south through the central part of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. The street, which is approximately 2½ miles in length, begins at the north end of I-395

Interstate 395 (Maryland)

Interstate 395 is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Cal Ripken Way, the highway runs from I-95 north to Howard Street and Camden Street in Baltimore. I-395 is a spur that heads north from I-95 over the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River toward Downtown Baltimore,...

 near Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a Major League Baseball ballpark located in Baltimore, Maryland. Home field of the Baltimore Orioles, it is the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early 2000s, and remains one of the most highly praised. The park was...

 and ends near Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

. At this point, this street splits. To the right, it becomes Artmuseum Drive, a one-block street on which the Baltimore Museum of Art

Baltimore Museum of Art

The Baltimore Museum of Art in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, was founded in 1914. Built in the Roman Temple style, the Museum is home to an internationally renowned collection of 19th-century, modern, and contemporary art. Founded in 1914 with a single painting, the BMA today has 90,000 works...

 is located. To the left, it becomes San Martin Drive, a winding road that runs along the western perimeter of the Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

 campus and ends at University Parkway. Howard Street is named in honor of former Maryland governor John Eager Howard

John Eager Howard

John Eager Howard was an American soldier and politician from Maryland. He was elected as governor of the state in 1789, and served three one-year terms. He also was elected to the Continental Congress, Congress of the United States and the US Senate. He was born in and died in Baltimore County...

. Two other streets in Baltimore, John and Eager Streets, are also named after him.

At one time, Howard Street was a two-way street

Two-way street

A two-way street is a street that allows vehicles to travel in both directions. On most two-way streets, especially main streets, a line is painted down the middle of the road to remind drivers to stay on their side of the road. Sometimes one portion of a street is two-way, the other portion one-way...

 throughout its entire route. In 1989, when construction began on the Central Light Rail line

Baltimore Light Rail

The Maryland Transit Administration Light Rail is a light rail system serving Baltimore, Maryland, United States, and the surrounding suburbs.In downtown Baltimore it uses city streets...

, Howard Street was made one-way in a northbound direction between Pratt Street

Pratt Street

Pratt Street is a major street in Baltimore. It forms a one-way pair of streets with Lombard Street that run west-east through downtown Baltimore. For most of their route, Pratt Street is one-way in an eastbound direction, and Lombard Street is one way westbound. Both streets begin in west...

 and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The Light Rail operates along Howard Street within this area, which is most of Downtown Baltimore

Downtown Baltimore

Downtown Baltimore is the section of Baltimore traditionally bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the west, Mt. Royal Avenue to the north, President Street to the east and the Inner Harbor area to the south. It consists of four neighborhoods: Westside, City Centre, Inner Harbor, and...

, and alongside Howard Street for much of the remainder of the street's route within the downtown area.

Landmarks

Notable landmarks on or near Howard Street include:

• Oriole Park at Camden Yards
  Oriole Park at Camden Yards
  Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a Major League Baseball ballpark located in Baltimore, Maryland. Home field of the Baltimore Orioles, it is the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early 2000s, and remains one of the most highly praised. The park was...
  
  
• Baltimore Convention Center
  Baltimore Convention Center
  The Baltimore Convention Center is a convention and exhibition hall located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The Center is a municiple building owned and operated by the City of Baltimore...
  
  
• Lexington Market
  Lexington Market
  Lexington Market is a historic market in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The main market is housed in two large buildings on the north corners of the intersection of Paca and Lexington Streets...
  
  
• Maryland General Hospital
  Maryland General Hospital
  Maryland General Hospital is a hospital in the downtown area of Baltimore, Maryland. The hospital was founded in 1881 by a group of local doctors for teaching purposes. Since 1999, the hospital has been affiliated with the University of Maryland Medical System...
  
  
• Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
• Maryland State Office Center
  State Center (Metro Subway station)
  The State Center Metro Subway Station is one of 14 stops along the Baltimore Metro Subway line. It is the tenth most northern and western station on the line, the first one in the area viewed by many as "downtown Baltimore," and is within a close walk of the Cultural Center Light Rail Stop and many...
  
  
• Maryland Institute College of Art
  Maryland Institute College of Art
  Maryland Institute College of Art is an art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the first and oldest art colleges in the United States. In 2008, MICA was ranked #2 in the nation...
  
  

Tunnel

In the downtown area, a tunnel owned by CSX runs below Howard Street. This tunnel was first proposed in the 1880s and built in the 1890s as part of the B&O Railroad.

Howard Street Bridge

One of Howard Street's unique features is the twin steel arch-style bridge

Arch bridge

An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...

 that crosses over the Jones Falls Expressway, the CSX and Northern Central Railway

Northern Central Railway

The Northern Central Railway was a Class I Railroad connecting Baltimore, Maryland with Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1861, when the PRR acquired a controlling interest in the Northern Central's stock to compete with the...

 (and currently the light rail), and Falls Road

Maryland Route 25

Maryland Route 25 , locally known for nearly its entire length as Falls Road, is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. It begins north of downtown Baltimore, just north of Penn Station, and continues north through Baltimore County almost to the Pennsylvania state line...

. Built in 1938 by the J. E. Greiner Company to replace an earlier 19th century iron arch bridge, the 979 feet (298.4 m) long bridge begins shortly after the Mt. Royal Avenue underpass, and continues to the intersection at North Avenue.

At times, there has been debate over what colors to paint the bridge. Request has been made from citizens to get involved in making the decision. Polling has been used as a method to determine the color the bridge should be painted.

On November 17, 2011, Occupy Baltimore

Occupy Baltimore

Occupy Baltimore is a peaceful protest and demonstration that began on October 4, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland, in McKeldin Square near the Inner Harbor area of Downtown Baltimore. It is one of the many Occupy movements around the United States and worldwide, inspired by Occupy Wall Street.Toward...

 protesters marched on the Howard Street Bridge. The bridge was chosen by the protesters because they said it was a symbol of the city's decaying infrastructure and the need to get Americans back to work.

Arches

During the 1980s, a series of decorative arches were installed along the downtown part of Howard Street in order to add a unique style to the area and its shops. However, when light rail construction began, most of these arches had to be removed because trains would not have been able to pass underneath.

Howard Street Tunnel fire

On July 18, 2001, a freight train

Freight train

A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...

 in the tunnel below Howard Street derailed

Derailment

A derailment is an accident on a railway or tramway in which a rail vehicle, or part or all of a train, leaves the tracks on which it is travelling, with consequent damage and in many cases injury and/or death....

, causing a chemical fire that raged for six days and did damage to Howard Street and the light rail that took a few months to repair.