The Block (Baltimore)
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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.
