At the corner of Saratoga and Liberty Streets, people will find an unassuming parking lot. While this parking lot does not appear interesting at first glance, this lot used to be the center of political life as well as a ritzy tourist attraction.听 In 1885, Robert Rennert founded the enormous Rennert hotel which boasted six stories and 150 personal rooms. Inside, Rennert filled the hotel with elaborate decoration adding everything from marble and fresco, to the use of Edison鈥檚 electricity. The construction of the Rennert Hotel filled Baltimore city officials with hope and pride; through the opening of the hotel, Rennert sought to promote the growth of the city. Even up to the year the hotel closed in 1939, the Rennert continued to serve their staple traditional Maryland dishes such as听 the essential Maryland crab cake and the Chesapeake Bay diamond-back terrapin.听 While the Rennert Hotel鈥檚 dazzling decor is impressive, it is important to remember the workers which made the hotel operate smoothly. Henry Cummings, the Rennert Hotel鈥檚 head chef during the late nineteenth century, helped to upkeep the hotel鈥檚 culinary reputation.听Henry Cummings was a self-made man. The son of former slaves, Cummings went on to be the head chef at the Rennert and ran a catering business. Mr. Cummings specialized in the cooking and preparation of terrapin. In Mr. Cummings鈥 obituary published in the Baltimore Afro American in late 1906, Mr. Cummings鈥 culinary notoriety is highlighted: 鈥淗e prepared, dressed and shipped terrapins to Philadelphia, New York, Washington, and to different parts of Europe.鈥
]]>One of the largest businesses on the West Side in the early twentieth century the Baltimore Bargain House鈥攁 mail-order wholesale business that employed over a thousand people and earned profits in the millions that grew to become the fourth largest wholesalers in the county. Driven by the devotion of Jewish Lithuanian immigrant Jacob Epstein, the Baltimore Bargain House became a hub for Southern Jewish merchants and a local business community. When firm's grand showroom at West Baltimore and North Liberty Streets opened in 1911, a crowd of 500 local businessmen, the Mayor of Baltimore, and the Governor of Maryland all attended the dedication. After spending years himself as an itinerant peddler, traveling throughout Western Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, Jacob Epstein first opened a small wholesale store in Baltimore in 1881. Epstein focused his attention on the American South, working specifically with Jewish peddlers and merchants. In the early 1900s, Epstein treated hundreds of merchants to annual visits to Baltimore to restock and view new merchandise. Arriving from North Carolina, Tennessee, and across the South, these merchants helped grow a successful and extensive business in Baltimore. Between 1881 and 1929 the Baltimore Bargain House was one of the most significant businesses in Baltimore, with gross sales over $34 million in 1921 alone, comparable to over $410 million today. To operate the Baltimore Bargain House, Epstein also built a local community of employees, which included over 1,600 people. The workforce was relatively diverse, comprising of immigrants from various countries as well as industry experts from across the nation. Many workers remained employed at the Baltimore Bargain House for decades. Although remarkable for his considerable business acumen and the success of the Baltimore Bargain House, the business' founder, Jacob Epstein was also well known for his extensive charitable donations to local Jewish groups and to institutions like the Baltimore Museum of Art.
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