The Block Featured Apartment:
Baltimore- The Block- We've got a newly-renovated one bedroom unit in the block that has a great layout for roommates who need their privacy but also need a one-bedroom sized rent. In this apartment, we've put a door on the living room, so it can be used as a second bedroom. View More Listings -->
About The Block
The Block is a stretch of East Baltimore Street in Baltimore, Maryland that
is home to strip clubs, porn shops and other adult entertainment venues.
In the first half of the 20th century, the Block was famous for its burlesque
houses. It was a noted starting point and stop-over for many of noted burlesque
dancers, including the likes of Blaze Star.
By the 1950s, the clubs became seedier as burlesque was replaced by strip clubs
and sex shops. The Block of that era is featured prominently in several films,
notably Barry Levinson's Liberty Heights and Diner.
The decades to follow would bring a gradual decline in area and an increasing
"seediness" of the Block. The area would also show marked increases in general
crime, prostitution, and drug dealing up until the late 1990s, which might come
as a surprise to non natives with the location of Baltimore's Police
Headquarters and Central Police District House at the east end of the Block. The
passing decades would also see a shrinking of the block. Once several blocks
long, stretching almost to Charles Street in central part of Downtown Baltimore,
today the Block only stretches about 2 blocks long from South to Gay Streets.
Pollack Johnny's sausage restaurant was a local landmark of the Block into the
1980's.
In recent years, the Block has undergone a bit of a revival with the opening of
Larry Flynt's Hustler Club.
Even today many of the strip clubs on The Block are little more than fronts for
prostitution. In these bars, women try to induce men to buy expensive drinks
along with sexual services. Sex takes place in a backroom of the bar. Prices are
set by the bar owner, and the money is shared between owner and prostitute.