I recently had some family members visit me and in a shamefully uncreative act of desperation to entertain, I did what most Baltimoreans do when they have guests in town for an afternoon.
I took them to the Inner Harbor.
On the drive down, I took on my best Baltimore tour guide persona and tried to impress.
I said things like, "If you look to your left here, we have the famed University Market, commonly referred to as Uni-Mini - a drunken mecca that Hopkins students flock to every weekend night past 2 a.m. for food that no one would eat unless, well, unless they were drunk and it was the only place open past 2 a.m."
I had a lot of great informational things like this to tell them until we just got past Chipotle.
My tour then turned into me saying things like, "And here on the right is a really cool, big church, and that there is a huge white statue with a guy at the top holding something in his palm, though I can't quite tell what it is. And, oh yeah, in that brick building there, um, maybe that marble one down the block, is where there is a library that looks like the one from Beauty and the Beast."
I continued with my stream of conscious tour at the Inner Harbor, where I said, "Yep, that's an old wooden ship you see in the water there, and to the right of it are some paddle boats that resemble something out of Dragon Tales."
Needless to say, I didn't do much justice to Baltimore and its esteemed harbor.
After about an hour of aimless strolling around the harbor watching people eat at the chain restaurants and trying to imagine what great things must be inside the aquarium, I told my cousin to head north on Charles Street to get back to Charles Village.
"Who's Charles, and why does he have his own village?" she asked.
This time, I actually felt a little embarrassed not to know the answer.
Despite having lived in Charles Village for nearly three years now and having crossed the street every day, fifteen times a day, I had no idea.
For the sake of my own Baltimore knowledge, or perhaps more correctly, my own Baltimore ignorance, I immediately began to try and unravel the mystery of the man (or woman) behind this street and village.
Naturally, I did what most people would do.
I just googled "Charles."
I quickly learned that this would be no easy task.
My first search of "Charles" resulted in 1.16 billion hits, the first of which was "Charles Schwab."
I really hate it when Google actually makes me think.
In an effort to pursue the purest form of the metaphysics of knowledge, I finally consulted Wikipedia.
Now, I know you can read about Charles Village on Wikipedia too, but let me spare you the troublesome time of sifting through such extensive data.
The area was first developed in 1869 and named "Peabody Heights." In the early 20th century, it was a rural, streetcar suburb, with some of the first tract housing in America.
It wasn't until 1967 that the area, stretching from Charles Street and University to Charles and 22nd, and sandwiched between the Homewood campus and Greenmount (or maybe Guilford street - Wikipedia is undecided about this), became known as Charles Village.
It was renamed by Baltimore resident Grace Darin, a journalist and activist of her time, who is famous for nothing in particular except naming Charles Village.
In a stroke of brilliant insight, she named the neighborhood after the street that ran through it.
But this still begs the question of who Charles actually is.
To find out, I had to go to a place where few 21st century citizens dare to travel: Beyond Wikipedia.
According to charlesstreet.net, (check this site out for a great list of Charles Village sights) the street was founded in 1729 as Forrest Street.
By 1761, word of mouth and mass appeal had rechristened the street as Charles Street. Who? Why? How?
Nobody seems to know.
But don't worry, I won't leave you hanging there.
There are, in fact, many Charles associated with Baltimore.
First, there is the King of England, Charles I, who granted the first charter for the colony of Md. in 1632.
Then there is Charles Calvert, the 5th Baron Baltimore, 3rd Proprietor and 17th Proprietary Governor of Md., who controlled the colony beginning in 1721.
He, however, only travelled to Md. once in 1732 and left the colony in the hands of his dear cousin Charles Calvert, who served as governor from 1721 to 1727.
Now, which one of these three Charles is the street, village, theatre, pub, and five hundred plus businesses in Charm City loyally named after?
I'll let you decide.
Just try and make it a more exciting story than the real one for your out-of-town guests.
