Cator Collection of Baltimore Views - Enoch Pratt Free Library 

Browse the collection

 The Cator Collection of Baltimore Views, housed in Special Collections at Pratt's State Library Resource Center, consists of nearly 200 etchings, engravings, watercolors, prints and other lithographs, from 1752 to 1930. The images provide a visual timeline from the city's pastoral beginnings, through the civil war era, and into the early twentieth century. The collection features Baltimore landmarks including the Washington Monument, downtown churches, and the Inner Harbor. Many of the prints in the collection are by distinguished lithographers such as Edward Sachse, Alfred Hoen, and Moses Swett.

Due to copyright and other limitations, there are some prints in the collection that are not yet available online; the remaining prints may be viewed in the Special Collections Department of the Central Library. You may call the Special Collections librarian at 443-984-2451 for an appointment.

An Introduction from 1933 
From the Preliminary Draft to the Catalog of the Cator Collection of Baltimore Views: 

"Few large American cities are more picturesquely situated than Baltimore where the topography is a blend of hill, vale and water, a birthright which no amount of asphalt, brick and steel has succeeded in obliterating. Leveling of hilltops, bridging or filling in of streams and building of skyscrapers go on but the essential characteristics persist. Therein is the charm of Baltimore and one of the many reasons for cherishing both early and late views of her historic landmarks and fine prospects. 

The prints and watercolor drawings bequeathed to the Library by the Late George Cator, known as the Cator Collection of Baltimore Views, form one of the three most complete groups of such material so far assembled and furnish a pictorial history of the City from 1752 to 1931. They are of the highest importance to the student of local annals as well as of considerable interest to specialists in the field of art and pictorial reproduction. All but a handful are of Baltimore scenes and most of the exceptions picture Maryland localities." 

Subject Index 

            Abolitionists Aerial photographs African Americans Alex. Brown & Sons Annapolis (Md.) Architecture Armed Forces Officers Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay Railway Company Baltimore (Cruiser) Baltimore (Md.) Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company Baltimore County (Md.) Baltimore Trust Company Bank buildings Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Baltimore, Md.) Battles Boats Bridges Buildings Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893 Canton (Baltimore, Md.) Capitals (Cities) Cavalry Cemeteries Chase, Samuel, 1741-1811 Church architecture Church buildings Cityscapes Civil rights Civil War, 1861-1865 Colleges Conference rooms Constitutional amendments Country homes Customhouses Domes Dorchester County (Md.) Dwellings Equestrian statues Federal Hill (Baltimore, Md.) Fells Point (Baltimore, Md.) Flags Fort McHenry (Baltimore, Md.) Fortifications Fountains Frederick County (Md.) Funeral service Government buildings Havre de Grace (Md.) Horse racing Horse-drawn omnibuses Horse-drawn vehicles Horses Hospitals Hotels Icing (Meteorology) Independent Order of Odd Fellows Inner Harbor (Baltimore, Md.) Iron foundries Jails Johns Hopkins Hospital Johns Hopkins University Jones Falls (Md.) Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834 Landscapes Lexington Market Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Locust Point (Baltimore, Md.) Mansions Maps Markets Maryland Maryland Hospital Maryland Institute, College of Art McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885 Memorials Methodist preaching Military camps Military hospitals Monasteries Monuments Morris, Robert, 1734-1806 Mount Pleasant (Washington, D.C.) Mount Vernon (Va.) Mount Vernon Place (Baltimore, Md.) Museums Newspaper buildings Parades Parks Parsonages Pendleton, George H. (George Hunt), 1825-1889 Phoenix Shot Tower (Baltimore, Md.) Pickersgill, Mary Young Pimlico Race Course Political posters Politicians Post office buildings Pulpits Railroad companies Railroad stations Railroad tracks Railroads Reservoirs Riots Ross, Betsy, 1752-1836 Ross, George, 1730-1779 Ross, Robert, 1766-1814 Round towers Seascapes Ships Skyscrapers Snow Soldiers Springs Stadiums Statues Strawbridge, Robert, ca. 1732-1781 Street-railroads Streets Susquehanna River Taverns (Inns) Temple Oheb Shalom (Baltimore, Md.) Tombs Tower clocks Trees Universities Viaducts Views Wall Street (New York, N.Y.) Wallace, William, Sir, d. 1305 War memorials Warehouses Washington Monument (Baltimore, Md.) Washington, George, 1732-1799 YMCA