In 1652, Thomas Sparrow received 400 acres (and 600 more acres later) as a proprietary land grant from the second Lord Baltimore, Cecil Calvert, who was trying to attract settlers to what was then known as “the great northern woods.”  The first known habitation in what eventually became Baltimore County occurred in 1664 when Solomon Sparrow, son of Thomas Sparrow, built “Sparrow’s Nest” in the area that later became the company town known as Sparrows Point.

The Sparrows Point Shipyard was originally built in 1889 by Maryland Steel Company.  It delivered its first ship in 1891.  In 1917, it was bought by Bethlehem Steel, at which point it had built 176 ships, almost all commercial, but including three destroyers and six naval colliers.

In the 8-year period from 1939 – 1946, the yard built 116 ships, made up of 68 tankers, 26 general cargo ships, 10 refrigerated cargo ships, 6 ore carriers and 6 passenger/cargo ships.  At its peak in WWII , the yard employed over 20,000 people.

In the 1970s, Bethlehem invested heavily in the facility, converting the construction process from the traditional inclined ways to a single very large graving dock, 1200 feet long by 200 feet wide and served by four 200-ton cranes.  They built five 265,000 ton tankers in it. 

In 1996, Bethlehem Steel Corporation announced a comprehensive restructuring plan that included selling BethShip’s Sparrows Point Shipyard.  Baltimore Marine Industries, Inc. (formerly operated as BethShip) was the successor to Bethlehem Steel Corporation as the owner and operator of the shipyard.

Baltimore Marine Industries was owned by Veritas Captial, a New York-based merchant banking and investing firm.  Veritas Capital paid $16 million for the company/site in October 1997.

Baltimore Marine Industries filed for bankruptcy in June, 2003. 

The shipyard was auctioned in November, 2003 and closed on March 2004 by SPS Limited Partnership LLLP.  The total site is over 226 acres, with approximately 150 acres of upland and 1 million sf of buildings and equipment.  The site includes over one mile of waterfront and has views of the Harbor and Key Bridge.