The neighborhood is mainly composed of residential rowhouses, with a mixed-used business district along Edmondson Avenue, and industrial warehouses and buildings dotted along the CSX railroads that bound its western edge.

While the physical development of the neighborhood was wholly complete by the beginning of World War II, the decades following 1945 saw significant changes.

Despite these issues, the residents have remained resilient undertaking organizing efforts to try to address a range of community concerns.

[2] Industrial and commercial development within the Midtown Edmondson area is concentrated along the railroad tracks and along the historic routes for the electric streetcars.

When I was old enough to list, I started bagging potatoes and sorting out soda bottles by brands to turn them into the companies for cash.

[3] By 1951, the rowhouses facing Edmondson Avenue between North Payson and Bentalou Streets had been entirely converted from residential to at least partially commercial use.

[4] Constructed in 1911, the American Ice Company is an enduring reminder of West Baltimore’s industrial development.

[5] Built in 1925 over the loud protests of local residents who opposed a new factory in their residential neighborhood, the Ward Baking Company is a handsome brick box, designed by C.B.

The transition occurred at an uneven pace during the late 1940s and early 1950s, evidently without the startling rapidity that was observed in other areas.

This unusual character of change is likely the result of these blocks being immediately proximate to Fulton Avenue that had for nearly two decades defined West Baltimore's "color line."

The Uptown Bar located at Monroe and Edmondson Avenue was a popular destination for many West Baltimore residents.

For two weeks following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, a series of civil disturbance devastated neighborhoods across the city of Baltimore, leaving six people dead, dozens injured and hundreds of properties, both private and public, burned and damaged.

By the morning of April 9, the Army began a citywide attempt to prevent further looting, reportedly including boarding up partially plundered stores and exploding a bomb of CS gas inside, starting on the 2000 block of Edmondson Avenue.

Many of the corner stores and small businesses located in the area closed in the 1970s and 1980s but some long time institutions, like Green's Hardware, remained.

Later additions included the former Super Pride Groceries location at the northeast corner of Lafayette and Edmondson Avenue.

Under Burns' leadership, Super Pride sponsored Black History Month activities and supported the Arena Players.

In the fall of 2000, Super Pride closed all eight of its locations and, in November, held an auction to liquidate the stores and their remaining equipment to satisfy creditors.

The coalition led to the organization of the West Baltimore MARC Transit-Oriented Development Transportation, Inc. (WBMTTI) that operated a farmer's market in the area for several years.

This five-day event sought to empower and unite West Baltimore communities through the celebration of arts and culture.