Belair-Edison (Baltimore, Maryland)

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Belair-Edison was previously known as Georgetown in the mid-19th century. Georgetown was well known for its numerous breweries. The majority of Belair-Edison’s buildings were built during the Baltimore building boom of the 1920s. According to US census data, there were only 36 dwellings built in the area before 1899 and only 102 dwellings by 1919. By 1940 there were over 1,700 dwellings in the area. Many of these dwellings were designed and built by Frank Novak. Novak was the son of Bohemian immigrants and began as a carpenter’s apprentice at the age of 13. In 1914 he established the Frank Novak Realty Company. Until his death in 1945, he was known as the “Two Story King of Baltimore” for his two story porch front homes.

Belair-Edison is often cited as an example of failed government relocation programs to integrate low income families with middle income families as a way to integrate and help lower income families form social bonds not possible in housing projects. This led to a mass exodus of middle income families out of the neighborhood and the city in general. Ultimately, these public policies failed miserably as the area is now almost exclusively lower income.